Are you playing the correct tees?

[Dan42nepa]

10 hours ago, Fourputt said:

I have birdied or eagled every hole on my home course from the 6400 yard middle tees (lifetime ringer score there is a 57, 25 under par), but I'd never be inclined to say that it's too easy.  Those accumulated scores came over a 25 year period.  When you play a course for that long, you can make a lot of excellent hole scores, just not in the same round.  

I was just busting your chops... you said that moving forward was "dumbing down" the course, and I was exercising my prerogative to question how that made the course enough easier to be "dumbed down".  I've played every tee set on the course I spoke of above at one time or another, except for the new back tees that were just opened 4 years ago.  None of them were so much easier that I'd call it dumbed down.  

In fact my personal best came from the middle tees, and the few times I've played the forward tees, I didn't exactly excel.  I've made better scores from the blue men's tees than I ever did from the red forward tee.  The new tee setup has the whites at 6100 yards and the blues at almost 6600, yet I shoot about the same regardless of which I play from.  My lowest score this year, 82, was from the blue tees.

I think its because I grew up playing a difficult course and played the whites from the start. Back then there were only 3 tees and a 12 YO didnt have a choice other than mens tees..Dumbing down I mean shallowing bunkers shorter distances, short rough, and heaven forbid expanding the cup size. I feel more a sense of accomplishment scoring well on a hard hole as oposed to an easy one. 

[Fourputt]

3 hours ago, Dan42nepa said:

I think its because I grew up playing a difficult course and played the whites from the start. Back then there were only 3 tees and a 12 YO didnt have a choice other than mens tees..Dumbing down I mean shallowing bunkers shorter distances, short rough, and heaven forbid expanding the cup size. I feel more a sense of accomplishment scoring well on a hard hole as oposed to an easy one. 

I agree with all of that.  Most well designed courses will still be fun from shorter tees for most amateur players, yet still playable without losing the challenging character that makes them what they are.  

The two courses closest to my home now both only have the traditional 3 tee sets, blue, white, and red, and both are such that I can play equally well from the blues and the whites because the length change in most holes is insignificant - maybe one club at the most.  Neither is played as my home course.

The course I call my home course (because I play in a tournament men's club there) is 500 yards longer from the blue tees than it is from the white.  This is significant.  Then it's another 400 yards for the black tees.  

When I first started playing the course 40 years ago, it was a very rough and typical brand new muni.  The tees were mostly only about 10 yards apart, and the course in general was pretty open.  They continuously added improvements over time, strategically placed trees and bunkers (and removed some that were inappropriately positioned), changed tees gradually to the point that now it has far more character than most other recreation district or municipally operated courses that I've played.  The course is a revenue source to help support other recreational activities in the district, and as such it lives on a restrictive budget, but manages that budget better than just about any other similar course I know.  It typically puts between 1 and 2 million dollars in the district treasury each year, after budget expenses.  

It took 12 years for them to complete the project to modernize the tee boxes, but it has opened new vistas for players.  Just about any level of player can find an appropriate tee to play, with the shortest at just under 5400 yards, and the longest almost 7000. (The complex also has a 9 hole executive and a 9 hole par 3 course for those who aren't quite ready for the 5400 yards on the 18 hole course).  I've been pleasantly surprised at how often I see senior men or younger boys playing from the gold forward tees (they eliminated red because of the gender stigma that is traditionally attached to them), and better women golfers playing the whites.  

It's my considered opinion that a spread of tee options can only make a good course better.

[lenman73]

Yesterday a friend and I played a course that was new to both of us. We get there and the temperature dropped and it rained lightly on us for the first 17 holes. Finally stopped on 18. We looked  at the first hole and the card and since it was new to us and the weather, we decided to play the golds instead of white which put it at 5400 instead of 5800.  Well I figured it would be easier since I'm a short hitter and rely heavily on the short game. I was wrong. We actually toughened up the course because now fairway bunkers were in play that normally would be out of my reach. I think I found at least 3. Lol. It made it very challenging and fun and was a new experience for me. If we go back there we might play the whites next time now we know the layout. It was a very hilly course with lots of blind shots and probly the most scenic course I had ever been on. 

[Hoganman1]

I'm not sure I totally agree with the chart because it bases golf ability totally on driver distance. At 66 years of age I'm not very long (200 to 220) off the tee but I have a great short game. My index is currently 8.4. Last year I got as low as 6.8. The tees I play are around 6400 yards. There are five par fours that I have trouble reaching, but on a good day I can still par more than half of them by getting up or down. Also, all of my friends and golf buddies play these tees. Some are longer and some are shorter than me off the tee, but the scores are usually pretty close. We always seem to score somewhere between 76 and 84.