So I tried this play it forward (tee box) thing today

[Kloeshuman]

So I have been reading about this play it forward thing for awhile on this site. The idea makes all the sense in the world to me, play the tees that fit your game. I had been dropping hints all summer to my playing partner about wanting to try this.

So after all this time, today he says....sure, let's try it! I have to say, it was the most enjoyable round I have played all year! He felt the same way and is all for it now. I had my best 9 hole score now and so did he. 

I would rather play like we did today and enjoy it then play the normal and go home mad. Golf should be fun....right???

[iacas]

41 minutes ago, Kloeshuman said:

So I have been reading about this play it forward thing for awhile on this site. The idea makes all the sense in the world to me, play the tees that fit your game. I had been dropping hints all summer to my playing partner about wanting to try this.

So after all this time, today he says....sure, let's try it! I have to say, it was the most enjoyable round I have played all year! He felt the same way and is all for it now. I had my best 9 hole score now and so did he. 

I would rather play like we did today and enjoy it then play the normal and go home mad. Golf should be fun....right???

Absolutely!

Congrats on having the stones to have an enjoyable day of golf.

[dennyjones]

I, like you, have found that playing forward has helped my game.   I don't always play the forward tees but I do score better from them.   I've convinced one group of friends to move from the blues to the whites but I can't get any of my friends to play from the forward tees.  

Two weeks ago, I was playing solo from the forward tees and at the turn pasted a group of slow guys.   They laughed that I was playing the forward tees and I just told them, "when I can shoot near par, I'll move back".   I proceeded to stripe a tee shot that was impressive.  

[Kloeshuman]

I'm sure we were the talk of the club house but I don't really care. My score improved but at least 10 strokes for nine holes, I will take that any day. 

[newtogolf]

I wish more members in my club played from the proper tees for their game, it would speed up the course significantly.  Our course uses 4 tee boxes, red - ladies, green - seniors (5700 yards), orange - mens (6200 yards), black - tournament (6500 yards).  

The club uses a guideline of age+handicap > 75 for the green tees.  I typically play the orange though if my swing isn't working well that day I'll move up to the greens.  Most male members play from the black tees and a good portion of them are higher handicap and have less distance than I do. 

We constantly see guys teeing off from black tees who barely hit passed the ladies tee box.  On some of our longer par 3's (200 & 203 yards) they can't reach the green using their driver.  Not only does this slow the course down but it has to be painful for them to struggle so much every round.   

[Groucho Valentine]

I love playing from the ladies tees so i can sample what it feels like to be Dustin Johnson. 

[bkuehn1952]

37 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

... On some of our longer par 3's ... they can't reach the green using their driver. 

I think this is a reasonable "test" for me.  There are typically going to be some par 4's where I struggle to reach in regulation.  When it gets to the point that I do not have a reasonable chance of hitting a par 3, even if driver is employed, then I have no business playing that set of tees. 

[Kloeshuman]

The coarse closest to me only has 3 tees , blue, white for men and red for women. They have now changed hands and I'm hoping they change that. I have only been on one coarse that encourages this type of play, I think it's great 

[Kalnoky]

They're not called "ladies tees" anymore. Where I play all 4 tees have a separate rating and slope for men/women, even the championship tees. 

 

[Kloeshuman]

Just now, Kalnoky said:

They're not called "ladies tees" anymore. Where I play all 4 tees have a separate rating and slope for men/women, even the championship tees. 

 

That's great! I think they should all do that

[bkuehn1952]

8 minutes ago, Kloeshuman said:

The coarse closest to me only has 3 tees , blue, white for men and red for women. They have now changed hands and I'm hoping they change that. I have only been on one coarse that encourages this type of play, I think it's great 

You might suggest they create "Blended Tees".  If one plays the "White/Red Blended" on some holes one tees off from the Red tees and on others, one tees off from the White.  The rating association can rate the "blended" set of tees for men and women.  It saves money over actually building more tees.  They can also "blend" the Blue & White to create 5 sets of tees without any earth moving.

[Kloeshuman]

2 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

You might suggest they create "Blended Tees".  If one plays the "White/Red Blended" on some holes one tees off from the Red tees and on others, one tees off from the White.  The rating association can rate the "blended" set of tees for men and women.  It saves money over actually building more tees.  They can also "blend" the Blue & White to create 5 sets of tees without any earth moving.

That's not a bad idea 

[Gunther]

I guess I'm an anomaly  (which may not be all that surprising).  I do not/cannot score better from the up tees.  It often brings more danger into play but I think the main reason is that I put more pressure on myself to score well because the slope and rating are lower so the impact of a good round on my hcap isn't as much and the impact of a bad round is worse.

Just experimented with this again on Sat.  We played the 1-ups during the round and I came through the front in 41.  Squeezed in an emergency 9 and played 2 tee boxes forward to get through quickly and I played that in 43.  I've done the opposite at my club on Texoma.  Went back to the tips for the emergency 9 and usually shoot the same or better from them.

I think it's a mental issue for me but I haven't seen the benefit of "play it forward.".

[gregsandiego]

15 minutes ago, Kalnoky said:

They're not called "ladies tees" anymore. Where I play all 4 tees have a separate rating and slope for men/women, even the championship tees. 

 

They can label them "super hero" tees if they want. The "ladies tees" moniker is so ingrained it's not going away.

[Kloeshuman]

11 minutes ago, Gunther said:

I guess I'm an anomaly  (which may not be all that surprising).  I do not/cannot score better from the up tees.  It often brings more danger into play but I think the main reason is that I put more pressure on myself to score well because the slope and rating are lower so the impact of a good round on my hcap isn't as much and the impact of a bad round is worse.

Just experimented with this again on Sat.  We played the 1-ups during the round and I came through the front in 41.  Squeezed in an emergency 9 and played 2 tee boxes forward to get through quickly and I played that in 43.  I've done the opposite at my club on Texoma.  Went back to the tips for the emergency 9 and usually shoot the same or better from them.

I think it's a mental issue for me but I haven't seen the benefit of "play it forward.".

So aren't the hazards there when you play the tips? I guess I would change my club to take the danger out of play

[Kalnoky]

10 minutes ago, gregsandiego said:

They can label them "super hero" tees if they want. 

Yellow, Green, Orange, Black, works well for us.

[RussUK]

I think this would benefit my work colleague quite a bit. Is this scheme (for want of a better word) an official thing set up by each club or would you say it could be done on an "informal" basis, say for e.g. playing from the red tees?

He's not been playing long and struggles with distance. I can see him enjoying it more if he only has a short iron for his approach ond not his 4 hybrid.

[dave s]

I've seen the driving distance = course length calculations and I play best when applying course distance to my personal driving length.  5800 on the extreme short side to around 6200 fits my driving distance.  Much more than 6200 and par-4 holes become 3-shot holes and the par 5s adventure holes.

We played Saturday to just over 6100 yards.  Perfect for all of us.  Par 3s were still long--one measured in at 204.  At that length, I don't feel over-matched by the course itself and have opportunities to make pars and the occasional birdie when I'm able to string together a good drive, a reasonably distanced approach shot and make a putt.

From that length Saturday, we shot 80, 82, my 85 and an 88.  Had we played from the tips, (6650) three of us would have shot 90+.  I'd rather shoot 85 than 95 any day, feel like I had a chance at a decent score and not leave feeling like I got beaten silly by a golf course.

Jack and other proponents of the 'tee it forward' concept got it right.  Making pars and having birdie opportunities during your round is much more fun than 3-shot par 4s all day long.

dave