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Does Your Course Support the Longleaf Tee System?


iacas
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Longleaf Tee System  

23 members have voted

  1. 1. Does your course have the Longleaf Tee System in place?

    • Yes, it does!
      0
    • It doesn't have this exact system, but something close.
      6
    • We have some junior tees, but that's about it.
      6
    • We don't have anything, really, for junior golfers.
      11
  2. 2. If your course does not have the Longleaf system or an equivalent, will you lobby for them to add it in 2018?

    • We have a great system in place already.
      1
    • I will be lobbying for the Longleaf Tee System in 2018.
      8
    • I will not be lobbying for a system like this in 2018.
      14


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My course has a great setup for juniors. They have a full academy, taster sessions on a saturday morning, plus they are offering under 12's a years membership for £50 if they take the academy tuition (6 hours for £45 i think it was). They start on the 3 hole academy course and once they have got the basics move on to the 9 holer then the two 18's. Considering it for my eldest when he is a little older as i'd be eligeble for discount membership or green fees.

I've watched the saturday taster's and they look so much fun, no pressure on the kids and lots of laughs, just as it should be for the little 'uns.

Russ, from "sunny" Yorkshire = :-( 

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I really wish there were more tee options at the courses around my area. I play with a very wide range of golfer skill levels.When I play with some of my friends who are only very casual golfers (like they enjoy the game of golf, but simply don't have the time or desire to hit the driving range regularly or get lessons), they are entirely restricted to playing executive courses because they feel normal 18 hole courses are too hard and too intimidating, particularly because they know they don't want to hold up other players. A system like this would go a long way to inviting them to experience full courses (i.e. not the little pitch-and-putts) and allow all of us to play at an appropriate level of challenge. And I think if they got to enjoy the full 18 hole courses more they'd be more enthusiastic about the game because, frankly, the executive courses simply don't offer the full experience of golf, in my opinion (bigger shots with the woods or long irons, expansive fairways, the scenery, generally better level of grounds maintenance, etc.).

Edited by wackychan
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First I'm hearing of it, but I like it.  I'm going to try to bring it up with someone who might be able to get the ball rolling on it.

-- Michael | My swing! 

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One of our local municipals, Rockwood Park, went through a 2 year renovation and re-opened last June. It has a semblance of this system by having 5 tees ranging from about 5150 to 7050. It provides a mix of playing Red/White to have a course of about 5500 yards. Seniors like that one as well as the White at 5900. So I think they are trying. The course is also headquarters for a large First Tee operation; not sure what is recommended for the Junior golfers.

I have not played our several other munys much this year. I don't know what they have done. But I'm a member of Texas Golf Ass'n and Fort Worth Golf is my "home" for my GHIN. I can circulate @iacas post via email if OK to the Fort Worth Golf and some other courses I play. Thanks and good idea, -Marv

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Never heard of the system before reading this thread this morning, and I don't expect to see it in action any time soon.  My home course in Denver has a set of fairly short tees now (about 5100 yards), aimed at both seniors and juniors, or anyone else who wishes to play from them.  I've played a few rounds from the gold tees over the last couple of years just for fun. 

Most of the younger kids who play at Foothills stick to the par 3 course (holes from 80 yards to 200 yards) until they can hit a driver far enough for the regular course to be a reasonable option.  I have seen a father with his son and he was setting his boy up at about 180 yards on the holes where the gold tees were still too long, but I've not heard of any plan to make any course changes to accommodate that.

Rick

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5 hours ago, MarvChamp said:

I have not played our several other munys much this year. I don't know what they have done. But I'm a member of Texas Golf Ass'n and Fort Worth Golf is my "home" for my GHIN. I can circulate @iacas post via email if OK to the Fort Worth Golf and some other courses I play. Thanks and good idea, -Marv

I recommend passing it along, definitely. 5100 yards is still a LONG ways for a nine-year-old. They'll wear out their fairway metal or hybrid, and almost never get to hit a green in regulation. If the average hole is 280+ yards… even if they drive it 150, that's 130 from there.

5 hours ago, Fourputt said:

Never heard of the system before reading this thread this morning, and I don't expect to see it in action any time soon.  My home course in Denver has a set of fairly short tees now (about 5100 yards), aimed at both seniors and juniors, or anyone else who wishes to play from them.  I've played a few rounds from the gold tees over the last couple of years just for fun.

Or, demonstrate that you care a little about the future of the game and pass it along. 5100 yards is far too long for a lot of juniors.

5 hours ago, Fourputt said:

Most of the younger kids who play at Foothills stick to the par 3 course (holes from 80 yards to 200 yards) until they can hit a driver far enough for the regular course to be a reasonable option.

Right… why should they have to stick to that course until they can hit a driver 175+? Why not enjoy rounds on the "full" course, from 3200 yards or whatever, with their parents and/or friends?

5 hours ago, Fourputt said:

I have seen a father with his son and he was setting his boy up at about 180 yards on the holes where the gold tees were still too long, but I've not heard of any plan to make any course changes to accommodate that.

Be the change you wish to see in the world, Rick. :-)

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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30 minutes ago, iacas said:

I recommend passing it along, definitely.

Can do, will do. -Marv

DRIVER: Cleveland 588 Altitude ( Matrix Radix Sv Graphite, A) IRONS: Mizuno JPX-800 HD Irons & 3,4,5 JPX Fli-Hi (Grafalloy Prolaunch Blue Graphite, R); WEDGES: (Carried as needed) Artisan Golf 46, 50, 53, 56 low bounce, 56 high bounce; PUTTER: Mizuno TP Mills 9

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I've been advocating something like this for years. Of course I'm not pretending that I invented the concept, but it seems so obvious.

While juniors are a concern, I think it's even more important for older women. Women still tend to take up the game later in life, and are golf's best hope of growing (much like the NFL has capitalized on female fan interest). My mother is an avid golfer, but she's in her 70s, and is less than five feet tall. She just can't hit the ball far. So she loves those junior tees in the fairway down in Myrtle Beach. She pretends that she's "cheating" but she clearly enjoys her round more when she can hit two solid shots on a Par 4 on be on a green, as opposed to 80 yards out. Plus, senior men really lose their distance around age 70. Many senior tees simply aren't short enough. And many courses have lazily built their gold tees five yards behind the red tees, making the men feel like goobers as they can still far outdrive their wives.

More of this! I fully advocate this.

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My course in the Netherlands has junior tees and its a 36 holes course. One of the 9 holes is far more easy and shorter, so it could be used as a step between junior and longer tees.

My course in Spain has only 4 tees, but smart as they are to attract tourists, they moved all teeboxes up, so only backtees are backtees. The rest is way shorter then it should be.

For us as members this is okay. We play sometimes from ‘the bloques’ (where the tees are placed by the greenkeeper), or we play from ‘the plates’ (where the tees should be there is a plate in the ground).

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On 11/20/2017 at 10:34 PM, iacas said:

They stand for the mixed tees. Look at the scorecard at the top and you'll see they tell you to play white on this hole, green on this hole, etc. So 7 sets of tees can create 13 specific sets of tees by mixing 1 and 2, 2 and 3, etc.

 

If players will be able to pick and choose which colour the play on any hole, 18 x 7 courses will have to be rated. 

As it happens my course has 6 coloured courses rated. The 5 longest rated for men and the 3 shortest for women. We also have an unrated 'short' forward course for juniors.

But players playing 'socially' seem reluctant to take the mitch 'n' match approach although, not being a long hitter, I do personally.

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1 hour ago, Rulesman said:

If players will be able to pick and choose which colour the play on any hole, 18 x 7 courses will have to be rated. 

Yes, but that's just dumb, and they won't "have" to be rated, because you can just use the formulas.

Heck, we don't even rate all the existing tees now: when one tee is close enough to another tee, often on par threes, we'll often just rate one or two tees for men and women even if there are five tees on the hole.

I doubt the "x.5" tees are actually rated and Form 1s are filled out for them all. That'd be crazy.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
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  • 4 months later...

I played at 25 or so different  courses in the last year, and never saw anything like this. It does look like a good idea .

I inquired about it at our local course. They said mens' and womens' clubs were not in favor of it. They do have yardage posts on the sides of the fairways for the youngsters to use however. 

Expense was a factor, which makes sense around here. We're losing another golf course due lack of revenue. They are going to turn it into a housing development once the all the arguments are settled. 

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  • 9 months later...
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https://www.golfcourseindustry.com/article/tee-maintenance-longleaf/

JasonFriedman.jpg?w=736&h=414&mode=crop

Superintendents learning to make maintenance tradeoffs as facilities implement design changes to attract new business.

 

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Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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On 11/20/2017 at 11:52 AM, iacas said:

http://www.longleafteesystem.com

Essentially, the Longleaf Tee System is a system that uses seven or even eight sets of tees per hole based on driving distance:

longleaf.jpg

If you drive it 100 yards, you play from the #1 tees. This works out to about 3100 yards for 18 holes. Drive it 250, and the #7 tees are probably suitable for you, at about 6800 yards.

Often doing this only means that the course has to install a few new tee markers in the fairways or mow down some areas in the rough, for the shorter three sets of tees, yet this can greatly aid new players in taking up the game. Sometimes a course will do something like this, and call them "family tees" or something, but the Longleaf system is a really, really solid way to codify this and create somewhat of a standard.

They also recommend you do something as simple as this on your practice range:

llts-range-poles.jpg

And they allow for "half" versions of the tees, creating even more playing lengths, with a simple arrow system:

Longleaf-Scorecard-2018-ratings.jpg

For example, @NatalieB drove the ball about 150 yards a few years ago, so she'd play the #2 tees, but as she grew a bit, she'd graduate to the "2.5" tees and play a mixture of #2 and #3, before moving on to the #3 tees. Or, on days when it's soggy, she could go back to the #2 tees, and on firm days, even play the "3.5" tees if she was getting a lot of roll.

The beauty of this is multifold:

  • It's really inexpensive. Often just some new tee markers.
  • It gets everyone involved in the game, yet it still feels like golf rather than just "oh, tee off from about here, kiddo."
  • It's standardized and will spread throughout the game, letting juniors compete and learn the game from similar distances at multiple courses.
  • It lets you play against your kids in a fair, standardized way, and lets your kids compete against each other, from an early age. Or compete against themselves. Whatever they're competing against, the standardized nature lends credence to their accomplishments, as they can say "I broke 90 from the #2 tees today!"

So, does your course support the Longleaf system? I suspect few will, but I hope more will over time.

Took a long time today to look this over.  As a senior, I often play from a forward tee and feel not only would this keep the fun in the game, but would allow many types of golfers to not only enjoy the game more (less frustrating) but aid in bringing many newer players into the game and help them stay with the game by adapting the game to improving skill and, for juniors, changing physicality.  

Chatted with my pro/coach about this and his response was an enthusiastic "Why the hell not?" 

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I really like this, especially for PoP. We have something similar right now, but a lot of players insist on playing from the USGA markers then end up duffing their way to the green.

With this is place, no one will feel too bad about it since they would be able to get an official handicap playing any of the tees.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wish! 

A lot of the courses I have played so far in Thailand only seem to have mens and womens tee boxes. The course I played last weekend had a 600 yard par 5 which for a short hitter like myself was a nightmare!

 

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