Tee Box Selection

General Discussion
#1

After reading the bit on long par 3’s I thought this might be a topic of interest. Something I find interesting l, and I was guilty of this is playing from tee boxes that you shouldn’t. When I first started playing this game four years ago, my friends were all teeing off from the blue tees (or the tee box one up from the back). They had me tee off there with them. In reality, I probably should’ve been on the forward tees. More enjoyment for me and speed the game up.

I find it rather intriguing that in the UK they assign you a tee box based off of your handicap. If you don’t have a handicap they put you towards the forward tees. Wondering what people think of this and what would it take for the US to catch on to this to make the game more enjoyable and quicker for everyone…

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#2

I’ve seen lots of solutions… I think it would be interesting to have a note for what irons pros play into greens.

Justin Thomas occasionally played my home course, so it would be cool if they had “Justin hits a 8 iron from the blacks, be like Justin and hit an 8 iron” and then showed the yardages for the various tees… a rough concept of an idea, but encouraging people to choose distance by what they would hit into par 3s.

I’ve seen way too many people “get their moneys worth” by playing the back tees.

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#3

I love the idea of assigning a tee based on handicap. Too many people overestimate their current level of play and tee it back. It doesn’t do anything for them and it slows play down. Tee it forward, work on your game, and as you improve you can move it back.

I’ve never once judged someone for playing the whites or yellows when it suits their game. Nobody cares. Play from the spot that’s best for you even if your playing partners are all the way back. It’ll only help you enjoy the game more and make strides toward improvement.

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#4

I would actually argue that I judge people more playing from the back and hacking it around the course.

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#5

Was putting up a topic on this at the exact same time, based on the same other thread on long par 3’s. Great minds, aye?
For me, I think it is all about pace of play and whether or not it makes you frustrated. Problem is, the vast majority of golfers aren’t really going to have awareness of those things so that’s where a set standard is probably good to have. One of the courses I play at (the one that triggered the long par 3 discussion actually!) has a sign on the first tee “Typical score: 70-79 Black, 80-89 Blue, 90-99 White, 100+ Yellow”
I’m not sure if anyone actually reads the sign, but I like it as a concept and think folks would be better off using that as a benchmark. For me, I only play the back tees at a course I’ve played before, otherwise I’ll always go with a middle set. Also, as a single joined with others, I’ll play from the same tees as them if everyone else is on a particular set (“Hi, I’m Cory. Which tees are you planning on playing from?” is pretty much my stock greeting).

#6

At my course I always choose to play off the whites along with all the other members except Tuesday comp( which I don’t play in) and one Sunday a month where it is off the blues. I don’t enter and still play off whites. As a 19 handicapper I don’t need to make the course any harder for myself than it already is.

#7

I know there are some formulas out there based on how far you hit the ball, but I think if you’re not able to reach most par 4s in two, then you need to move up. You’re just making the game too hard, and less enjoyable for yourself IMO.

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#8

Hahaha. I would t call my mind great…I like that the course has that signage. Now to put your ego aside…

#9

This is the key. Calculations based on handicap, age, driver distance, etc are not really accurate (and how many people do we know who think they drive it further).

Myself, I prefer a challenging layout but I mainly play the back tees because so many course layouts have a very narrow landing for my drive from the whites or a bunch of dog legs that cause me to hit 6 irons off the tee, not fun golf IMO. Our group plays and arrangement of tees that leaves our drives in a similar spot on most holes.

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#10

I think more guidance from the public pro shops and helpful marshalls would be great for beginners

I am a big believer that if you aren’t consisting breaking 90 you should really be thinking about golf as a Stableford format…

Your key to getting better is to make less double bogeys so just pick up after net double

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#11

With the new USGA guidance around the WHS handicap implementation, picking up after a net double bogey (2 over par plus and handicap strokes) is within the rules and encouraged for recreational rounds, since that’s the highest number you can score for handicap purposes.

#12

I don’t mind it being handicap based, as distance and handicap are directly correlated… you will get some outliers for sure, but for the most part people will be playing from the correct tees…

The best thing it does, from a human nature standpoint, is makes the decision for you. Instead of having people guess how far they hit their drives or 5 irons, it says “15-20s play from the white tees”… People can still choose what tees to play from, but the guidance of “you’ll have the most fun playing from these tees” is helpful, I think.

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#13

Yep, I think pro shops and the marshalls need to make this abundantly clear though

The city employees at the Muny I used to frequent basically run your credit card and then set you loose…

Not the most motivated group of individuals

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#14

Yeah, there are always implementation problems…

This problem is also dependent on the course… at my club most of the guys play from an appropriate tee box because they play the course enough to know which tees are right for them and fun to play from…

At a resort course, I think there needs to be some guidance… they want you to have an enjoyable round and come back… the right tees help with that…

At a municipal course, motivations aren’t as clear… some guys just all want to play the same tees… some guys won’t play less than the back tees…

I don’t think there is a solution to actually get people to play the right tees, but it would be nice if there was a consistent suggestion for which tees people should play.

#15

When they make me dictator, all golfers will be playing from the appropriate tees and @devonpetersen will be forced to pick up putts inside the grip!

#16

I think the UK is on to something there assigning a tee based on the handicap, especially on busy courses. If there aren’t pace of play issues I guess there’s no harm in people beating themselves up on the wrong tee.

#17

Around here tee marker colors are back to forward black, blue, white, yellow & red.
Whatever tees = 6000-6100 yds, is for my gang usually the whites…
Well alternate white/gold tees to make a course into “our” yardage if need be.

#18

In my experience, 36 x 5 iron distance with small adjustments for skill level works very well. Unlike others, I think tee selection should be primarily based on distance rather than skill. Having a long hitting high handicap playing from the forward tees is of no help to him. Also, I think 80-90% of golfers play appropriate tees these days. I simply don’t see guys who doink it 150 all the time walking to the back tees.

Also, I don’t carry an official handicap and if a course made me play the forward tees because of it, I would simply not play there.

#19

I play local public courses, and most guys who I see playing off the back tees probably should move up. Being an old guy who is not long off the tee I have no problem playing from the white tees regardless of what the rest of the group plays from. My optimal yardages are 5,800 - 6,000.

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#20

Next to two players sharing a cart and not playing ready golf, this is a main culprit for slow play and I wish every pro would monitor this. And to add, its knowing your carry yardage off the tee as well as GHIN that should be accounted.