But those guys would still bring out their drivers even if they were playing from the gold tees.
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I mean if a guy who can hit it 300 wants to pull driver on a 250 yard par 4, then by all means go for it. Hope they enjoy never breaking 100.
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Honestly, I think this is an overly broad topic that has a ton of nuance behind it that tends to get overlooked when discussing “the right tees”.
I play the same course 90% of the time… I’ve play the whites regularly, can play the blacks and have played the greens… the majority of the guys I’m playing with play whites or greens… there are a few that should move up to the greens (and probably up to the golds in the next five years) but they are mostly hurting their own enjoyment… hybrid into most par fours isn’t a ton of fun. These guys aren’t going to listen to anyone else about what tees they should play, they’ll just eventually realize more forward tees are more enjoyable for them (my dad has done this recently).
Public courses are more of a mess… people aren’t playing routinely and can’t necessarily tell the difference between the different tee boxes if they are only playing the course once a month… guidance here is good, but I’m not sure how many will know their handicap or listen… my guess is the majority of guys under 50 play the second back tees and call it a day.
I think tee box selection is an interesting mix of ego, overestimation of skills and norm following…
I don’t think the uncontrolled 300 yard driver is well served playing forward tees… yes, they’d be better off with a different club in their hands for that round, but at some point you need to learn to put your distance into play. I believe pain is the best motivator (not my parenting philosophy!) and so making the guy hit driver and figure out the best way to score is to get driver into control is the best way for him to learn.
That said, I have no complaint about the same guy acknowledging he can’t hit driver, playing the forward tees and hitting hybrid…
I guess to me, ultimately what makes golf great is our ability to choose our path forward and that we live with the consequences of those choices. Playing the wrong tee box brings its own consequences and I’m fine with that.
At the end of the day, I’d rather have people be able to make an informed choice, so I like having guidelines… but I want them to have the freedom to choose… but I also think if you can’t keep up with the group ahead of you, there should also be consequences…
I don’t really have a cohesive point… so my summary is play the tees you want, but accept the consequences… keep up with pace of play or get out of my way.
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This 100%. Also, to your uncontrolled driver person point, I agree they should work to get driver under control but 10:30am on the second tee box of a packed public course isn’t the place.
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Haha, yes.
I guess more than anything wrong tees can punish everyone behind you AND diminish your own experience…
I think a lot of people try to hide fixing the first problem by addressing the second problem…
Honestly, this would be a funny way to address place of play… every time you get a warning from a marshal, you have to move up a tee box. If you can’t keep pace from the forward tees, it’s not your tee box selection!
Two of my favorite courses (Rustic Canyon and Pasatiempo) have a mixed tee option on the scorecard (for Rustic, the Hanse tees, for Pasatiempo the blue scorecards) and whenever I see that, it is an automatic play. It keeps you thinking as you approach the next tee box and it so much fun to see where the mixed tees put you relative to the rest of the tee box and it does change what is in front of you for your next shot.
I wish more courses would offer a mixed option on the scorecard. No need to create different boxes, just different thinking!
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I’ve been seeing more of this, too, and it’s such a good fix.
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This player is going to hit it all over the course regardless of what tees they play or what club they tee off with.
I mean 95% of the time you’re right, but I have a buddy who fires darts with his irons and lasers with his hybrid, but I don’t think he’s ever hit a fairway with any driver he’s ever swung in his life. Some people just have a block with the big stick and think they’ll eventually just swing it out of them.
Not necessarily the course I play I hit driver on 7 holes off the back tees. Off the tees one forward I hit driver 10 possible 11 (11 if the tee box is way over on the left) times as there are hazard I can carry with Driver off the front tees.
Fail to see how this is going to help the guy who hits every club in his bag all over the place.
That guy needs to be on the range. Not the course.
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Disagree. Anyone who wishes to be on the course should be on the course. This player just needs to be conscious about spending too much time looking for balls.
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The handicap tee box assignment is the most proper, IMO. The difference between a guy/gal who can bomb driver and a guy/gal who is a scratch golfer is huge, no matter which tee box they’re assigned. A 230 yard average distance drive for a scratch golfer would be rather uncommon, but for arguments sake, he/she clearly has great control of his/her overall game if he’/she’s a scratch golfer. Therefore they could play from the tips, if you will and manage to get around the course rather quickly. Where a long hitter but high handicapper will be bombing and searching and slowing down pace of play. Golf isn’t all about how far you can hit the ball, but how you can manage the course. The long drive competition is for a bomber and maybe that’s where the focus should be.
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The long bomber whose slowing down play because of searching for balls, will be searching for balls regardless of what tees they play. They need to spend less time looking for balls, not move up tee boxes. Also it’s pretty ridiculous to suggest they just focus on long drive - maybe they like golf more.
I think this said person is a rarity amongst golfers and the focus for them should be to manage their pace of play. If they are with people who have proper golf etiquette hopefully they can impart wisdom as to not slow the course down. Otherwise, this person shouldn’t be playing golf if they can’t follow the general rules of golf. No reason to make everyone else’s life miserable to accommodate one person who has total disregard for the game and the people who are trying to enjoy it.
I agree about looking for lost balls. Moving to 3 minutes for a search was one of the best rules changes.
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^^ I’m in agreement there!
I like to think of it as a driving analogy…
You get in your car, it’s 1/2 hour from where you are to home on a single lane road. You start out ok, but soon you catch up to a slower moving car in front of you.
Again… hypothetical single lane road with no room to pass anywhere … so you’re stuck behind this person.
And now 1/2 hour has passed and you’re barely 1/2 way to your destination…
Do you…
- flash your lights?
- honk your horn?
- tailgate trying to “push” the car ahead to move faster?
…or… - do you start to yell and curse and let the road rage take over?
My point is - the golf course (like a public road) is a shared resource and functions best when all people using that resource do it cooperatively and with consideration of others.
My $0.02
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Love this analogy, makes perfect sense and puts it into everyday perspective.
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How about: “If you’re more than 1/2 hole behind group in front, play faster or wave group behind thru”. PoP has nothing to do with tee box.
Personal rant: if PGA enforced that along with a rule that if you don’t complete your round in 4hrs, your score doesn’t count (DQ). No excuse for a 6hr twosome IMO.
Or maybe force pros to play from forward tees? 
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