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.