Determining Which Tees to play Options

[SeekonkHolen1]

What is the best way to determine which Tees to play from? I play with a guy that no matter where we go he insists that we play from the tips. Another guy I play with always the whites or Middle Tees. Is there a way to determine which one is right for your game?


Jorge

[TMAG-FireMedic]

What is the best way to determine which Tees to play from? I play with a guy that no matter where we go he insists that we play from the tips. Another guy I play with always the whites or Middle Tees. Is there a way to determine which one is right for your game?


Jorge

If you can't reach the par-4's in 2......you are playing the WRONG tees!!!!

This post has been edited by TMAG-FireMedic: Jun 23 2009, 03:21 PM

[doggboyy]

If it is your home course, mix it up and play different tees. You will have to hit shots you regularly not used to. If it is a new course, play tees that you can reach the longest par four with two good shots. Have fun without delaying your round or those that will be following you.

[manbearpig]

Give yourself a chance out there. Yes I can hit 300+ yards and play from the tips if I want too but with the rebuild of my game it would just punish me. I've played whites my last few round because I'm in a swing rebuild and consistently breaking 80 again is good for my confidence. Problem now is I gotta get more mid iron work in so I'll be moving back to the blues. From the whites I got a lot of practice from 100 yards and in though.

I'll just never kill myself. Gonna play for instance Chambers Bay this year and I know my buddies will insist on playing the tips but I'll talk them down to the blues because I still wanna be able to score.

[Diesel]

your 5I distance x 36...

that'll give you a good general "max" yardage you'll want to play...

[yuck]

Food for thought

If you can hit your driver a reasonable distance, 270+ mostly carry, and your 7 iron play distance is 170+, you can handle 7100+ yards even if you are not a low capper. What happens is many fairways really narrow, pinch or turn to quickly when a longer hitter is playing shorter tees. It is no fun to hit irons off the tee because you are playing up. Most courses I have played are more "open" from the back tees, plus it gives you a chance against those pesky short hitters who are better than you..... Unless they have to hit FW metals, or hybrids to greens you are hitting 8 irons to. They would dust you if they get a short iron in their hands and you are hitting half wedges from the trees and rough....

[CowtownTexas]

Look at the slope and course rating and compare it to your home course. The slope is how a bogey golfer will play the course, while the course rating has more to do with a scratch player against par. Of course, the yardage makes a difference as well.

I typically try to pick something about the same or a little easier than my home course when I am on a new course.

[Dizzub]

In my opinion if you cannot break 80 at a certain set of tees then you shouldn't move back. I would say if you cannot break par from those tees then you shouldn't move back but I think 80 is a better measure because I know plenty of guys that have the tee to green game to play from 7,000+ but just cannot chip and putt like a scratch player. Obviously if you are a man you start at the whites and play there until you a consistently breaking 80, now if you are happy shooting low scores from those tees and don't want to move back then that's fine as well.

I see this all the time, I went out for a twilight round by myself last night and I'm living in a new area throughout the week and have no one to play with. A guy on the first tee asked if I wanted to play with him but he was playing from the back tees. I told him that was fine but he insisted I need to be a "good" player to play back there. He was a nice guy and quick but he had no business playing back that far, he just didn't get off the tee well enough to justify playing it from that yardage. I think he shot 11 or 12 over par but it could have been a lot better from tees 300 yards closer.

[eaglecabport]

For me, I generally use the rating and slope, in conjunction with yardage to dictate what tees I play.

With my current index, and the fact that I can hit drives 260-320 (depends on my swing at any given moment...lol), a course yardage of under 6300 yards is just not as fun.

I usually try to find a rating around 70.5-72 (for a par 72) combined with a slope of 120-130 and yardage around 6500. That is pretty average for me.

Right now, I am having serious swing issues so am not scoring well (my last 3 months have seen my scores playing to anything from a 6.0 to a 19.4) but I know I will start to get something resembling consistency soon. That said, when I was playing well, and to a 5 index, I used to play course with slopes in the 135-140 range and ratings around 71.5-73.5 in general. Length is not the issue for me, though I am not going out to play a 7,000 yard course as I know that is too much for me.

Use what makes you comfortable to enjoy the game but still able to score reasonably.

The previous post about saying that if you cannot consistently break 80, don't move up......what an absolutely insane comment to make.

My distance is not an issue but my accuracy is. Whether driver, 3 wood or hybrid, does not make as much difference as it does for a better player (in MY case, that is). I do not want to play a course where I am hitting irons or a hybrid of most tees. Sorry, but that is boring for me. I need work on my driver so I want to hit my driver....to get more confidence. It works on the range and I want to make it work on the course. I do not want to be going driver, pitch shot on 350 yard holes. When I play in scrambles, that is what happens and I do not think it is anywhere near as fun. Ego boosting, yes but not fun.

I hit an 8 iron 150-158 yards, roughly, so I am not a short hitter. I playe a course recently from the blues at 6600 yards. A guy paired up with me usually played one set fo tees forward but he decided he woudl play with me. He acknowledged he would never do so again as some carry distances were too much for his swing. He tried once and realized it is nto for him. I do not fault him for trying but praise him for realizing he was over his head.

[Mr.B]

What is the best way to determine which Tees to play from? I play with a guy that no matter where we go he insists that we play from the tips. Another guy I play with always the whites or Middle Tees. Is there a way to determine which one is right for your game?


Jorge

If you can't reach to the par-4's in 2......you are playing the WRONG tees!!!!

Nailed it

[bazinky]

I've got a slightly different take. Play whatever tees you want, as long as you can maintain the proper pace of play from them. I'm so sick of playing with guys that play the tips because they can hit the ball a long way, but can't keep it on the planet. I don't care how long you are, if your spending all day in the trees or the fescue, move up a box.

Nothing wears me out more mentally than constantly trying to find someone else's ball just to help maintain pace of play ...

[eaglecabport]

I've got a slightly different take. Play whatever tees you want, as long as you can maintain the proper pace of play from them. I'm so sick of playing with guys that play the tips because they can hit the ball a long way, but can't keep it on the planet. I don't care how long you are, if your spending all day in the trees or the fescue, move up a box.

Nothing wears me out more mentally than constantly trying to find someone else's ball just to help maintain pace of play ...

Moving up a box does not keep me out of trees/fescue. It just means I am looking in a different part of the trees/fescue.

I am not very accurate but I definitely do not spend much time looknig for my ball. If not readily visible with only slight branch moving, I call it done and play my provisional (if I deemed a lost ball as a possibility). I play pretty fast so never hold things up and I never play the tips. Longest I play is the blues.

[DrSchteeve]

I'm a bit surprised no one has brought up what I think is the "traditional" way - some variation on handicap 0-6 is tips, handicap 6-12 is men's long, handicap 13+ is men's short. This doesn't work exactly, since us seniors (I'm 53) can't always handle men's long if they are 6500+.

I think judging what to play by how far you hit your driver makes no sense. There are plenty of guys who occasionally can crank out a 275 or 300 yard drive, yet they still shoot 110. I wouldn't mind except these are the same guys who spend 5 minutes looking for their lost balls, take 5 practice swings before they duff their irons, etc.

I think easily half of the casual golfers I see or meet play tees that are too long for their game, and probably a good third of the regular golfers also do the same. Now that I think about it, I think the suggestion above about playing the tees that you can routinely break 80 from makes some sense. Of course, I'll never get the guys in my group who have never broken 80 to move up to the ladies tees...

I was at a course in Pawley's Island (Heritage - a GREAT track), where they painted the up tees gold instead of red. When I asked the ranger about it, he said that all the old guys (this is Myrtle Beach, and they have a lot of 70+ golfers) would never play the "red" tees because they were the ladies tees, so they just painted them gold and called them the senior tees and the older guys would play them with no problem. Wow, our ego's sure to get in the way sometimes....

[Dizzub]

For me, I generally use the rating and slope, in conjunction with yardage to dictate what tees I play.

With my current index, and the fact that I can hit drives 260-320 (depends on my swing at any given moment...lol), a course yardage of under 6300 yards is just not as fun.

I usually try to find a rating around 70.5-72 (for a par 72) combined with a slope of 120-130 and yardage around 6500. That is pretty average for me.

Right now, I am having serious swing issues so am not scoring well (my last 3 months have seen my scores playing to anything from a 6.0 to a 19.4) but I know I will start to get something resembling consistency soon. That said, when I was playing well, and to a 5 index, I used to play course with slopes in the 135-140 range and ratings around 71.5-73.5 in general. Length is not the issue for me, though I am not going out to play a 7,000 yard course as I know that is too much for me.

Use what makes you comfortable to enjoy the game but still able to score reasonably.

The previous post about saying that if you cannot consistently break 80, don't move up......what an absolutely insane comment to make.

My distance is not an issue but my accuracy is. Whether driver, 3 wood or hybrid, does not make as much difference as it does for a better player (in MY case, that is). I do not want to play a course where I am hitting irons or a hybrid of most tees. Sorry, but that is boring for me. I need work on my driver so I want to hit my driver....to get more confidence. It works on the range and I want to make it work on the course. I do not want to be going driver, pitch shot on 350 yard holes. When I play in scrambles, that is what happens and I do not think it is anywhere near as fun. Ego boosting, yes but not fun.

I hit an 8 iron 150-158 yards, roughly, so I am not a short hitter. I playe a course recently from the blues at 6600 yards. A guy paired up with me usually played one set fo tees forward but he decided he woudl play with me. He acknowledged he would never do so again as some carry distances were too much for his swing. He tried once and realized it is nto for him. I do not fault him for trying but praise him for realizing he was over his head.

I'm sorry but I think most people without the game to break 80 would be best playing the white tees. I can't remember who it was now, but an all time great said you shouldn't move back to the tips until you can break par from the previous tees. You said driver- pitch isn't very fun...but how fun is shooting a score that results in a 19.4 differential? Its just my opinion, "insane" to me is thinking its ok to be holding everyone up playing golf from 7,000 yards when you cannot drive it anywhere near the fairway with a hybrid let alone a driver.

[Dizzub]

I'm a bit surprised no one has brought up what I think is the "traditional" way - some variation on handicap 0-6 is tips, handicap 6-12 is men's long, handicap 13+ is men's short. This doesn't work exactly, since us seniors (I'm 53) can't always handle men's long if they are 6500+.

I think judging what to play by how far you hit your driver makes no sense. There are plenty of guys who occasionally can crank out a 275 or 300 yard drive, yet they still shoot 110. I wouldn't mind except these are the same guys who spend 5 minutes looking for their lost balls, take 5 practice swings before they duff their irons, etc.

I think easily half of the casual golfers I see or meet play tees that are too long for their game, and probably a good third of the regular golfers also do the same. Now that I think about it, I think the suggestion above about playing the tees that you can routinely break 80 from makes some sense. Of course, I'll never get the guys in my group who have never broken 80 to move up to the ladies tees...

I was at a course in Pawley's Island (Heritage - a GREAT track), where they painted the up tees gold instead of red. When I asked the ranger about it, he said that all the old guys (this is Myrtle Beach, and they have a lot of 70+ golfers) would never play the "red" tees because they were the ladies tees, so they just painted them gold and called them the senior tees and the older guys would play them with no problem. Wow, our ego's sure to get in the way sometimes....

LOL true that's why I said if you are a man you start at the white tee's.

[HoosierGolfer]

Simply take the slope rating of the longest tee's on your course and subtract your handicap. Compare to all slope ratings for each tee. Choose the one that is close to that number.

[eaglecabport]

to previous poster....

see my index? it is 9.5.

I am not Mr. Accuracy but apparently I can still hold my own. I do not hold up play. I play well enough that yes, if sometimes I am looking for my ball, so be it.

Apparently some cannot read also.....moving closer mean I am just looking in a different part of the trees. I am not going to sit there and hit irons off the tees.

Someone else agreed with the idea that if nto shooting under 80, do nto move up. So, let's see.....the "average" US golfer shoots 95 (accordign to articles I have read - not my stats). On that basis, they should never play golf because from their tees, they cannot break 80. They should stick with executive or par 3 courses. What a silly suggestion to say they should break 80 before moving back.

Of course I am not saying just because someone hits a driver 300+ yards that they should play the tips. If these two previous guys actually read my whole thread, I talked about a combination of yardage and ratings/slope, in addition to how I am playing. When hacking it around, I choose shorter yardages. When playing well, I move back and choose harder courses. Not rocket science.

I do not care about the color of the tees. Just the yardage and rating/slope. I played a 6200 yard set of tees because teh rating and slope looked penal enough and I did nto want to beat myself up for a longer yardage that had a 140+ slope and a 73.5 rating from 6600 yards. I play according to my ability.

But thank you to Dizzub for your input.

[Dizzub]

to previous poster....

see my index? it is 9.5.

I am not Mr. Accuracy but apparently I can still hold my own. I do not hold up play. I play well enough that yes, if sometimes I am looking for my ball, so be it.

Apparently some cannot read also.....moving closer mean I am just looking in a different part of the trees. I am not going to sit there and hit irons off the tees.

Someone else agreed with the idea that if nto shooting under 80, do nto move up. So, let's see.....the "average" US golfer shoots 95 (accordign to articles I have read - not my stats). On that basis, they should never play golf because from their tees, they cannot break 80. They should stick with executive or par 3 courses. What a silly suggestion to say they should break 80 before moving back.

Of course I am not saying just because someone hits a driver 300+ yards that they should play the tips. If these two previous guys actually read my whole thread, I talked about a combination of yardage and ratings/slope, in addition to how I am playing. When hacking it around, I choose shorter yardages. When playing well, I move back and choose harder courses. Not rocket science.

I do not care about the color of the tees. Just the yardage and rating/slope. I played a 6200 yard set of tees because teh rating and slope looked penal enough and I did nto want to beat myself up for a longer yardage that had a 140+ slope and a 73.5 rating from 6600 yards. I play according to my ability.

But thank you to Dizzub for your input.

First of all, I never said you had to use my opinion. I also said if you are a man, then start at the men's tees. Nowhere did I say beginners and guys that shoot above 80 shouldn't play golf or only play golf on executive courses. Second of all, I didn't mean you...I do not know your game. It was just a general statement, I used 19.4 as a differential that you used because obviously you didn't play well and playing bad is never fun. Whether you just didn't play well or played the wrong set of tees I don't know but I really didn't mean that statement directed at you.

Everyone starts somewhere and it's my opinion that you start at the white tees...when you can break 80 from those tees go ahead and move back. But I agree with what you said about looking at course rating/slope because every course is rated differently and playing the white tees somewhere wide open at 5800 yards isn't going to benefit your game. Bottom line is, play whatever tees you want, most of the time no one is going to stop you...I was just throwing in my two cents, which probably isn't even worth that much.

[DrSchteeve]

Here's some more ideas....

1) Play tees you enjoy just don't hold up play
2) If you can't break 90 routinely from those tees, consider moving up

[MtlJeff]

You should just know what tees to play...there is no right and wrong answer

how far you hit, what you shoot etc...all factors. But you should just know. I mean if you're shooting 95 from the back tees, i'd say move up one. But if you're around 80-82, really, you should know which one your game is better suited for (I have a friend who shoots 80ish but plays from the whites because he drives only 220). Know your own game and make a decision

[bscinstnct]

Here's some more ideas....

1) Play tees you enjoy just don't hold up play
2) If you can't break 90 routinely from those tees, consider moving up

There you go.

[Tim Delgado]

Here's some more ideas....

1) Play tees you enjoy just don't hold up play
2) If you can't break 90 routinely from those tees, consider moving up

There you go.

Not really.

If you are shooting in the high 80s, you DON'T need to be playing the tips on a championship golf course.

Of course if the course is empty, and you want to see what the holes play like at tour-length, there is nothing wrong with that.

But the guy playing bogey golf from the 7,400+ yard tips at Redstone Tournament course (home of the Shell Houston Open) on a busy weekend day is only slowing down play and looking silly IMO.

Keep it simple, if you shoot in the 70s or better, play the tips. Shoot in the 80s, play the "one-ups". Shoot in the 90s or worse, play the front tees.

Tim

This post has been edited by Tim Delgado: Jun 23 2009, 07:14 PM

[HoosierGolfer]

What is the best way to determine which Tees to play from? I play with a guy that no matter where we go he insists that we play from the tips. Another guy I play with always the whites or Middle Tees. Is there a way to determine which one is right for your game?
Jorge

Jorge, Try the USGA. You will get much less mindless drabble.

http://www.usga.org/HandicapFAQ/handicap_answer.asp?FAQidx=6

[bscinstnct]

Here's some more ideas....

1) Play tees you enjoy just don't hold up play
2) If you can't break 90 routinely from those tees, consider moving up

There you go.

Not really.

If you are shooting in the high 80s, you DON'T need to be playing the tips on a championship golf course.

Of course if the course is empty, and you want to see what the holes play like at tour-length, there is nothing wrong with that.

But the guy playing bogey golf from the 7,400+ yard tips at Redstone Tournament course (home of the Shell Houston Open) on a busy weekend day is only slowing down play and looking silly IMO.

Keep it simple, if you shoot in the 70s or better, play the tips. Shoot in the 80s, play the "one-ups". Shoot in the 90s or worse, play the front tees.

Tim

I am not familiar with the Redstone Tournament golf course. I can tell you that I shoot from the tips mid 80s on a variety of decent golf courses in New York and have yet to be the one slowing down play.

As far as my club goes, I could shoot from 100 yards back from the tips and still be waiting on each hole for Mr. and Mrs. Brown
to finish putting out.

[Chief Illiniwek]

First off, I don't think anyone looks "silly" playing bogey golf. If you play bogey golf and don't waste a lot of time over every shot, you are easily going to keep up with the pace of play. And that's the answer to this in my opinion. Play absolutely any tee you want, just as long as you keep up with the group in front of you. What blows my mind are the guys on here that care so much about what other people are doing. If you aren't slowing down pace, and following etiquette, I really don't care what you do. Stand on your head to read putts if it makes you happy...

[HackerD]

My reading of the OP was, which tees would be appropriate for an enjoyable round? If you play tees that are too tough for your game you will often be miserable. Even if you can keep up with the group in front of you.

You can base that assessment pretty much on the slope. A previous post suggested selecting the tees whose slope is close to the slope of a course you know that you can handle, such as your home course. If you know you can handle a 130 slope but any higher will be trouble, go for the longest tees under 130 slope.

[LucF]

Jorge, Try the USGA. You will get much less mindless drabble.
http://www.usga.org/HandicapFAQ/handicap_answer.asp?FAQidx=6

I find the USGA lingo on tees and rating/handicap does not compute. They assume that rating/slope compensates for the tees, but this does not correlate with my experience. I usually play from 6800-7500 yards. At the end of last year I tried playing for a few weeks from a maximum of 6200 yards to see what impact this would have on my index. It went down 3 points during that period -- and the movement wasn't caused buy a sudden improvement in my game.

Conclusion: one can't assume that the rating/slope compensates for the added difficulty of playing from the tips. Whatever the USGA says, a 10 from the tips is not the same as a 10 from the whites.

[Dizzub]

Jorge, Try the USGA. You will get much less mindless drabble.
http://www.usga.org/HandicapFAQ/handicap_answer.asp?FAQidx=6

I find the USGA lingo on tees and rating/handicap does not compute. They assume that rating/slope compensates for the tees, but this does not correlate with my experience. I usually play from 6800-7500 yards. At the end of last year I tried playing for a few weeks from a maximum of 6200 yards to see what impact this would have on my index. It went down 3 points during that period -- and the movement wasn't caused buy a sudden improvement in my game.

Conclusion: one can't assume that the rating/slope compensates for the added difficulty of playing from the tips. Whatever the USGA says, a 10 from the tips is [b]not the same as a 10 from the whites.[/b]

That is completely player dependent though. If your index dropped 3 shots from those tees its either because you aren't great off the tee or you are lacking with the longer irons. I have a couple guys I usually play and our home course is an easy par 72 thats wide open so you can spray the driver and get away with it. One of the guys is a solid player, shoots anywhere from 67-75 at this track because he sprays the driver. If he only played this course he would be a 0 index or better. But when we play other tougher tracks with a premium on driving he often has a hard time on breaking 80. But theres another guy in my group whos just an overall solid player, hits it straight and has a good short game. Hardly breaks 70 at the home track but rarely shoots above 75 anywhere...and were talking about courses rated 74-75.

[eaglecabport]

First of all, I never said you had to use my opinion. I also said if you are a man, then start at the men's tees. Nowhere did I say beginners and guys that shoot above 80 shouldn't play golf or only play golf on executive courses. Second of all, I didn't mean you...I do not know your game. It was just a general statement, I used 19.4 as a differential that you used because obviously you didn't play well and playing bad is never fun. Whether you just didn't play well or played the wrong set of tees I don't know but I really didn't mean that statement directed at you.

Everyone starts somewhere and it's my opinion that you start at the white tees...when you can break 80 from those tees go ahead and move back. But I agree with what you said about looking at course rating/slope because every course is rated differently and playing the white tees somewhere wide open at 5800 yards isn't going to benefit your game. Bottom line is, play whatever tees you want, most of the time no one is going to stop you...I was just throwing in my two cents, which probably isn't even worth that much.

Dizzub,

I hereby apologize to you for misinterpreting your original response. I see from above that I was wrong and am big enough to admit and apologize for it.

In the case of my recent 19.4, it was indeed just playing badly. I had soooo many things in my head, like not trusting that I could square up the club face and feeling like I was going to flare on out with my irons, so I tighten up my right hand and flip an ugly hook....of when ignoring that internal advice, I leave the face open for a huge push. My drives were even worse. Just so the golf gods made sure I was going to come back, I holed and 80 yard shot for birdie on a par 5, after taking a penalty drop from a hazard wayyyyyy right on an attempted "going for green in 2" shot. Add another birdie chip-in on a par 3, and then my favorite........18th hole: huge drive straight pull but not badly...along rough line. I was not aware the water was as close as it was (new course for me) or may have taken 3 wood. I took my drop, then hitting over water to a peninsula green with my 3rd, I hit a PW from 125 or so, tracked at the pin, one hopped past the pin and spun back to 2 inches away. Made par. My bad shots were somewhat compensated by my putter....26 putts on the day, including 3 "0" putt greens. What a game.

Anyway...I just wanted to acknowledge your reply and admit my error in reaction.

This post has been edited by eaglecabport: Jun 24 2009, 08:47 AM

[Bobcat 2]

The best answer to me is play the tees which you can carry the trouble into the fairway regularly. From the fairway, its anybody's game depending on their short game skill. If we wait until we break eighty to move up most of us would still be on the reds.

[Clubtuner]

Jorge,

just play the red Tee's like I do!

[Tim Delgado]

My reading of the OP was, which tees would be appropriate for an enjoyable round? If you play tees that are too tough for your game you will often be miserable. Even if you can keep up with the group in front of you.

Exactly my point.

Sure, some guys may be able to keep up with the pace of play by shooting bogey golf from the tips of a championship-length course, but is that really the point??

If you are that bogey golfer that scores in the high 80s and even sometimes over 90, what are you gaining from playing the tips?

The course has multiple tees for a reason. If you can't break 80 from the white tees, you probably have no business going to the back tees IMO.

I don't care what tees someone is playing as long as they don't hold us up, but I must admit that it does seem sort of foolish and false-ego driven when we see guys playing the tips that have no business doing so.

If you want to be the guy posting the 88 from the tips, go ahead, but just be aware that most serious golfers will think you are a

Tim

[Bluefan75]

I tend to play one up if the tips are above 7,000, but I can handle that, and I'm about a 9 at the moment. The one thing I have found is that, consistently, a bad shot from the next tee up gets in just as much trouble as one from the tips. I've yet to shoot a different score from the tips that I would have shot hitting the same shots from the different tees.

[yuck]

Jorge, Try the USGA. You will get much less mindless drabble.
http://www.usga.org/HandicapFAQ/handicap_answer.asp?FAQidx=6

I find the USGA lingo on tees and rating/handicap does not compute. They assume that rating/slope compensates for the tees, but this does not correlate with my experience. I usually play from 6800-7500 yards. At the end of last year I tried playing for a few weeks from a maximum of 6200 yards to see what impact this would have on my index. It went down 3 points during that period -- and the movement wasn't caused buy a sudden improvement in my game.

Conclusion: one can't assume that the rating/slope compensates for the added difficulty of playing from the tips. Whatever the USGA says, a 10 from the tips is not the same as a 10 from the whites.

Just the opposite for me. When I play much under 7000 yards, I have a lot of partial Sand and Lob wedges to the green, from the rough / trees. I am a poor wedge player to begin with, but I am much more comfortable 130 to 150 from the green. My scores do not improve moving up, so my handicap actually goes higher, given the lower slope/ rating from the shorter tees. Even at my home course, at about 7000 yards, there is only one par 4 where I need more then a 9 iron, (456 yards, usually a 6 or 7 iron). From the middle tees, about 6500 yards, it is an iron off many of the tees, and a partial wedge to most greens and it takes away the fun

[Desert Golf]

I'm a 10 handicap who likes to play from the regular tees (6000-6300 yards). I'm accurate off the tee but short (230 yds) and reasonably good with my mid/short irons. When playing from the whites I have a good chance of breaking 80.

When I play over 6400-6500 yards hitting greens and scoring becomes difficult and I become a bogey golfer. Today I played from 6640 yards (not the tips) and struggled mightily to break 90 (89). Most of my buddies (10-18 caps) don't want to play from the whites but most of them would score better from the regular tees.

I'm trying to stretch my limits by playing from 6500+ occasionally but it sure seems like tough sledding for a short knocker.

This post has been edited by Desert Golf: Aug 23 2009, 10:55 PM

[BostonBob]

Interesting comments vis. perceptions. I'm the guy who blasts it off the tee, does "ok" with the fairway woods and 9i down, but almost always kills a good round with with horrible (right) mid irons.

This last weekend I was playing with someone ( a good player who seemed to know what he was talking about) who objected after a couple of holes that I was playing from the whites (mid tees). When I'm driving well the lesser par fours are drive/pw. His point was that this clearly indicated that I should be back on the blues (a substantial difference in a number of ways)

Finally gave in, foolishly played from the "way back" blues. Mental game deserted me as I tried to get that additional yardage out of my drive, mid irons croaked me time after time, and ultimately the wheels came off of everything.

Frankly, I'd play from the reds if I thought I could. I know the answer is more mid-iron practice, which I'm doing, but in the meantime I would like to be able to put up some semi-decent scores to feed my own satisfaction of the game.

[muzz]

If I waited to break 80 I would give up golf...
Length really isn't the issue at most courses I play(6-6500 usually), aamof I am often pulling 9-LW out for 2nd shot...
Short game consistency and putting well trigger my scores, and if they are both way off, then I just lose my temper and the score goes even higher......quickly....
Really doesn't have much to do with length at most courses that I PERSONALLY play at.

[Blues Golfer]

What is the best way to determine which Tees to play from? I play with a guy that no matter where we go he insists that we play from the tips. Another guy I play with always the whites or Middle Tees. Is there a way to determine which one is right for your game?
Jorge

This is MY OPINION. If you disagree, no problem, to each his own.

You can tell what tees you should play from, by what iron you are hitting into the par 4's. If you usually have to hit a 5, 4, or 3 iron, or hybrid, into the par fours, you need to move up. If you are hitting from the correct tees, your second shot is with a 6 iron or higher, and you are green-high most of the time, whether you actually get on the green or not.

Many courses have one, or maybe two, long par 4's. If you need a long iron to reach those, that is about right. If you need a long iron or hybrid to hit into more than a couple par fours, you are playing the course too long for your game.

This is "foolproof" because it has less to do with course rating, slope, or how you are playing on a particular day. Your game is your game, play the course the way the architect designed it for YOU to play. A good course architect designs a course that is worth the time and money to play for everyone. That means from the right set of tees, you can enjoy success if you hit well.

This matches the way tour courses are being set up. Most tour pros hit their 6 irons 200 and often more. So most of their courses are set up so that they are playing w to 6 into the green on a par 4. You should be playing the same clubs into the green, but that means your drive needs to be within that range, on a typical or average drive.

I respectfully disagree that "if you can keep up you can play from wherever you want." What's the point of playing fast and lousy?

[Desert Golf]

I respectfully disagree that "if you can keep up you can play from wherever you want." What's the point of playing fast and lousy?

I agree with this. I can play in under 4 hours with my 4some from any tees but I'm just kidding myself if I try to play from over 6400 yds and expect to score well. It isn't any fun hitting driver/hybrid or driver/wood on long par 4's. My buddies keep telling me that I should play from longer yardage because I can break 80 from the whites but I just don't have the game to score well if I'm not in the 6000-6400 range.

[jjj912]

I respectfully disagree that "if you can keep up you can play from wherever you want." What's the point of playing fast and lousy?

I agree with this. I can play in under 4 hours with my 4some from any tees but I'm just kidding myself if I try to play from over 6400 yds and expect to score well. It isn't any fun hitting driver/hybrid or driver/wood on long par 4's. My buddies keep telling me that I should play from longer yardage because I can break 80 from the whites but I just don't have the game to score well if I'm not in the 6000-6400 range.

Something that has helped me on occasion is to treat those long par 4s as par 5s. Don't try to hit the green with your hybrids and fairway woods. Layup with your second shot to a comfortable distance (e.g. a full swing SW). Your third shot from close to the green will give you a good shot at par. The idea is to decrease the chance of a big score for a better chance at an acceptable score by shifting the pressure from your long game to your near-short game. A related idea is to hit your second shot to within 40 yards of the green and rely on your short game to get up and down. The idea there is that you get to work on your short game from a reasonable lie instead of having to concoct some miracle recovery shot when your long game swing misfires.