Courtesy - Tee Box Selection

[njlam]

I am golfer in my mid 50s with an improving handicap (currently 13) and I play golf for both personal enjoyment and business socializing.

 

Often, I find myself playing with clients (in many cases who are also friends) who are older (70+) and whose best golf games are behind them, but we play just to enjoy each others company.

 

My question is, should we play from the same or different tee boxes?

 

If we play from different tee boxes, it draws attention to the difference in our ages.

 

If we play from the same tee boxes, do I swing away, or select a club that will allow me to hit it the same distances as my playing partner?

 

Just want everyone in the group to feel comfortable without feeling condescended to.

[Royal]

In my opinion, because you said it was for personal enjoyment and business socializing.... move up and join them. I am 45 years old.... my greatest enjoyment comes within 50 yards of the hole. No one has to ask me twice to play the course shorter.....

[Pepperturbo]

I am in my mid 60's and play with much younger golfers and older guys too; for business and pleasure. Younger guys, if they have game, I play their chosen tees because I still can. However, there is no exact answer, least to my way of thinking.

Which tee box I play depends on who I am playing with. My FIL is over 70 and another friend is a few years older than me. With them I play the tee box of my choosing. They don't care, nor do they feel inferior, like some people. I have some buddies that are my age and younger that play White tees all the time. They have no problem with me playing longer tees.

However, I have other friends that are not that good at golf; they play White tees as well and complain its too long. If I play with them, I play from their chosen tees and hit long irons all day. The times I didn't, and my tee ball was past theirs even though they were playing shorter tees, a few made it clear, they were bothered. One guy I still don't' know well, asked me why, given my game, I bother to play with them. My response was camaraderie is more important.

[golfortennis]

If you're playing with clients, you play their tees. If this is business golf, that trumps all of it.

If I get paired up with people I don't know, especially when I'm travelling, I'll play the tees I want to play. If we're walking, I'll be able to make it enjoyable anyway, and if we're riding, much of the social aspect is cut off anyway.

I just don't get this "I'll play wherever they are playing" thing. I mean, I do on one hand, but on the other, if you don't play the same tees as your wife/gf if you're playing with her, why does the fact it's a group of guys change the tee you will play?

[Bushwood Country Club]

[quote name='njlam' timestamp='1409249850' post='10026023']
I am golfer in my mid 50s with an improving handicap (currently 13) and I play golf for both personal enjoyment and business socializing.

Often, I find myself playing with clients (in many cases who are also friends) who are older (70+) and whose best golf games are behind them, but we play just to enjoy each others company.

My question is, should we play from the same or different tee boxes?

If we play from different tee boxes, it draws attention to the difference in our ages.

If we play from the same tee boxes, do I swing away, or select a club that will allow me to hit it the same distances as my playing partner?

Just want everyone in the group to feel comfortable without feeling condescended to.
[/quote]
Play the same boxes as your friends and experiment on your tee shots. It's a great way to practice your 3w, 5w, or hybrid off the tee.

[NJpatbee]

If I am playing a casual round with friends I will typically play from the tee box that the majority wants to play from. I have the opposite problem than what was described above in that I do not belong on the blue (tips) tees but have a couple of friends that are longer hitters so I sometimes go along with it (typically 6800+ yards). If we are playing for money I will not play from the blues, but from my normal tees (whites or men's) and they usually follow suit. It makes a significant difference in my score, usually higher by 6-7 strokes, when I play the long (and wrong) tees.

When playing with strangers, I play from the white tees regardless and no one has ever had a problem with it. I am 62 but if I played with someone I knew that is older, I would have no problem playing from the senior tees (gold or yellow where I play) if the person wanted to.

[bk52]

[quote name='njlam' timestamp='1409249850' post='10026023']My question is, should we play from the same or different tee boxes?

If we play from the same tee boxes, do I swing away, or select a club that will allow me to hit it the same distances as my playing partner?
[/quote]

My preference would be to play the same set of tees. If I know their game I would attempt to steer them to the right set of tees and err on the side of easier versus harder. Also, I would not alter my game in an attempt to play "even" with my client. That to me would be condescending.

[ssf301]

I always ask which tees they prefer first and try to play those with them [i][b]if its within reason[/b][/i]. It all depends on the people though. I've found it's a lot easier to insult if you play irons off the tees and/or drive the par 4's from their tee box than politely stepping back to one that more suits your game. Further, if you aren't as good as they are, it is equally insulting to hack it from a set up tees too far back for you.

I played with a really big client several years ago who was 70 and was playing the white tees. We drove up to the whites, he hopped out and hit. I started to walk onto the white tee box to hit and he said "get your a$$ off my tee box and go hit from where you normally play".

It was refreshing and certainly showed me there isn't one right answer.

[Chilidog]

I typically always play the tips no matter what. You may say for their enjoyment but I also want to enjoy the round as well and test my game. Normally it goes like this:

Me: So, what are you guys playing to these days?
Them: States their handicaps.
Me: Ok, how about me and pick one of them play you other 2 and I'll play the tips just to make it interesting.
Them: Works by us.

We all have fun and they all end up wanting to see how far I can hit it. Fun for all.

[Bonneville85308]

If I were entertaining clients I would play from whatever they prefer unless it's the tips, which I have no business playing from. Otherwise I play my preference (5,800-6,200 yards) regardless of what everyone else in the group wants to do.

[Hot Rod 71]

I'm 43 and usually play the back tees, even when others in the group are playing the white tees (all are 65 and older). But sometimes I move up and play with them.

I like it because I get to hit different clubs off the tee and play from areas of the course I don't often see. I think it has actually improved my game.

[Twitch12]

I play golf with clients quite often. I hit it significantly farther than most everyone I take to play. Typically they are in their 50's-60's and I am 26. I ask them what tees they would like to play and I play from there. I just go ahead and hit it normal, even if I blow by them. I have never had a customer get mad or suggest I move back. Typically I beat them bad enough that it wouldn't have mattered where I played from. We are on the course to get to know each other and discuss business. The golf is more of an activity to relax and get out of the office. In college I played with a Tuesday morning group of men that were in their late 70's and early 80's. Most of them couldn't hit it out of their shadow but they could putt. I would play the white tees with them and hit irons off the tees. I played in their game because I enjoyed hearing their stories getting their perspective on things. Many of those men have passed but I will never forget playing quarter skins and greenies with them.

[mwmgolfx]

I'm 69 and definitely don't hit as far now as I used to. Now I generally play the white or senior tees (but will sometimes go back to the blues - and struggle there - usually about 8-10 or more strokes worse). But when I was younger I could hit a mile (300 was nothing then) and could play any tees. But even then, I generally tried to play the whites but would go back and play the same tees as the others in the group.

The biggest issue I've had over the years when I or someone else plays a different tee is that the rest of the group quite often forgets that the player playing the shorter tee hasn't hit or does wait for them but talks, rattles clubs and is quite often just generally discourteous. When I was younger, I'd just go back to their tees and blow it past them by large margin and then start off with no comment. Talking to them about their courtesy or lack thereoff was and still is useless. It was just easier and less hassle to play their tees and ignore them.

Now I'm much older and don't take the lack of courtesy as well and will say something pretty pointed and usually just play my tees and forget about the other players.

I did play with a +handicap the other day and he moved up to play the whites with his friend and myself. I told him after about hole 16 how much I appreciated his moving up when he could easily have played the back tees. He said the comaraderie was more important than the tees and he could experiment with different clubs and shots from the tees and places on the course where he normally didn't hit so it was as useful to his game as playing back would be.

But on the other side, I can't count the number of players I've played with or been behind that are playing the tips and don't belong there by any means. There have been more than a few that I can still outdrive distance wise (and I'm basically short now) that are playing the blues (6800+) or worse the tips (7200-7700) yards. And even if they could drive it a long ways, hitting the fairway was a challenge and even then, hitting the green or close to the green with an iron was even more of a challenge. Too many think the back tees are the only tees that they should be using. Fine, but it can be more fun playing up.