Question About Distance From The Tee Box?

rony · December 11, 2007

If I hit my Driver from the White Tees, as I do; and my wife hits her Driver from the Red Tees, as she does; and a younger stronger player hits from the Blue Tees, as they do; and assuming all three drives land in the fairway within say, 15-20 yards of each other in proximity to the white stake, (150 Yards to Center of Green), on a normal length par 4 hole; does that indicate that the course has been well laid out for competitive play amongst all level players? I would assume that it depends how the Tee Markers are set on any given day. I play with some very strong single digit guys who hit it a "Ton", and when we get out to our approach, I'm often shocked to find that I've got the same shot that they do. :)

krustyburger · December 11, 2007

It would seem to me that if you are landing in the same general area, then the person teeing off from the back tees is now at a slight advantage as they will be able to use a shorter iron into the green, and your wife is at the greatest disadvantage as she will be hitting the longest iron.

If you want everything to be equal, then you should be all be hitting the same iron into the green, which probably isn't happening in your scenario. However, you have to factor in the slope and rating for each set of tees before you decide if anyone is at a disadvantage.

rony · December 11, 2007

[quote name='krustyburger' post='820401' date='Dec 11 2007, 01:27 PM']It would seem to me that if you are landing in the same general area, then the person teeing off from the back tees is now at a slight advantage as they will be able to use a shorter iron into the green, and your wife is at the greatest disadvantage as she will be hitting the longest iron.

If you want everything to be equal, then you should be all be hitting the same iron into the green, which probably isn't happening in your scenario. However, you have to factor in the slope and rating for each set of tees before you decide if anyone is at a disadvantage.[/quote]

You are correct. Good Point. It's just that on some holes, the approach for me requires a perfect impact to get home in two, and for my wife, it's out of the question to reach the green in regulation, while the guy hitting from the blues has say a 5 Iron to the green. But I guess that's the nature of the game. There are short holes and there are long holes. Thankfully, that's where the handicap comes into play. My 5 is his 4.

8thehardway · December 13, 2007

[quote name='rony' post='820330' date='Dec 11 2007, 12:48 PM']If I hit my Driver from the White Tees, as I do; and my wife hits her Driver from the Red Tees, as she does; and a younger stronger player hits from the Blue Tees, as they do; and assuming all three drives land in the fairway within say, 15-20 yards of each other in proximity to the white stake, (150 Yards to Center of Green), on a normal length par 4 hole; [b]does that indicate that the course has been well laid out for competitive play amongst all level players[/b]?[/quote]

Short answer - NO, since you can't reliably extrapolate from the results of any three individuals from different tee boxes on one hole to get a reliable indicator of 'competitiveness' for the average golfers who use each tee box over the entire course.

BTW, on my course there are two holes that play as par 4s for men and par 5s for women. For purposes of competition, if my wife and I both shot 90 she would win since she finished closer to par than I did.

Swingtheclub · January 27, 2008

they tried in some of our MGA tournaments to do something along those lines letting seniors or people with handicaps over nine play the whites and everyone else the blue.

Personally I would just as soon we all play one tee.

remember if you do all end up at 150 to the green if your partner is hitting eight iron and you are hitting a five he still has and advantage

I still play the blues with the kids at my club they outdrive me 30 yds plus sometimes. There biggest advantage five pars is negated by the fact that I am a better iron player.

But it is still and advantage.

I used to reach all four par fives at our club easily now if I am lucky I can reach one of them. From the white tees I can still reach them all.

bassman1308 · January 28, 2008

Rony: I have a question simular to yours but for a different reason. Our club has finally agreed to install 'senior tees' on 7 of our longest holes and we can't decide whether the ideal layout would have the average blue tee, white tee & senior tee golfers hitting their second shot ( on a par 4) from the same yardage ( say 150 yds) OR from a spot where they ALL can use close to the same club ( say a 6 iron ). Is there a set rule of thumb that course builders use for this ?

rony · January 28, 2008

[quote name='bassman1308' post='886338' date='Jan 28 2008, 12:14 AM']Rony: I have a question simular to yours but for a different reason. Our club has finally agreed to install 'senior tees' on 7 of our longest holes and we can't decide whether the ideal layout would have the average blue tee, white tee & senior tee golfers hitting their second shot ( on a par 4) from the same yardage ( say 150 yds) OR from a spot where they ALL can use close to the same club ( say a 6 iron ). Is there a set rule of thumb that course builders use for this ?[/quote]

bassman: I am certainly not an expert on this , nor am I a Course Architech. But I would suggest it would be closer to the former than the latter. A stronger/younger player for example would use an 8 Iron / 6 Iron for (Say 150 Yards), and a Senior would perhaps need a 7 Iron / 5 Iron. I do think it is good that your club is thinking about installing those additional Tees. It will speed up play and make it more enjoyable, as relates to Senior players.