Course Length for 10-11 Year Old

[Reprobatus]

My son turns 11 in about a month and is just starting to get interested in golf.  When our club has Jr tournaments they have the 10-11 year old group play from the 1 tees that are about 4750 yards.  There is a set of JR tees that play about 4100 yards.  I'm having him tee off from there when we play together.  He played bogey golf from those tees last week.  My question is when do I move him back?  I want to build some confidence and enjoy playing so he wants to keep going back but also want him to move back to the 1 tees eventually so he'll be used to when he plays in the club tournaments.  I don't have any illusions of him being an elite golfer, just want him to be confident and comfortable enough to go play with me/friends and have a good time.

[leezer99]

Rule of thumb for all players is to take your 5 iron distance and multiply by 36.

[st1800e]

One program I’ve heard of starts younger kids at 50 yards, when they can shoot 36 for 9, then they move back to 100 yards, and up from there in 50 yard increments.    
 

So if your son is playing bogey golf, I’d say continue where you are and allow him to develop further.

 

I’ve seen a few kids become quite discouraged when playing from tees that are too long, some quit.  
 

Yes, if he’s going to play longer in tournaments he’ll need to experience those beforehand.  At our recent Jr club championship the juniors were all scoring in the ‘80’s and higher.  I think from over 6000 yards at the 15+ ages.  Same for the younger groups from shorter.  
 

Except for one 15 year old boy, who lost the men’s club championship by one shot with a triple on the last hole.  Lots of scratch and + players in the championship. Was tough to watch.  
 

So some food for thought.
 

And yes “Have a good time” in the #1 objective, for all of us.   

[Movingday]

I think a lot depends on how far he hits driver. If he can back up and still have reasonable clubs (mid/short irons) into par 4s then back him up some and let him see. Longer yardage doesn’t necessarily mean worse scores. He may still play bogey golf from longer if it’s short game that’s the issue. Either way if he’s not planning to play competitive golf, I’d let him play wherever he has fun.

So try out some different yardages and see how it goes 

[leezer99]

3 hours ago, st1800e said:

One program I’ve heard of starts younger kids at 50 yards, when they can shoot 36 for 9, then they move back to 100 yards, and up from there in 50 yard increments.    
 

So if your son is playing bogey golf, I’d say continue where you are and allow him to develop further.

 

I’ve seen a few kids become quite discouraged when playing from tees that are too long, some quit.  
 

Yes, if he’s going to play longer in tournaments he’ll need to experience those beforehand.  At our recent Jr club championship the juniors were all scoring in the ‘80’s and higher.  I think from over 6000 yards at the 15+ ages.  Same for the younger groups from shorter.  
 

Except for one 15 year old boy, who lost the men’s club championship by one shot with a triple on the last hole.  Lots of scratch and + players in the championship. Was tough to watch.  
 

So some food for thought.
 

And yes “Have a good time” in the #1 objective, for all of us.   

You’re describing Operation 36 Golf. You can find all the details on their website. 

[Reprobatus]

Thanks all.  Kind of confirms what I was thinking.  I'll probably keep him where he is for a little bit and let him gain some confidence then back him up.

 

Speaking of end of summer Jr tournaments; our club just had a 14 year old shoot 74/66 on a par 70, 6100 yard course to win the 12-14 age group.  He was followed up by a 13 year old that shot 73/73.  Ridiculous how good some of these kids are, but they also play all day every day in the summer.  Some HS senior shot 71/67/66 on a par 70, 7100 yard course that's the harder of the two courses.

[Movingday]

6 hours ago, Reprobatus said:

Thanks all.  Kind of confirms what I was thinking.  I'll probably keep him where he is for a little bit and let him gain some confidence then back him up.

 

Speaking of end of summer Jr tournaments; our club just had a 14 year old shoot 74/66 on a par 70, 6100 yard course to win the 12-14 age group.  He was followed up by a 13 year old that shot 73/73.  Ridiculous how good some of these kids are, but they also play all day every day in the summer.  Some HS senior shot 71/67/66 on a par 70, 7100 yard course that's the harder of the two courses.

Yep, the talent in junior golf is crazy 

[Hawkeye77]

Don't get caught up in set formulas or total yards.  When you play together, for each hole pick a distance to tee off from and vary it to allow different iron approaches in or maybe longer on a par 5.  We used to do it so it would be similar to what I was playing in - so if I usually hit 8 iron for my second on a hole, we'd guesstimate a tee shot that might leave a normal 8 iron in for my daughters, for example, but nothing hard and fast about it.  I'd worry more about having fun at age 11 than looking ahead to "club tournaments", lol.  He's 11.

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Hawkeye77

[hangontight]

My 12 YO son  will jump around tees , mostly between 1.) his average tmnt distance and 2.) one back....though occasionally he will move forward with intent to learn to score.    I wish that he did this earlier, though I think they have to have a certain level of maturity to understand scores will vary.    At younger age he was so hyper focused on score,  refused to understand pushing yourself back will actually help you (despite a higher score).  Fine line though,don't want it to be discouraging either.   I think what helped was trying to change the focus away from score to short game - you'll miss more greens, but how many times can you get up/down.?