Potentially Dumb Question - Which tee box should we play?

[I3erto]

Sorry if this is ridiculous to ask, but....  Going out for our first hickory round this weekend and was curious if people usually moved up a box or two?  I was told by a myriad of people to not take the hickories to the range and as such I have no idea how far they go.  Which leads to the conundrum.  Should we move up to the red tee box w/ my wife?  Or play our normal box?  Any help would be great.  Either way should be a wild ride..

 

Cheers!

[mubob1977]

Whichever tee box you think will be the most fun. That’s what it should be about — having fun.

[SnowbirdTom]

Start on a teebox and adjust during the round?  It's all about the fun and fitting the game to the course.

[Klubster]

In the 1930's, courses were closer to 5500 yards than 6000, so maybe play tees in that range.

[bcstones]

3 hours ago, I3erto said:

I was told by a myriad of people to not take the hickories to the range and as such I have no idea how far they go.  Which leads to the conundrum.

Don't ranges have ground areas, as well as the hard flat concrete base boxes?

[ezgoer]

Great advice so far. Haven’t played hickory yet, but guessing 200 yards would be a pretty monstrous drive. Start with 100-150 yard par 3’s, 300 yard par 4’s and go from there. That’s my plan whenever I have the opportunity to try.
  Can understand not hitting the woods on range but unless you’re beating buckets of balls I’d like to here why a handful of irons on the range would be harmful. Just enough to get the feeling. Probably barely help on distance judgement but be nice to get the feel of how the club swings. I bet they are way more durable than I think but my mind is gonna say it’s gonna snap as soon as make contact. It would be a hard mental block the first attempt cold but going back to advice offered the spirit of the game is to have fun. 

[ezgoer]

Just now, bcstones said:

Don't ranges have ground areas, as well as the hard flat concrete base boxes?

Yeah great call! I have heard avoid matts. 

[tatertot]

1 minute ago, bcstones said:

Don't ranges have ground areas, as well as the hard flat concrete base boxes?

I think it's also about the rock hard range balls.

[tatertot]

3 hours ago, I3erto said:

Sorry if this is ridiculous to ask, but....  Going out for our first hickory round this weekend and was curious if people usually moved up a box or two?  I was told by a myriad of people to not take the hickories to the range and as such I have no idea how far they go.  Which leads to the conundrum.  Should we move up to the red tee box w/ my wife?  Or play our normal box?  Any help would be great.  Either way should be a wild ride..

 

Cheers!

I'd start with the reds ... If you're overpowering the course, move back.

[hollabachgt]

While I've played hickory rounds over 7,000 yards and didn't think they were too too long, I've found that my sweet spot in length is around 92% of what I'd play with modern clubs. So if you typically play around 6,800 yards, move up to 6,250. If you typically play around 6,500 yards, move up to 6,000. Etc....

 

As for the range, as long as the shafts are in good shape and the head have been re-glued in the heads, hitting range balls off of grass is fairly okay. But I would not hit range balls off a mat.

[Pepperturbo]

3 hours ago, I3erto said:

Sorry if this is ridiculous to ask, but....  Going out for our first hickory round this weekend and was curious if people usually moved up a box or two?  I was told by a myriad of people to not take the hickories to the range and as such I have no idea how far they go.  Which leads to the conundrum.  Should we move up to the red tee box w/ my wife?  Or play our normal box?  Any help would be great.  Either way should be a wild ride..

 

Cheers!

Some years back, I visited a friend in another state, without my clubs.  Wanted to play 18, so borrowed his backup set of hickory shafted Spalding blades and persimmon woods.  Had no idea what to expect, so played 6400yd tees, and scored in the low 80s. 

 

What happens depends on your game, and ball striking, more than club materials.  Don't overthink it, have fun. 

[hollabachgt]

14 minutes ago, Klubster said:

In the 1930's, courses were closer to 5500 yards than 6000, so maybe play tees in that range.

By the 1930's the average course length was closer to 6,300 yards, with many being much much longer. In 1936 and 1937, 3 majors were played over 7,000 yards, including the 1937 Open Championship that was played at 7,200 yards!

[Klubster]

4 minutes ago, hollabachgt said:

By the 1930's the average course length was closer to 6,300 yards, with many being much much longer. In 1936 and 1937, 3 majors were played over 7,000 yards, including the 1937 Open Championship that was played at 7,200 yards!

We are not talking about championship courses for the pros, we are talking about average public courses. 

[ezgoer]

11 minutes ago, hollabachgt said:

By the 1930's the average course length was closer to 6,300 yards, with many being much much longer. In 1936 and 1937, 3 majors were played over 7,000 yards, including the 1937 Open Championship that was played at 7,200 yards!

Truly impressive! I have seen a video of long drive guys whaling on hickory clubs and getting them well over 300 yards but those guys are animals. Isn’t there legend of old Tom Morris scoring a double eagle on a 600 yard hole, probably with a feathery ball to I suppose? Even with gail force winds at your back that’s amazing. Fascinating and intriguing!

Edited November 1, 2023 by ezgoer

[bcstones]

19 minutes ago, tatertot said:

I think it's also about the rock hard range balls.

probably....does remind me of Arnold Palmer after playing a round w/his new Tru-Matics vs hickory shafts - something along the lines of w/a hickory shaft club, not only do you have to be aware of flex, but also "torque" (not only does the club flex but it also twists). You can't hit the ball with all your strength, as everyone seems to be attempting to these days (the "distance" is king syndrome), you have to let the club head do it's work...slower swing speed & maybe just get a small bucket of balls instead of jumbo...

[bcstones]

13 minutes ago, hollabachgt said:

By the 1930's the average course length was closer to 6,300 yards, with many being much much longer. In 1936 and 1937, 3 majors were played over 7,000 yards, including the 1937 Open Championship that was played at 7,200 yards!

 

6 minutes ago, Klubster said:

We are not talking about championship courses for the pros, we are talking about average public courses. 

did you check out the "Classic Tales from the Rough" section for this entry - "Far and Sure: The Story of America's First Golf Course (White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia)"
 

[bcstones]

4 hours ago, I3erto said:

Sorry if this is ridiculous to ask, but.... 

Ain't no such thing as a "ridiculous" or "dumb" question - it's only the 'ridiculous' or the 'dumb' who don't ask questions....however can we learn?

[egolfer]

This link should help if you know the 7 iron distance you hit with it.

https://golf.com/instruction/what-golf-tee-box-should-i-play-from/

[hollabachgt]

16 minutes ago, Klubster said:

We are not talking about championship courses for the pros, we are talking about average public courses. 

And the average course was closer to 6,300 yards in length.

 

the examples of the majors was to illustrate how long the game was played back then and to re-frame the thinking of hickory golf as a short game. it was not. In relation, it was a much longer game that we commonly play today.

 

 

[hollabachgt]

23 minutes ago, ezgoer said:

Isn’t there legend of old Tom Morris scoring a double eagle on a 600 yard hole,

 

In the 1870 Open Championship, Young Tom Morris started with the first ever 3 at Prestwick’s 578-yards opening hole. Two good hits left him with a blind third shot of 200 yards. His ball just carried the Cardinal Bunker and then hit the flagstick and dropped into the hole.

[Hickory4ever]

When introducing people to hickory golf, I prefer starting with 5000 to 5500 yards. I find that it is easier for the new player to focus on tempo and not worrying about trying to hit the ball hard.

 

The courses in 1920-1930 did not have the benefit of irrigation and would have played shorter due to the harder fairways and more rollout. 
 

After introducing a lot of people to their first hickory experience, start shorter and concentrate on hitting the club cleanly. Don't worry about score on your first round.

 

I would never hit a range ball with any of my prized hickory clubs. If you want to warm up bring an old steel shafted wood as they are dirt cheap and a classic iron for the same reason. I would go to the short game area and play a variety of chips and bump and runs with the ball you will be using on the course. 
 

The focus on the first game is fun.
 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Hickory4ever

[unluckybounce]

I almost always choose a hybrid tee box approach. Usually the middle tees on everything but the par 3s, I'll usually move back for those. If i leave the woods at home, then I just play the forward tees. No need to cause any more shots just getting the ball down there.