Why do some guys insist on playing the WRONG TEES??

[Bomb and Gouge]

Was this post purely for the point of saying how you're decent at the game...

 

 

Do you really have to ask. Just ignore him and don't give him the attention he obviously craves. ;)

[Big D McGee]

I use the par three, lengths, to determine which tees I play.

 

Yup, that's what I do. It's extremely rare that I'll ever play a set of tees other than white, but occasionally there are some courses that are just plain short, with the whites in the 290-310 range.

 

But, yeah, I do use the par-3's to determine what tees to use. For example, I'll be playing Angeles National this afternoon. While I could probably do respectable on the par-4's and 5's from the blues, many of the par 3's are 190+. Anything over 180 for me is a 3W, and hitting 3W into a par-3 is noooo fun. Obviously, I'll be playing from the whites, no matter where my playing partners tee off.

[mickeytbones]

Another good thing in Jersey is that they have official yardage plaques at some of the older courses on the ground. They don't necessarily correspond to any of the colored tees, but apparently were used to establish what is "par" for the course.

 

So, sometimes if we have a full foursome of decent players, we play from the plaques on the ground. Which happen to be between the white tees and the blue tees.

 

I fully agree that black tees shouldn't be up unless a tournament is coming. Seeing guys that rarely play hit from there is cringeworthy.

[skizix]

Sam Snead once said if a golfer can't shoot par or better a golfer should play from the forward tees until he can.

 

This is the most pompous and rediculous blanket statement I can imagine. Playing from the forward tees would suck for my game. Though I will say that it would keep all the other tee boxes pretty much pristine!

 

As a newb (started last summer) who shoots anywhere in the 90's usually...I like to mix it up. My home course has four tees: red, white, blue, and gold (from shortest to longest, gold @7028 yds.). I usually play from blue, but occasionally hit from white or gold. The thing is, it doesn't really slow me down or speed me up. In fact, I find when playing from the tips, a few holes get quite a bit tougher, but others are actually easier, as some hazards are taken out of play. Last time I shot from the tips, it was a good day, and I hit one of my lowest scores ever.

 

But then, my weakness is more consistency/accuracy than distance. When I hit it well, my distance is right up there with good players I play with -- I just have too many whacko shots off the toe, thin/fat/full-duffers, and what not. And importantly, I'd say I'm just as likely to hit a green with a full shot 7i as with a 3/4 shot wedge.

 

It sounds to me that it wouldn't matter what tees the people you are describing hit from. They are just plain slow. But I do agree it only adds to the frustration when you are behind them. ;)

 

Agreed. I very rarely see folks slowing down play strictly by playing the wrong tees. Usually they are standing around on the green, diddling with their scorecards and adjusting their underwear well after everyone's holed out. Or zooming around on the fairway in a cart, then sitting there in the cart forever, for who knows what reason, before and after their shot.

 

When I play solo, with no one in front, walking, I can usually clean 9 holes on my home course in 1.5 hours. Executive 9-hole, par 4 course I sometimes play: 1.25 hours. On the weekends, with a fully backed up course, 18 almost always takes 4-5 or more hours, no matter who's in my particular group.

 

Thing is, it only takes one flailer to slow up everyone. Sometimes I find it's some rank beginner with a terrible swing, who rarely fires any shot > 50 yards. But they are almost always playing the forward tees. Very frustrating if they are in your group or right in front, but...how else are they going to learn? Don't they have every right to be there as you? To me it's the solid players who are too busy picking their arses to keep pace that really drive me nuts.

[handmadeaddicted]

Actually it was just a lame attempt at humor. Night shift right now so I am trying (albeit in vain) to entertain my self. I can only buy so much from the BST . Around here I will admit the asian contingent does the same thing 120s from the back tees while slicing balls out of bounds all the while betting hundreds on thier 5.5 hour rounds there are two courses I refuse to patronize due to the lack of enforcement of slow play rules. Also with these guys,being waved through you can forget it. My favorite tee selection story, a new assistant pro, who has numerous victories on the canadian tour was questioned about his selection of tees by a ranger at his new home course. The staff bag with his name on it didnt give him away. Boy did that ranger back pedal quickly when he found out the guy was in charge of outside services and was his new boss. Nevermind the fact that the guy set the course record a week later shooting 64. It was very cute.

[billsboy]

On a lighter note about tee-selection, my brother and I played a course called Anderson's Creek, very nice course if you're ever up this way, in Prince Edward Island (eastern Canada) last summer. The starter walked us out to the first tee and explained a few things about the course and how long the various tees played. There were 5 tees, marked in colors we'd never seen on a course before; mustard-yellow, forest green, brown, a cream color, and the forwards (5000 yards +/-) were royal blue. Sort of colors you'd see Martha Stewart paint something. The guy told us the colors were picked by the course owner's wife, an interior decorator who knew little about golf, and were always commented upon by first timers there. He started us off with a little chuckle when he said, after we elected to play the middle set, that now we could tell our friends we played this course two sets back from the blues.

[larrybud]

I have been playing white tees all along. And one time a guy who I was paird up with said that I should play the blue. My handicap is 10.2, which tee is the correct tee for this handicap?

Unless you're an old fart that might have trouble with any forced carries, I think yardage is a lousy way to determine the tee boxes you should be playing. Look at the rating and slope of courses that you're familiar with and use that as a gauge when playing other courses. My home course is only 6500 from the blues, but it's a 72.3/135 rating. It's 74.7/143 from the tips (7100 yards). It's a bombers paradise from the tips, which I play occasionally as the club championship is played there for the scratch division. But it's brutal on me because 2 or 3 of the par 4's REQUIRE a 270-280 yard drive if you want to be able to get around the corner of a dogleg.

 

However, I've played a county course from the tips which is 6900 or so yards but it's more like 72/125 rating.

[bulldog8b]

Actually it was just a lame attempt at humor. Night shift right now so I am trying (albeit in vain) to entertain my self. I can only buy so much from the BST . Around here I will admit the asian contingent does the same thing 120s from the back tees while slicing balls out of bounds all the while betting hundreds on thier 5.5 hour rounds there are two courses I refuse to patronize due to the lack of enforcement of slow play rules. Also with these guys,being waved through you can forget it. My favorite tee selection story, a new assistant pro, who has numerous victories on the canadian tour was questioned about his selection of tees by a ranger at his new home course. The staff bag with his name on it didnt give him away. Boy did that ranger back pedal quickly when he found out the guy was in charge of outside services and was his new boss. Nevermind the fact that the guy set the course record a week later shooting 64. It was very cute.

 

Why would he get in trouble? That is what a ranger/marshal is supposed to do. However, most of them think their job is to drive around and chit chat or sit in the shade.

[bulldog8b]

"Agreed. I very rarely see folks slowing down play strictly by playing the wrong tees. Usually they are standing around on the green, diddling with their scorecards and adjusting their underwear well after everyone's holed out. Or zooming around on the fairway in a cart, then sitting there in the cart forever, for who knows what reason, before and after their shot.

 

When I play solo, with no one in front, walking, I can usually clean 9 holes on my home course in 1.5 hours. Executive 9-hole, par 4 course I sometimes play: 1.25 hours. On the weekends, with a fully backed up course, 18 almost always takes 4-5 or more hours, no matter who's in my particular group.

 

Thing is, it only takes one flailer to slow up everyone. Sometimes I find it's some rank beginner with a terrible swing, who rarely fires any shot > 50 yards. But they are almost always playing the forward tees. Very frustrating if they are in your group or right in front, but...how else are they going to learn? Don't they have every right to be there as you? To me it's the solid players who are too busy picking their arses to keep pace that really drive me nuts."

 

It does matter, a lot. If they are playing the white tees a par 3 may be 150. But at the blues it could be 185. So instead of hitting an 8 iron or 7 iron or whatever, now they are hitting a 3 or 4 iron, which is a lot less likely to hit the green. So instead of hitting a short iron and putting the ball somewhere near the green, they have to hit a long iron and hit it into the wilderness. Then they spend 10 minutes looking for it. Same thing on par 4's. Instead of a short iron into the green, they have to hit a long iron or a hybrid which they have no chance of hitting the green with. Then they dump one itno the water, one into the wilderness, one into the woodshed and so on, when had they played from the correct tees they would onlu have had to hit a short iron which is more appropriate for their skill level.

 

But yes, decent players aren't doing anybody any favors either. It seems like everybody on every golf course I have ever been at is playing for a millions bucks. I played at a high end course in LA last weekend and it took 6.5 hours because there was a tournament in front of us. 6.5 hours? It doesn't take pros playing for millions at Augusta 6.5 hours and if they hit a bad shot it actually matters. When that fat POS in front of me hits a bad shot it makes absolutely no difference at all. He might shoot a 97 instead of a 96, hardly Earth shattering. That and decent players who think they are great players and have to copy everything they see Furyk do on TV. He buddy, you're an 8. You're an OK player, but there is no reason for you to have to look at a putt from 6 angles. Hit it and move on !!!!