what tees should i be playing from?

[Dill Pickleson]

does choosing your tee have to do with how far you hit the ball or how well you score or what? ive been playing the back tees for a while, most courses i play have red, white, blue. my driver is about 280-300 range on average, but i shoot scores from 80-90 on average, where should i play, i think i could break 80 if i moved to the whites.

[Simp]

I would let your handicap dictate what tees you play. IMO, I wouldn't recommend playing the tips if you're shooting 80-90. Try moving up one tee and see how it goes.

[Yuck]

Since you average 280 to 300 off the tee, I would assume your 9 iron carries 150 to 155 yards. Based on that, a 450 yard par 4 is just a driver and a smooth short iron, so I would say play the course between 6900 and 7200 yards, otherwise you will be driving it into the narrowest part of the fairway and hitting lots of irons on doglegs. Also hitting driver- SW every hole is not very interesting. I always try to play the back most tee, since I am fairly long and don't play partial wedges very well. Also, when I play with short, good players, I am doomed if they can get a short iron in their hands. Watching them hit hybrids every hole closer then my 9 irons is bad enough.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

If you are hitting it that far you can play any tees you want distance wise, from a scoring standpoint I dont look at the overal yardage as much as the breakdown by hole.

I dont hit it as far as you about 260-275 and I am comfortable playing anything up to 7000 yards and scoring high 70's low 80's on the regular, but I wont play from the tips if the two 9's are extremely mismatched like 3200 front 3700 back nine etc (I will play the tips on the front and one ups on the back nine in this case).

The other thing I look at is for ridiculous holes like a bunch of par 4's over 460 yards, 250 yard par 3's etc If the course has these I wont play from the back tees since it would not be enjoyable.

A good example of this is the Saguaro course @ wekopa Overall length is not bad they just have 4-5 really long par 4's a 630 yrd par 5 and a 255 yard par 3 see attached scorecard

Anyways to answer your question play whatever your comfortable with distance wise but still challenge yourself. It wouldnt be much fun if you were playing @ 6000yrds all the time.

[EJ Mac]

I have a little different take on this topic as well. I think that you can decide based on handicap or pace of play. If you enjoy the tips and keep up with the pace of play set forth by the course I say by all means do what suits you.

[trek1500]

Play from whatever tee you feel comfortable at. It's strange how ego sometimes plays a role in your decision. You have to know your game and length...just because the other guy wants to hit from the back doesn't mean you have to.

[Dill Pickleson]

i think im gonna try the white until i see some improvments in my scores, and once im shooting some really good scores i can always move back, thanks for the suggestions

[particleman]

Peronally, I don't think a player should play from farther than the whites until they are breaking 80 (by should, I mean in my opinion -- not some kind of objective moral stance). If you play the back tees you will have to work on your driver a lot and lets face it, we're never going to master the driver. Playing up will give you a chance to concentrate on the scoring elements until you have a solid base. Frankly, you'll probably end up shooting about the same scores when you move back if you hit it that far.

[lahinchnsnglmalt]

i think im gonna try the white until i see some improvments in my scores, and once im shooting some really good scores i can always move back, thanks for the suggestions

 

Don't do it. If you can shoot an average of 85 from the blues and hit it long, stay there. If you break 80 from the whites, you'll just end up regretting that you didn't do it from the blues. I could understand if length was the issue, but it does not seem so.

[pickerjohn]

Take your average carry distance with a 5 iron and

multiply by 36 to find your ideal course (tee) distance.

You'll probably shoot the same score from blue or white with

your distance.

[KTS1010]

Take your average carry distance with a 5 iron and

multiply by 36 to find your ideal course (tee) distance.

You'll probably shoot the same score from blue or white with

your distance.

 

I read that 5 iron idea in a magazine once and I also agree you will probably shoot around the same. Since your problem either seems it must be your accuracy or more likly your short game which is hurting your scores. Playing from the shorter tees won't really improve your scores unless you can never reach the greens from the longer tees with mid to short irons.

[Dill Pickleson]

190 x 5 = 6840, im longer with the driver

 

my mostly played 2 courses, blue tees 6634 and 6700

 

maybe ill just stay at the back as my problem isnt driving, im long and straight, its probably getting up and down more, making more putts, and avoiding blowup holes

 

i shot 86 from the tips 2 days ago with a triple and two doubles and a missed 3 footer for birdie

[harold baines]

I don't hit it quite as far as you, but a lot of my local courses are pretty short 6200 yds or so

 

 

moving to the whites just means that you tee off with 3w, 5w, 3i, hybrids or other clubs instead of the driver more often

I really doubt changing tees will effect your score much, so I'd just say to play whatever tees the other guys in your group want to play to speed up play

 

I play from whites or blues, using both helps keep things a bit different and fresh if you play the same course all the time as well

[Gungagalunga]

I like mixing it up, sometimes I like to work on a different aspect of my game and play up on the tees. It changes the course for me and usually dictates how many drinks i can have :rolleyes:

[drgolfaholic]

does choosing your tee have to do with how far you hit the ball or how well you score or what? ive been playing the back tees for a while, most courses i play have red, white, blue. my driver is about 280-300 range on average, but i shoot scores from 80-90 on average, where should i play, i think i could break 80 if i moved to the whites.

 

Did you break 80 from white? From my own experience, I moved back a tee after breaking 80 consistently. Given your length and your scores, it's a shame that's what you shoot. Sorry, gotta say it. No offense. Maybe a little attention to the short game would do it??? :rolleyes:

[Dill Pickleson]

does choosing your tee have to do with how far you hit the ball or how well you score or what? ive been playing the back tees for a while, most courses i play have red, white, blue. my driver is about 280-300 range on average, but i shoot scores from 80-90 on average, where should i play, i think i could break 80 if i moved to the whites.

 

Did you break 80 from white? From my own experience, I moved back a tee after breaking 80 consistently. Given your length and your scores, it's a shame that's what you shoot. Sorry, gotta say it. No offense. Maybe a little attention to the short game would do it??? :rolleyes:

 

its not that easy when you work full time and are lucky to play once a week

[Hathstauwk]

Take your average carry distance with a 5 iron and

multiply by 36 to find your ideal course (tee) distance.

You'll probably shoot the same score from blue or white with

your distance.

 

 

sorry but according to this calculation (I hit my 5 iron 175-180 carry - here in Houston it rolls a lot but that is my carry - off the tee, i hit it farther), I should hit from 6200-6500 yard tees. I hit my driver 275-320 depending upon roll and playing whites is a bore as every hole becomes driver/wedge. As a previous poster said, that is boring. I have other clubs and I do not want to be hitting irons off every tee just to have a longer shot in. I would rather have the challenge of hittiong my driver straighter (not often for me) and then have to use other shots to reach greens....sometimes wedges, sometimes hybrids, irons, etc. Of course, doglegs, obstacles in the way, realyl tight holes, etc, and I will play a 3w or hybrid or iron off the tee as necessary.

 

I usually pick whatever tees are 6600-7000 yards and lean toward the longer end of that range. I stop short of going to 7300 yard tees for realistic reasons. Furthermore, I don't JUST use yardage to choose as the course difficulty is a big factor. I like rating (for a par 72 as my example) around 71-73 and a slope 125-135. Those are ideal conditions for me. An easier course, i will play longer tees. I am not going to play 6900 yard tees with a 74/145 rating, for eg but I will play 7100 yard tees with a 72.5/128 rating.

 

And yes, of course I need to practice my short game and approach accuracy more....getting there but still needs work.