Playing from Different Tees

bunks10 · March 22, 2009

Our Saturday morning group has a variety of handicaps (5 - 18) and ages. We play for skins and closest to the pins on par 3s. Some of us are in the senior bracket and play from the gold tees, while others play from the whites. We've had long discussions as to how to make it fair for everyone. So at this point, the consensus was that those playing from the gold tees would keep their handicaps up to 18 and the ones playing from the whites would be given 3 extra strokes added to their handicaps. This was based on the course rating between the whites and gold tees. White=68.7; Gold=66.2, which comes to a 2.5 difference rounded up to 3.

Is this the correct and/or best way to handle different skill levels playing against each other?

mtsmith · March 22, 2009

Sounds good to me. Except my experience is the seniors i play with are still quite good and long enough that some of them we make play from a tee farther back than the senior tees....otherwise, they have a huge advantage for greenies on the par 3s, esp the shorter ones.

mark m · March 22, 2009

You are correct to use the difference in the course ratings. (In fact Section 3-5/2 states that it is a rule of golf, and therefore must be followed.)

We use 3 different tees in many of our Men's Club events (approx 5990, 6400, 6820 - ratings difference is 1.9 between each) and in our smaller Sat & Sun group where we play skins and par 3 nearies as well. It has been a challenge to educate the members on this topic. Some guys think it's Christmas all year for the back tee players. Our response: move back there if it's so easy! (They won't.)

I would recommend tracking the payout results to see how things go over time. Then some adjustments to your game can be made if necessary. For our smaller group, using different tees has helped to equalize the results somewhat, but the best players still win more than the others despite playing from the back tees. (This includes par 3 nearies where the yardage difference is 55, 25, 30, & 40 between front and back. What else can you do?)

The best thing is all players are able to play a course of their choice - no matter the reason. It makes for a funner and more challenging round of golf for all.

larrybud · March 22, 2009

Our Saturday morning group has a variety of handicaps (5 - 18) and ages. We play for skins and closest to the pins on par 3s. Some of us are in the senior bracket and play from the gold tees, while others play from the whites. We've had long discussions as to how to make it fair for everyone. So at this point, the consensus was that those playing from the gold tees would keep their handicaps up to 18 and the ones playing from the whites would be given 3 extra strokes added to their handicaps. This was based on the course rating between the whites and gold tees. White=68.7; Gold=66.2, which comes to a 2.5 difference rounded up to 3.

Is this the correct and/or best way to handle different skill levels playing against each other?

You're close, but you also need to take slope into account.

Take each person's index, and figure out their course handicap using the slope for the tee's they playing.

Course Handicap=Index * Slope / 113

Once you have their course handicap, you then adjust based on the course rating. So an 8 at the white tees would play even to an 11 (course handicap) from the gold tees.

This is the official way to do it according to the USGA.

Now, whether or not you play full handicaps with skins, that's up to you. I've managed to talk my guys to 90% of handicap.

teejaywhy · March 22, 2009

In theory, you should be using "course handicaps" which is calculated from your "handicap index" and varies according to the course difficulty (and tees used). In theory, the different tees should be reflected in the course handicap, meaning, in theory, all this should work out for people playing from different tees.

In theory...

FlyFish · March 22, 2009

My club plays from the blues. The seniors have their own thing going during the week and they play from the whites.

You could always play a Red, White and Blue tournament every once in a while.

http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/redwhiteblue.htm

mark m · March 23, 2009

TJY....not sure what you mean about "in theory"...you have to make the second adjustment (difference in course ratings).....an example would be 2 players (both 0.0 hdcp index) competing against each other while playing different tees....say one was playing the forward tees rated 68.0 and the other playing the back tees rated 75.0 (difference of 7 strokes).....if both players "played to their handicap" they would shoot the course ratings, 68 vs 75....the player competing from the back tees would have to be an idiot to play this match without doing the second adjustment of 7 strokes....also - if for some reason the player playing the back tees shot 68 gross - just think what that score (differential) would do to his handicap....the other guy playing the forward tees (also shooting 68) score, the effect on his handicap would be minimal or nothing at all.

This letter from the USGA explains it well:

Appendix D Sample letter explaining Section 3-5 and 9-3c

(Club Stationary)

(Date)

Dear,

This letter is in regard to your recent question regarding what procedure to follow when players are competing against each other and are playing from different tees.

The USGA Handicap System^TM is set up so each player converts a Handicap Index to a Course Handicap^TM and plays with the Course Handicap as calculated. However, if players are competing against each other and a difference in USGA Course Rating^TM exists, an additional adjustment must be made to the Course Handicap of the player playing from the higher-rated set of tees.

When a difference in USGA Course Rating exists among competitors, their benchmark has changed and the difference must be accounted for in order for the competition to be equitable. (See example(s) under Section 3-5 in "The USGA Handicap System.")

There are two options when applying this adjustment. The rounded difference in Course Rating can be either added to the higher-rated tee players or subtracted from the lower rated tee players. (See Decision 3-5/1 for further reference.)

Please keep in mind that this adjustment is only applied when players are competing against each other. A Handicap Index is a number based on a standard calculation and not specific to any set of tees. A Course Handicap only gives a player the number of strokes needed to play down to the USGA Course Rating for a particular set of tees.

It is important to remember that a Handicap Index is just a mathematical representation of potential ability, and we need to make a conversion to the set of tees we play, and then an additional adjustment if we are competing against a player who is playing from a different set of tees, so that an equitable competition can be played.

Also, not applyingSection 3-5 of "The USGA Handicap System" when players are competing from different tees would be waiving a Rule of Golf, and the committee in charge of a competition does not have the authority to waive a Rule of Golf.

For more information, please refer to the brochure on players competing from different tees and the USGA position paper on this topic located on the USGA's Web site at: www.usga.org.

Sincerely,

The Handicap Committee