Typical senior yardage

[priceless]

At my home course, for tournament play, one must be 65 to play from the up or senior tees. That means I must live another 4 years to get there. Therefore, I'm required to play at about 6,500 yards and change, as opposed to 6,200 yards and change. The computer says the handicap difference is 2 strokes, but I typically play the up tees much better then that. I'd be willing to give up the 2 strokes and play the up tees, but the pro and the tournament committee will not budge. As that is the rule, I accept it (my name is not Michelle). However, I am curious, what is the senior age point at other clubs and what is the typical yardage for senior players.

[kokogirl]

At my course the men must be 70 to play from the Senior tees. Senior tee yardage is 6,000 and the regular mens tee's yardage is 6,500. But new rule in effect now is that they will let any man play from either tee, but they will use course rating from that particular tee. So if you move up, you lose strokes.

There are mostly older retired members at my course if that makes a difference.

[XYB34A]

If you are 70 and above, then the men play from the same tee's as the women do at my course. The difference in the Red tee's and the Gold men tee's is about a 1000 yards.

[wrmiller]

On the local munis, there are no 'women' or 'senior' tees. There are red, white, and blue (from front to back). You can play from any one you like, provided your ego doesn't get in the way.

[mollieduke]

We have Black, blue, white and red and play what that days comp dictates.Each has own Rating. eg black par 73, white 71. I am in Vets that uses white tees for their comps but also play Saturdays off black. Recfor the ladies only.

[doof_dizzler]

Wow. That seems overly strict. I'm not sure what the cut-off is the for the senior's league around here.

I don't have a problem with anyone playing from whichever tees they want. You paid your green fees or membership dues, as far as I'm concerned, do whatever you want, as long as you're not being an a** or damaging the course I'm OK with it. I play either whites or blues locally, all depends on who I'm playing with. I do notice a difference in the few hundred yards they are different, it's basically a drive and a wedge difference for me.

I think most of the slow play I see is from guys playing from the blues who have no business back there.

[ngates]

Greetings Old Timer, On the two courses that I play in senior scrambles
most weeks, the 75+ year olds get to play the front tees. Any other day it's the regular tees. As far as I can tell, hitting from the front tees is the only fringe benefit there is to being 75+. Don't rush things, especially getting old!

Norm

[MrParr1Noid]

72 at our course for the "UP" tees. Just for recreation and having fun, guys would have more fun playing from the tees which allow them to hit into par 4's with irons rather than hybrids or woods. My opinion.

[Senior_Golfer]

There has always been a difference of opinions about which tees to play during a tournament. Some are off track, such as, handicap 10 and below play the tips, 10 and up play the blue tees, without any consideration of age, and the white tees are not used regardless of age.

I have asked many club PGA members, and there are as many differences as there are PGA members. The logic is not real logic as it is bias. One member said because I could hit the ball 265 plus I should be required to play the "blue" tees. I either must agree or not play. Most times I play. I was playing one tournament and the head PGA member asked why I was playing the white tees, his tournament said over 60 played the white tees. The following tournaments he did not have the rule 60 plus played the white.

I know I have not answered your question, but rambled out some experiences. The reason is there is "not" an answer it is up to the PGA member running the tournament and the tournament committee.

Now let me offer my personal opinion. It is factual that we all lose some range of motion as we get older, and if the course wanted to encourage more Seniors to play in their tournaments they should allow 60+ play the whire tees, regardless of how far they hit the ball. The Senior that hits a drive 265+ is still playing against younger golfers busting it 300+. The idea of tournaments is a level playing field,. Fairness and a good time for all.

This bias is why fewer Seniors play in many of the monthy club tournaments, and mostly play in tournaments designed for Seniors.

A good question I wish there was an answer, but it obvious depends on the course, and the local PGA member.

Tee it Up

[bassman1308]

I haven't posted on here for a while. They moved this forum while I was away and I jsut found it tonight. Had Both knees replaced and tried to stay away from anything golf. Back to the subject, My club has a daily money game. It's not HC based for the obvious reason. Under 60 play the blue tees, 6500. 60-69 play the whites, 6000 and 70 and over hit from the golds, 5400. Occasionally, the guys who make the rules take pity on a older regular who neither hits it long or accurate and lets them play from the reds, 5000. The big equalizer, money wise, for the 65 and over group, are the 3 long par 3s'. They have a 40+ yard advantage which means that group wins most of the greenies. We usually have a good turnout for our games and I believe, in part, it is because of these rules. Like someone said earlier, it's more fun if you can play the tees that give you a fair chance for a par or to win a skin. That one reason I switched to this club last year. My old club had 4 par 4's over 450 yds, from the whites. Back nine was 3300 yds from the whites AND very few senior members. I'm to old for that yardage. HAVE FUN
JC

[rony]

[quote name='doof_dizzler' date='04 April 2010 - 03:09 AM' timestamp='1270364993' post='2359493']
Wow. That seems overly strict. I'm not sure what the cut-off is the for the senior's league around here.

I don't have a problem with anyone playing from whichever tees they want. You paid your green fees or membership dues, as far as I'm concerned, do whatever you want, as long as you're not being an a** or damaging the course I'm OK with it. I play either whites or blues locally, all depends on who I'm playing with. I do notice a difference in the few hundred yards they are different, it's basically a drive and a wedge difference for me.

I think most of the slow play I see is from guys playing from the blues who have no business back there.
[/quote]

I agree! I think that almost all men, regardless of age, are OK from the White (Middle) Tee. It's those guys who play the Blue that NEVER have a GIR in an 18 hole round that cause slow play.

[Sean2]

It's ridiculous. According to former USGA equipment director, and golf equipment guru, Frank Thomas, the average drive hovers around 200 yards. Thus for the vast majority of golfers they are hitting fairway woods into most par 4s from 6500 yards.

Golf Digest recommends multiplying a golfer's 5-iron distance by 36 to determine the yardage he should play from. If a fellow hits his 5-iron 150 yards, his yardage should be 5400 yards. He has no business playing from 6500. It just makes the game less enjoyable. And the industry wonders why people quit the game.

Sam Snead once said that a golfer should play from the forward tees until he can shoot par or better. That means about 99% of us are playing from the wrong tees. :-)

[petter7]

6500 yards isn't really that long for someone in there 60's, unless there's some
sort of health issue or they are really poor players. I would think the determining
factor of what tees should be used for those over 60 would be handicap. A single
digit 60+ year old golfer shouldn't have that much trouble playing a 6500 yard
golf course IMO.

[Senior_Golfer]

Good points. We all see players teeing it up from the back tees only because they think it would reflected poorly to play the front tees. Also during our aging process we all age differently. The answer is to use something simple as... play the tees you play best until you play par.. or better.

Your adverage drive could be the factor used to deterime the tees we play. Example from my personal experience. I was invited to play a round with a friend that adveraged about 300, compared to my 250 not really an even match. My friend hated to give strokes, and I have always felt the handicap system is flawed. So to even the match I suggested that I be given the choice of drives. It was amazing how close the game became.

Think of as drives on par 4's as the setup the ap proach to the the green like a par 3. Would it make sense that the weaker player tee off 50+ yards behind the stronger player? Strokes do not even the match... giving me a stroke on the par fours would be putting me on the green in one, or by the green edge. Not fair to the longer hitter.

Quota, or flights seem to work better than hadicap.

[rony]

This may be redundant but I really think that many amateur golfers do not understand the reason and intent of the different Tee Box locations on a golf course. Most seem to feel that the intention is to place a stigma on anyone using any box forward of the Tips. That couldn't be further from the truth. In other than Scratch Golf Competition, those different Tee Box locations are there to facilitate a level playing field so that handicaps can be meaningfully applied to give each golfer with his or her index, a fair chance of competing. The idea is, that starting with your 2nd shot (approach), every player has a relatively equal chance of a GIR. (A player hitting a 175 yard 6 iron on his approach would have a distinct advantage over a player hitting a 225 yard 3 wood on his approach). The caveat being that once you declare the tee box you are playing, you should continue to play that tee box for the entire round. It's a bitter pill to swallow for a guy who hits his driver 50 yards longer than his playing partner to end up losing the round or match, but.......That's using the Handicap System! In a footnote; Any golfer who is say, 20 years younger than his playing partner, or a male playing a female (In most cases), and wants to play from the same Tee Box, ............One would gaze upon this person with a "Hairy Eyeball."

[jrjones60]

At my home course here in Baytown, if you're 62 you play from the Gold (Senior) tees in tournaments. If you are 70 and over you play from the Red (usually referred to as Ladies) tees. Most of the guys that are over 70 usually only use the Red tees on the par 5's. They play from the Gold on the rest of the holes.