What Tees Should You Play?

[That Bob Guy]

[quote name='Pepperturbo' timestamp='1306680841' post='3270546']
Golf is NOT about hitting driver off every tee, including some long 4's and 5's, and then mid iron to wedges into greens. We, as golfers, least from my idealistic perspective, are suppose to be able to effectively use all the clubs in our bag, not a select few. My driver is still 250+ carry so when I am facing 440-450yd par 4's, its driver 2, 3 or 4 iron in depending on conditions. That's this man's measuring stick for tee's. When my driver distance leaves me with hitting 3wd into those par 4's, its time to move up one set of tee's. Something says the future is near..
[/quote]

Hear, hear! You're right on the money pal.

[glfpunk]

I don't think any of these forumulas work especially well. I think the closest thing that seems to work out correctly is just going by handicap. I'm a 6.8hc, a solid drive with a smooth swing gets out to about 255-260. I only hit about three or four solid in a round and my misses are usually pretty close to solid and tend to go around 240-250 depending on how bad I hit it. I'll usually have about one a round that gets above 260 and probably one or two that don't quite make 240. The tees I play are usually around 6500-6600 yards and I tend to use every club in my bag so I'd say it works out just fine.

Really, if you play golf, you should know what tees you should be playing.

[richard t]

Well said. I have to drag myself out of bed at 5AM nine months of the year ( teacher). When summer, breaks, weekends come I'm looking to enjoy myself. Followed three guys last week. I was walking they were in carts. Would not let me play through. They played the tips. Rarely was one ball in the fairway, but you should have heard them talking about how " I spanked that one." Paid their money guess they were entitled to their own torture.
This is were Marshalls need to step in. I bet they would never consider playing any other tees, might not set well with the testosterone balance. (lol)

[Pr3cision]

[quote name='jswaykos' timestamp='1306432427' post='3264560']
Just goes to show that you don't have to bomb the ball to score well.
[/quote]
Correct. Your iron game seems to be a bit more important if you can at least drive it out to the middle of the fairway. If you can drive it out even 250 and hit your irons close enough to the pin, you're in good shape.

[quote name='tjy355' timestamp='1306524118' post='3267381']
But really, [b][i]you[/i][/b] don't need a formula to tell you which tees to play.
[/quote]
You're absolutely right, lol.

[sgniwder99]

There's an article in this month's Golf Digest about the USGA starting a program called "Play It Forward" that's supposed to encourage people to play up--way up, actually. Here's the link:
http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2011-05/golf-barney-adams-forward-tees

I know that I find it boring/discouraging to play with some of my friends who--though they really aren't any better than I am, and in several cases are worse--insist on playing the tips anywhere we go. Sometimes I look at the scorecard and say, "this course is full of 430+ yard par 4s. You realy want to just hit driver-long iron all day, hoping that your two least reliable clubs combine on enough holes for you to make a good score?" That's both monotonous and frustrating.

Too many courses like this for my taste. Don't get me wrong--I don't mind a long hole every now and then. I just don't want a round full of 450 yard par 4s and 225 yard par 3s. I want there to be holes that are challenges, and holes that are opportunities (and that let me choose to hit some different clubs). Seems like a lot of "championship" courses prided themselves on just being all challenges.

[timliddy]

I like how Friar's Head does this. Only one tee is placed on the golf course for the day and there are no yardages on the scorecard. Just go play.

[mukster]

[quote name='timliddy' timestamp='1308865252' post='3330803']
I like how Friar's Head does this. Only one tee is placed on the golf course for the day and there are no yardages on the scorecard. Just go play.
[/quote]

How do you enter your score for handicap purposes? Do they have a slope/rating for this approach? Sounds like this would make entering a score next to impossible.

[redhawkgolf]

I am not a long hitter. When possible I try to play the tees that let me get to the par fours in two.

[teejaywhy]

[quote name='timliddy' timestamp='1308865252' post='3330803']
I like how Friar's Head does this. Only one tee is placed on the golf course for the day and there are no yardages on the scorecard. Just go play.
[/quote]

Or Ballyneal... no markers at all!

[bobgeorge]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1306617930' post='3269399']
Take a look at this chart from GHIN.com. Considering the average male golfer drives the golf ball approximately 200 yards...

TEE IT FORWARD
Guidelines for Selecting Tees
Driver Distance Recommended
18 Hole Yardages
PGA Tour Pro 7,600 - 7,900
300 7,150 - 7,400
275 6,700 - 6,900
250 6,200 - 6,400
225 5,800 - 6,000
200 5,200 - 5,400
175 4,400 - 4,600
150 3,500 - 3,700
125 2,800 - 3,000
100 2,100 - 2,300
[/quote]

I think the 'Tee It Forward' model is appropriate for most golfers.

[78blades]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I don't care what tee's ppl play from as long as the KEEP UP the pace of play". However that implies some knowledge of golf etiquette which is severely lacking in todays golfers. I doubt many even know what it means let alone pronounce it correctly.

[atlanta golfer]

For me, with current usga hc index of 8.4, and average driving distance of 240 yards, it makes a HUGE difference if I play a course in the 6300 yard range, versus a course in the 6700 yard range. The difference seems small but it seems like a lot of courses put the extra yardage on the par 4's. I played a course at Hilton Head two weeks ago from the blue tees and there were several par 4's well over 400 yards, with one of them at 445 yards. This is sea level, cool damp mornings, lots of sand, and elevated greens ala Fazio design. So instead of working to break 80 which I normally can do on a good day, I am struggling to break 90 on that course.

[Pepperturbo]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1306617930' post='3269399']
Take a look at this chart from GHIN.com. Considering the average male golfer drives the golf ball approximately 200 yards...

TEE IT FORWARD
Guidelines for Selecting Tees
Driver Distance Recommended
18 Hole Yardages
PGA Tour Pro 7,600 - 7,900
300 7,150 - 7,400
275 6,700 - 6,900
250 6,200 - 6,400
225 5,800 - 6,000
200 5,200 - 5,400
175 4,400 - 4,600
150 3,500 - 3,700
125 2,800 - 3,000
100 2,100 - 2,300
[/quote]

IMO the above chart is not for most golfers, unless they are referring to the large number that play a few times per year, and don't carry indexes. The average golfers I encounter hit's it over 200yds, more like 220-240. By design, 200yd drive would have a short iron 2nd shot on every par 4, which means many clubs in the bag won't be used. They wouldn't be suggesting golf is all about drive and gouge, or could they....

If I were to use it - It suggests my 245-250 yd carry drives qualify for 6200yds. Not to brag, but I play that yardage using 2/3i off every tee and still card mid-seventies on difficult tracks.

[ptjn1201]

I think it's a great idea at resort courses where most players aren't familiar with the course. My buddy and I made a pilgrimage down to Pinehurst years ago, and we got beat up playing the blues on some of the tracks, like The Pit -- which had some long carries over the quarry and was a pretty penal golf course. When we got to Pinehurst #2, I suggested we play the whites, and gee, we did have a much better time. Slogging fairway woods into par 4s all day long gets kinda dull -- it's great if you hit a couple of great ones, but tough if you're hitting driver, FW, half wedge all day long.

[Pepperturbo]

[quote name='ptjn1201' timestamp='1320255078' post='3750877']
I think it's a great idea at resort courses where most players aren't familiar with the course. My buddy and I made a pilgrimage down to Pinehurst years ago, and we got beat up playing the blues on some of the tracks, like The Pit -- which had some long carries over the quarry and was a pretty penal golf course. When we got to Pinehurst #2, I suggested we play the whites, and gee, we did have a much better time. Slogging fairway woods into par 4s all day long gets kinda dull -- it's great if you hit a couple of great ones, but tough if you're hitting driver, FW, half wedge all day long.
[/quote]

I am 60+ and still play some long 6900+ difficult courses where 440-460yd par 4's are common, not to mention 620+yd Par 5's that put premiums on 3 really good shots. Hitting driver on par 450 yard Par 4 has me with a leave of 200-210yds, or more if I hit a stinky drive; that means 4-2 iron depending on conditions. I might still will miss the green too; pressuring a wedge to get up and down.

My point is I don't see it as tough, just is what it is. So, I am curious as to why you find hitting FW and half wedges all day long to be tough.

[atlanta golfer]

[quote name='ptjn1201' timestamp='1320255078' post='3750877']
I think it's a great idea at resort courses where most players aren't familiar with the course. My buddy and I made a pilgrimage down to Pinehurst years ago, and we got beat up playing the blues on some of the tracks, like The Pit -- which had some long carries over the quarry and was a pretty penal golf course. When we got to Pinehurst #2, I suggested we play the whites, and gee, we did have a much better time. Slogging fairway woods into par 4s all day long gets kinda dull -- it's great if you hit a couple of great ones, but tough if you're hitting driver, FW, half wedge all day long.
[/quote]

+1 on that. I did that two weeks ago at Hilton Head, for 3 days. Driver, 3 hybrid, half wedge, 2 putts most of the time, and just hope you don't hit anything off line or it is double bogie. An ocassional par which feels like a birdie. Not fun. I am ok with a couple holes per round like this, but not more. The elevated crowned greens is what really did it for me.