What tee box are you playing from?

[doodlegolf]

Arccos smart distance for my driver lately is 207. I typically try to play about 5500-5800 yards, whatever tees get me in that range. Longer than that and I'm hitting fairway woods and long hybrids into greens resulting in very few GIR's. Shorter makes for better pace of play and it's more fun when I play well.

[WillRowland]

I am a 75 YOA disabled military veteran and I play from the Golds (5088 yards) on my home course.  When at other courses I pick the tee box with a similar total yardage, regardless of the tee color.  The unwritten rule at my course was that you played from the “whites” until you were 70 YOA.  I can verify that you lose. Distance with age.  Because I sure did.  I was extremely happy to drop down a set of tees at age 70.  I had visions of much lower scores.  Actually my visions were dreams.  On occasion I’ll score in the 80’s but not very often.  The best part of dropping down a tee box was that now I have a much better chance of hitting the  green in regulation.  I am hoping that I’ll be around long enough to drop down to the most forward set of tees.

[chisag]

... Don't know how I missed this but interesting for sure. Basically I want to play a course that is as long as possible that I can comfortably play. Ideally I get to use all the clubs in my bag, have some opportunities to reach par 5's in 2 but still challenged by some long par 4's and 3's. That usually means combo tees. At 71 I like to play courses around 6200 - 6400. 

... My home course has four par 4's at 409, 439, 412 and 426 and all of them are uphill off the tee. Another at 430 has a downslope about 250 from the tee and it can add 40-50 yds. If I move up one tee box they play 387, 403, 383, and 403 and I can get above the upslope to the flat. Much more enjoyable. Then I play the par 3's from the tips at 201, 190, 149 and 197 to balance out moving up on the long par 4's. 

... Par 5's are where I get to feel a little like Rory:

492 and downhill leaving me a hybrid or long iron approach.
444 and a deep long bunker guards the dogleg left. I can fly the bunker with a good drive and have anything from a long to short iron to the green depending on the wind. 
466 and another downslope about 225 that can produce another 40 yds of roll so 200-185 left to the green. Water guards the front left side and a pin left of center over a 6 foot tier is ignored.
490 and I don't reach this one in two often but when I do it is very rewarding.  

.... You can always choose your own tees and tailor the scorecard/course to your ability and make it as tough or easy as you like to play. 

Edited June 5 by chisag

[WillRowland]

Enjoy your distance while you’ve got.  I’m curious about your 0.2 handicap.  Do you post scores from your “tailor the scorecard/course”?

[chisag]

35 minutes ago, WillRowland said:

Enjoy your distance while you’ve got.  I’m curious about your 0.2 handicap.  Do you post scores from your “tailor the scorecard/course”?

 

... No I don't post scores from my combo tees in winter, but my summer course has a combo tee rating. I pretty much fluctuate between a +0.5  and a 1.0 but don't compete anymore. I work out to keep my distance but I know it will just keep slipping away so yea, I am enjoying it while I can. 

[funkyjudge]

For the last 3 or 4 years, I had been playing from the gold (senior) tees at about 5,800 to 6,000 yards. However, since my winter golf tour requires all golfers, regardless of age or handicap, to play from the white tees (generally 6,250 to 6,550 yards), and the club that I belong to has me play from a blended set of tees in all competitions (about 6,250 yards), I have moved back to the white tees. It really hasn’t hurt my scores or caused my handicap to go up.

In Scotland last week, I played my first two rounds from the green (senior) tees, but found the courses to play too short and went back to the blue tees, or played a combination of tees that resulted in course lengths of 6,300 to 6,500 yards. This only negatively affected me at Carnoustie.  My driving average over the six rounds that I played was 255 yards, and I averaged just short of 230 yards with my 4-wood.  At these distances, 6,500 yard courses are not too long for me, but I did have to use a 3-hybrid or my 4-wood on the longer par-3 holes (218 to 232 yards).

By the way, from the blue (and the white) tees, Carnoustie plays to a par of 70. It has four par-4 holes between 440-460 yards from the blues (415-425 yards from the white tees).

Edited June 5 by funkyjudge

[mattkulick]

With every course having a different way of labeling their tee's, I tend to play whatever tee is somewhere between 6100-6500. I have really enjoyed how some courses in my area have started including a 'hybrid' tee. This tee will mesh two tees to fill a gap if say the blue tees are 6800 and the whites are 6000. This hybrid tee will then play somewhere around 6400. Scorecard will then instruct you on which tee to play from depending on the hole.

[bens197]

If I’m a single I will play further back not only to help keep pace but to test where I’m at. 
 

Social rounds are often the traditional “white / middle” tees. Again, for pace but also I like to have better opportunities to score as well as help my friends who aren’t as great golfers but love to play, enjoy it more. 

[Berg Ryman]

Whatever tees are around 6100-6250, give or take, if I want to give myself a real test of where I am right now with the game and getting to hit more clubs through the bag. Normally though, it's whatever makes my playing partners feel comfortable.

[MattF]

Between 6400 and 6600 is my comfort zone.

[TJ Hall]

I’ll play from pretty much any tee.  League plays either White or White/Green combo, somewhere around 5800 yards (which is a little shorter than I would like).  Similar to @bens197, I’ll play back when I’m by myself to hit some different shots.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

I'm late to this thread, but have some input.

As many of you know, I am a Club Pro at an 18 hole facility in Oregon. I am 54 years old, so most of my competitive golf is in the Senior division in Chapter and Section events. These yardages range from 6000 to 6600 depending on the event.  I don't typically struggle from those yardages, but I will have more long irons into greens than I might like.  When I play with my membership, we peg it from 5700-6200. The funny thing is, I fight the shorter tees at my club.  The landing areas from the 5700 yard tees are very narrow and require a precise tee shot. When I move back, I can spray it around a bit and still have a playable iron shot into a green. I looked at my scoring average from each set of tees out here over the past 3 years, and I am consistently 4 shots better from the "Black" tees vs the "White" tees. An anomaly to be sure, but true none the less.

When I travel and play other spots for recreation, I will play whatever tees the group is on.  If alone, I will typically play the 1ups.  

[bens197]

9 minutes ago, MmmmmmBuddy said:

When I move back, I can spray it around a bit and still have a playable iron shot into a green. I looked at my scoring average from each set of tees out here over the past 3 years, and I am consistently 4 shots better from the "Black" tees vs the "White" tees. An anomaly to be sure, but true none the less.

I disagree on the anomaly statement. 
 

One of my favorites to play is a paradox similar to what you describe. When I play from the Black tees (one forward from burgundy) I am shooting mid to low 70’s. 
 

When I play blues at 6200 I fight the landing areas similar to you and struggle to break 76. 
 

Michael Jordan designed Grove XXIII so landing zones would fit his distances. This is a real thing. 

[TJ Hall]

I have had similar experiences to both of you @bens197 and @MmmmmmBuddy…rounds that I’ve played back I’ve shot the same or better each time.  

[Rob Person]

Is this dependent on having a particular drivers distance minimum? Obviously skill has alot to contribute to this as well.

 

If we are talking yardage, I pretty much play from 5800-6100, which is depending on which course I play. 

At the GC I work at the whites fall right in at 6000, but white tees are 1 back from the front tees, and base there guide off of handicap. The orange tees fall into the 6400-6600 range and are the middle tees. 

The other course I play occasionally,  tee boxes are designated by driver distance,  and the whites are the middle tees. It comes in as 6200 avg.

This is also something when I started golfing I was unaware of how to use- the yardage guides on the scorecard ! (as well as the hole rankings) I was taught under the old stigma that whites were the men's tees!

Now, since joining MGS, I feel I have grown leaps over compared to what I was, due to the knowledge I have gained here!!!

Due to my distance off the tee, I try to stay in the 6000 range +/- 100 yards

 

 

 

 

[mackdaddy]

I am 68 now and have played lots of golf with lots of players.  I play between 5800-6200.

I have advised many people I have played with over the years to play from the tees you can break 80 from.  Start at the front tees and play them until you can regularly break 80 then move back to the next tee and do it like that until you find the tees you need to be on.   I have played to as low as a plus 2.8 for a season on the back men's tee, 7022 yards, and when I switched to the tips 7428 yards from our course I struggled.  There were a few par 4's I needed to hit fairway woods to reach the greens and I could not hold them so after a few months I moved back to my tees.

I advocate for this because playing forward builds skill with wedges and irons.  It builds confidence in your game and gives great growth options.  It helps you to hit the clubs in balance not trying to overhit.  Give yourself a chance to enjoy the game.

I was a decent player shooting in the 80's  when I was in my early 40's and I played the back men's tees.  I went on a trip and got paired with a father and his two sons and they were going to play the front tees.  (@ the time I always played the tee with a the group)  I played the front tees and broke 80 with ease.  It felt great.  I played all that week from the front tees with the family and always broke 80 even shooting par the last round.  When I went home I moved up to the front men's tees and played there until I regularly broke 80.  Confidence is a powerful tool in golf.  I kept improving.  I moved back to the back tees where I shot in the 80's, by the end of the season and continued to improve and break 80.   

[DiscipleofPenick]

I do think this article is a little ridiculous, but there are some good points. I think it also ties in with the approach to golf that, "if you can't go low from the forward tees, why are you playing the blues.", and the USGA push to tee it forward. With that being said, we're not Rory, we're never gonna be Rory, stop comparing average golfers to Rory. 

To answer the question on what tees I play. I go with the next set back that doesn't lower my handicap. I'm currently 5.9, and I've looked up the course I am playing Sunday. The middle tees I'm a 5, the back tees I'm a 7, so I'll be on the tips.

[Jdawg3109]

On my home courses to pass the PGAP test you have to shoot an 80 from the white Ts twice in a day or something like that so that's where I play from just to measure my ability to pass that if I ever wanted to pursue it.

[Philpug]

I'd like to hear the ladies chime in. Our local course plays about 5500 yards from their tees with only 4-5 holes having a significant adavantage over  whites. Most forward tees tend to be in the 5100 range on other courses. that is about 400 yards difference. @TriciaPug who is a second year golfer really feels that. IMHO a course that is too long can be more demoralizing for a newer golfer, one who needs to have success on a feel good holes where they can be putting for birdie from time to time verses trying to save par or bogey. 

[TriciaPug]

20 minutes ago, Philpug said:

I'd like to hear the ladies chime in. Our local course plays about 5500 yards from their tees with only 4-5 holes having a significant adavantage over  whites. Most forward tees tend to be in the 5100 range on other courses. that is about 400 yards difference. @TriciaPug who is a second year golfer really feels that. IMHO a course that is too long can be more demoralizing for a newer golfer, one who needs to have success on a feel good holes where they can be putting for birdie from time to time verses trying to save par or bogey. 

Yeah, that's me. I never really thought about it. I just went out and played. I always hit from the women's tees (Red)

Last week I had my best round of golf thus far at a different course when @Philpug mentioned that the course that we usually play, plays far longer which can add more than a few strokes to my rounds. Now I'm thinking that, if I can break 100 on my usual course, I'll be golden on courses that have a bigger advantage for women. 

This is the scorecard for the place we usually play

 

This is the card where I had my best round which is almost 1100 yds shorter. 

I birdied the first hole on a course I'd never played before which set me up for success.

Edited June 6 by TriciaPug

[gavinski91]

My target yardage is usually around 6400 yards, but I don't mind playing whatever the group (or randoms) I'm golfing with want to play - I've learned to taper my expectations based on where I'm playing from.

Interestingly, I played 9 holes last week for the first time from the front tees at a local course. It was a very different experience than what I'm used to (sand wedge on both par 3s, drove the green on a par 4), but it was fun! One thing that I noted though is that on holes where the tees were significantly forward, they were all placed off to the side, and in a few cases that meant that trees were blocking you out from hitting the center of the fairway. One one par 4 hole I actually had to hit a 7-iron off the tee, because the only way I could hit it any further and still have a look at the green was to hit a draw (which isn't a shot shape I have in the bag).

[vandyland]

I have historically played from 5,800 - 6,200 yds. This past year I got bullied into playing from the 6,500 yd tees (my avg driver distance is 260-280 yds, 7 iron is 165-170 yds for context). I'm not surprised but it has dropped my index considerably (not really what I want). Basically the farther back I move (to a point) the better my relative differential is. I still think the 6,000 yd tees are more fun (because I can reach all the par 5s in 2) but to some earlier points, my distance can get me in a little trouble there. 

[Rob Person]

Played 1 up from the tips today, and saved my.sub 90 consistent lcy,  barely!!

[flsw19]

I look at slope, course rating, and yardage to determine which tees to play. Yardage alone can be deceiving, because of elevation changes, wind, and forced carries that mandate layups.

At my home club with 2 18 hole courses, I play approximately 5800 & 5700. 

My average drive is 180 to 190.

Some courses in Ventura County, have moved forward the tees to get people playing fr o m more appropriate tees.  

 

 

[Fatshot]

I am 78 years old, and like all the rest of us, I've watched my distance diminish to the point where I am now playing "Senior Tees ONLY."   The old formula (5 iron distance x 36 = course yardage) yields  150 x 36  = 5400 yards as my ideal course these days.  In our traveling group of 8 players I am the oldest by a couple of years, but that's about the distance we normally play.  If a par 4 is longer than about 360 yards, I may even move up to the ladies tees....!!   We play for fun and companionship, not money, so what difference does it make anyway?!!    BTW, just beat my age this week with a round of 77 on a 5400 yard course, so I guess I'm playing right where I belong.....

[Rob Person]

55 minutes ago, Fatshot said:

I am 78 years old, and like all the rest of us, I've watched my distance diminish to the point where I am now playing "Senior Tees ONLY."   The old formula (5 iron distance x 36 = course yardage) yields  150 x 36  = 5400 yards as my ideal course these days.  In our traveling group of 8 players I am the oldest by a couple of years, but that's about the distance we normally play.  If a par 4 is longer than about 360 yards, I may even move up to the ladies tees....!!   We play for fun and companionship, not money, so what difference does it make anyway?!!    BTW, just beat my age this week with a round of 77 on a 5400 yard course, so I guess I'm playing right where I belong.....

That's awesome!  

[Philpug]

19 hours ago, gavinski91 said:

One thing that I noted though is that on holes where the tees were significantly forward, they were all placed off to the side, and in a few cases that meant that trees were blocking you out from hitting the center of the fairway.

This is soemthing I see at time to time on a lot of courses, the forward tees either seem like an after thought or they don't get the long term attention (trees grow) that they should. 

[Mdrnsamurai]

I learned from my old golf coach to play your average 6i distance times 36 which for me is 194ish (194x36=6984yds) as a max distance... that being said I like to play through my bag so I often play from every tee on the course so I don't hit the same shots every time... Because I noticed a trend developing where I was using the same clubs all the time and wanted to change it up from time to time...

[Fongle]

I play the blacks generally, but I have a couple mates who feel like they have to try match me when I play from further back than they do, and they have no business doing so, so when I play with those select few people it'll normally be the Blues or Whites depending on the course so I can avoid dealing with their meltdowns when they're hitting 4 into a long par 5.

[alii1959]

First off, I am not proud.  I tend to play the mixed member tees at my home course regardless of the tees other members of my group are playing.  These tees are around 62-6400 yards depending on how they set them up.  I could play the white tees, but I am still struggling to stay under 75 from the mixed member tees and don't need to add anymore frustration.

However, I was behind a group the other day that insisted on playing from the blue tees (championship).  No one ever found the fairway.  Bogged down the whole course.  Then, days later, an older gentleman was playing with some younger ones and played from the white (second in line from the blues).  He couldn't stay on the course because he was hitting "full throttle" on every tee shot trying to keep up.  Seemed really frustrated.  Slowed the course down, because the search for his ball took quite a bit of time on each hole.  Ridiculous!

Don't let testosterone get the better of you.  Play the tees you a capable of scoring well consistently.  If you start destroying the course from there, then move back a set.  Otherwise, suck up your stupid pride and give the rest of us a break.  The "I am playing the whole course" crowd are nearly as annoying as the "I didn't come here to layup" crowd...both seem to have come to the course to spend their days in the trees.  Foolishness.  If all you want to do is brag about that  huge drive...go to the driving range and leave the course to those who want to play golf...you know for a score.

I know it is hard to "move up", but it is actually better for all of us if we keep in mind our capabilities.