How far will you go? How far is to far???

[Dead Solid Bogey]

While waiting on a couple of truck drivers that are seemingly trying to remember where the cabs of their trucks are…. I am  pondering this. 
  A couple of weeks ago, a few of my elderly golfing cohorts decided to pass in playing in an out of town tournament because of lack of tee options and the length of tee’s available. A couple of the oldsters have radicalized themselves to the point that they won’t play anything longer than 6000 yards.. I will admit that courses in the low mid 6000 yard range is about the maximum length for my  comfort zone. 
  So…. Long story short; What is your preferred, acceptable course length? How long is to long? 
 Have a good day… 
 

 

[Preeway]

At the ripe age of 50, I'm still able to drive the ball 270 consistently with the occasional bomb scattered in. I can also hit my irons well so there really isn't a distance too great for my comfort level. Having said that, I also know that once I breach the 7000 yard mark my chances to break 80 become much lower. Especially if the green complexes are difficult. My preference is to be around 6500 and to not exceed 6700. Anything lower than 6200 I feel is too "easy" for my skill set. I think course length is very dependent on ones average drive distance as well as comfort level with length of par 3s.

[Kenny B]

I used to play 6000+ yards only 2 years ago but it wasn’t much fun for me.  So I moved up to our tees at 5400-5500y.  I’m almost 77 years old with quite a few ailments.  My scores really haven’t changed all that much, except that I have more opportunities to go low.  I wouldn’t say that the course is easier at the shorter distance, just that I get to hit a few more iron shots.  I don’t play tournaments anymore, except for the occasional charity ones because everyone plays from the 6000y tees.  I don’t even play in our Men’s Club gangsome because they play from 6000y with a few playing from my tees because their age + handicap is >90.  It will be a few years before I qualify.

I played from ~6000y once while in Palm Springs two weeks ago and it reaffirmed my choice to move up.  I was going to play a combo set of tees, but missed the first few chances to play from the shorter tees so I just stayed on the 6000y tee boxes.  Score was probably no different because even from the shorter tees I would likely have missed just as many greens due to most all of them being elevated.  When my short game is on, I can still score from 6000y but it’s never on when playing on unfamiliar courses.

 

[cksurfdude]

I prefer to stay around or even inside of 6,000 but otoh I'll play anything - with the expectation of playing for bogey or double - and I'm good with that! ..chance of Par not happening for me on longer courses except for the shortest Par 3s. My biggest problem on long courses is forced carry off the tee > 200 .. so that becomes shorter club hopefully into the fairway to line up the next shot.

[vandyland]

I stay south of 6,500. My ideal course length depends on how tight it is and how many OB opportunities there are. For example, fairly open private course with OB on less than 4 holes I would probably ideally play that at 6,200 yds. Florida course with OB on almost every hole and landing zones of less than 40 yds on many holes, that is more like 5,800 yds. 

[RichL85]

1 hour ago, vandyland said:

I stay south of 6,500. My ideal course length depends on how tight it is and how many OB opportunities there are. For example, fairly open private course with OB on less than 4 holes I would probably ideally play that at 6,200 yds. Florida course with OB on almost every hole and landing zones of less than 40 yds on many holes, that is more like 5,800 yds. 

Sounds about where my comfort zone is. I'm not a fan of 210+ yard par 3s, and if the course is tight I would rather play shorter tees. My typical course is 6000-6200 depending on which of the 9s you get put on from the middle tees. It can get up to around 6800 from the back but that doesn't really change the course much in terms of approach to the greens. So many of the holes limit the tee shot with some sharp dog legs so the only big difference is what club am I hitting to the corner. I'm left with a mid-short iron to the green either way depending on the hole. Most of the par 3s become long enough to no longer be any fun for me though. 

If I'm paired up with other people and they want to play shorter tees, I'll generally join them, and if they want to play tees further than my comfort zone, I'll play up and not feel guilty about it. 

[cksurfdude]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:00 AM, Dead Solid Bogey said:

A couple of the oldsters have radicalized themselves to the point that they won’t play anything longer than 6000 yards.. I will admit that courses in the low mid 6000 yard range is about the maximum length for my  comfort zone. 

Another strategy I've read about - somewhere in this forum - is to look at the scorecard and check out the Par 3s .. then choose the set of tees where you feel you have the best combination of challenge + potentially hitting the green.

[GolfSpy_APH]

I have yet to play a course that is too far. That being said with multiple tee boxes there are always the ability to move up or back to suit the needs of many golfers. 

[Bobbers]

I pick tees that will allow me to enjoy the course.  I often create a "hybrid" set of tees where I'll move between the white and yellow/gold tees depending on the hole.

200 yard par 3's don't exist for me, they're too long.  200 yard forced carries are a no as well, Tin Cup moments are for someone else.

Difficult to say "how far is too far" but I definitely know it when I see it...

[RickyBobby_PR]

6800 yards is usually max but I have no issue moving back to the tips of the guys want to go there

[cnosil]

On 3/9/2024 at 3:53 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

I have yet to play a course that is too far. 

You are definitely playing RNK from the tips 

 

Course length is a tough one.   I play anything from 6000 to about 6600 but distance isn't the only thing to look at.  I'll reference RNK,  I often play the white tees at 6144 especially during winter or when it is wet because it is a difficult course and the next tees back are 6733 which is generally a little longer than I generally consider my max.   

[Dead Solid Bogey]

I would also say that the course layout plays into this. Playing a course from the 6350  yard tees  in about 10 days, with plenty of fairly safe landing areas as well as open greens. Next week will be playing a course from their closest tees 6075 yards that is just a “ killer “ for me. Since I have lost so much distance, some of the carrying distances over hazards and landing zones on the fairways has become a serious issue. Sadly, while this is only a 9 hole track with separate tees for front and back, this use to be one of my favorite courses to play, as it still has the 1930’s smallish turtle back greens. If I can manage to be 10-15 strokes or possibly less than what I shoot on my home course, I will consider it a win. Course management choice’s are getting less and less as I age and lose more distance. 

[Hacker60521]

I tend to stay around 6500. While I’m not super long for the tee, I’m usually in pretty good position for par 4s and 5s. For longer holes (esp long par 3s) I’ll focus on course management rather than try to reach for a green and get myself in trouble. That said, I’m also doing a lot better with my putting so I can sometimes pickup a stroke here or there if my approach is good. 

[VernL4]

On 3/9/2024 at 6:33 AM, Bobbers said:

I pick tees that will allow me to enjoy the course.  I often create a "hybrid" set of tees where I'll move between the white and yellow/gold tees depending on the hole.

200 yard par 3's don't exist for me, they're too long.  200 yard forced carries are a no as well, Tin Cup moments are for someone else.

Difficult to say "how far is too far" but I definitely know it when I see it...

One of our local courses actually has various "combo" tees shown on the score card. On some holes they have you hit from the whites, and on other holes they have you hit from the blues. They have more combos than that, but that's just one example.

Edited March 16 by VernL4

[Swood1994]

I generally try to play around 6000-6300 yards when I can. I typically play with my dad and his friends so I’ll play whatever tees they play to keep the pace up. I’ve always wanted to test my ability to play a course at 6900+ but I’m not willing to pay $125 or more for an experiment. Maybe one day.

[Jmikecpa]

On 3/10/2024 at 1:02 PM, cnosil said:

You are definitely playing RNK from the tips 

 

Course length is a tough one.   I play anything from 6000 to about 6600 but distance isn't the only thing to look at.  I'll reference RNK,  I often play the white tees at 6144 especially during winter or when it is wet because it is a difficult course and the next tees back are 6733 which is generally a little longer than I generally consider my max.   

If everyone commits to playing back that day I would do the drive up and back just to watch the carnage

I am still at the point that I can play just about anywhere from the tips but as I am getting older I seem to enjoy it a bit less than I used to. Playing Bethpage Black in a few weeks and not sure the tips are for me anymore. 

[Shapotomous]

I like to play at about 6500 since that brings most clubs in my bag into play.  I am about 250 off the tee and mostly straight & i like to see a variety of 2nd shots.  I don't like to have all driver / wedge but I also don't like to have all driver / 5w either.  If the par 3's for the chosen tee box are all 220 I may move up on a couple.  I don't post for handicap so the scrambled course rating doesn't bother me.

[Dead Solid Bogey]

34 minutes ago, Shapotomous said:

I like to play at about 6500 since that brings most clubs in my bag into play.  I am about 250 off the tee and mostly straight & i like to see a variety of 2nd shots.  I don't like to have all driver / wedge but I also don't like to have all driver / 5w either.  If the par 3's for the chosen tee box are all 220 I may move up on a couple.  I don't post for handicap so the scrambled course rating doesn't bother me.

I could not agree more on wanting varied shots and club usage. I am also right there with you on not posting for handicap needs. Decided in January that with the my significant distance loss to quit playing tournaments. There are a couple of tournaments that have “ For Fun Flights “ I like their charities and will play in those. I play 85-90% of my rounds at less than 6000 yards. Course layout has a lot to do with course and tee choice. 

[Byrnzee]

I would say anything north of 7000 is likely too long for me. I typically try to stay around 6500 or so, but occasionally have played courses around 6800 and have held my own. I wouldn't mind trying to see how I fare on a 7200 course, but my guess is that it wouldn't be pretty haha

[fixyurdivot]

The B/W tees at our 4 courses averages right at 6050 yards and seems to match up well for me.  Depending on course layout (which is a factor in answering this question IMO), I think I could stretch it to the 6200 length.  Much beyond that and it usually makes a couple par 3's and 4's too penalizing.

[cnosil]

4 hours ago, Jmikecpa said:

If everyone commits to playing back that day I would do the drive up and back just to watch the carnage

 

I am not playing back;  the Black tees are about my limit;  hard to believe there are two tee boxes behind those.    We can both laugh  at those playing the Invicta tees.