Gender free golf

[ademac]

I just read the link below and must say I agree with it.
In this day and age I cant really see the need for a ladies only tee and also not allowing women to play from specific tees.
Plenty of women I'm sure would love to play full courses competitively.
My wife is starting to show an interest in golf having previously never been interested and she couldnt quite believe that women play from different tees and in different comps at amateur level and said it was off putting to her potentially taking the game up.
Is it time golf got with the times?

https://www.golfshake.com/news/view/9233/Is_Gender_Free_Golf_the_Way_Forward.html

 

[r0wly86]

Absolutely agree with this. I know women who can tonk their drives a mile, and men who can't hit it very far at all.

So seems stupid to arbitarily say the women should play a shorter course, if they are good enough then play on the back tees. Likewise newer/older/less physically able golfer will get a lot more enjoyment playing on a shorter course than struggling from further back

 

[ademac]

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Slab]

All Tees should be rated for both genders but not sure we need gender free tees in addition

All my social and comp golf is mixed for men/women and seniors playing at the same time off the tees rated for them (which is why all tees should be rated for everyone)
Maybe I'm reading it wrong but we shouldn't need to be told there's a gender free tee in order to get folks playing together, seems like we're missing tackling the issue of why folks don't play together now (& its not because the ladies tee is x yards in front)

 

[Capella]

There is nothing wrong with making all tees available for all golfers. There is nothing wrong with a man playing off the reds or with a woman teeing off from the whites if that suits their ability level.

There is an undeniable difference in the average swing speed and distances reached by male and female amateur golfers, though. So just saying: oh, let men and women tee off together off the same tees in comps without further adjustments wouldn't work either. In an ideal world, all tees would be rated for men and women, so that the playing handicaps can be adjusted accordingly. Then it wouldn't matter much what tees a mixed comp is played off.

That said, we have almost exclusively mixed comps at my club where the women always playy off the reds and the men always play off the yellows (playing off the whites is very rare for club compls in Germany, courses tend to be longer here) and I don't think any of the women I play with are overly eager to play a longer course. I do play off the yellows in quiet private rounds sometimes, just because I like the change it brings, but it leads to me needing about 10 extra shots per round. I am pretty certain, if your wife took the game up for real, she'd soon find she's quite happy with the shorter tees (unless she is exceptionally athletic and talented). They are not meant to be demeaning. They just level the playing field a bit. And in fact, even though men tend to complain that women get too much of an advantage playing off the shorter tees, the opposite is true in most cases and women are still playing courses which are rather too long for them. ( as for example explained here http://golfgurls.com/golf-courses-are-not-fair-to-most-women-who-play-heres-why/)

 

[r0wly86]

All Tees should be rated for both genders but not sure we need gender free tees in addition

All my social and comp golf is mixed for men/women and seniors playing at the same time off the tees rated for them (which is why all tees should be rated for everyone)
Maybe I'm reading it wrong but we shouldn't need to be told there's a gender free tee in order to get folks playing together, seems like we're missing tackling the issue of why folks don't play together now (& its not because the ladies tee is x yards in front)

I think you have read it wrong, the article was suggesting just as you have that all tees are rated for men and women and you can choose to play of whichever you wish. So no more ladies, men's comp's it'll just bet red, yellow, white.

 

[Slab]

I think you have read it wrong, the article was suggesting just as you have that all tees are rated for men and women and you can choose to play of whichever you wish. So no more ladies, men's comp's it'll just bet red, yellow, white.

I did think so but even when i read it again the inference is certainly that men would move forward and/or women will move back so that the group is playing off the same tee

We really don't need to play off the same tee in order to enjoy mixed golf (and still play at a reasonable pace)

 

[ademac]

I did think so but even when i read it again the inference is certainly that men would move forward and/or women will move back so that the group is playing off the same tee

We really don't need to play off the same tee in order to enjoy mixed golf (and still play at a reasonable pace)

We dont NEED to but some might want to and should be allowed to.

 

[User101]

I'd like to see the women at our place playing from the whites :rofl:most of the men struggle off them....

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We dont NEED to but some might want to and should be allowed to.

I agree with this. Not rocket science is it?

 

[Matty6]

I’d love to play off the red’s!! 😂

 

[patricks148]

my club you can play off whatever tee's you like. not sure there will be many women rushing to play from the longer tee;s. Even when we had the Curtis cup they played from a mixture of reds and yellows. you are going to have to equalise the handicaps most of the time anyway, so don't see what wrong with different tee tbh

 

[Sats]

100% agree with this, in our modern age why should we have ladies and mens tees. It should be on ability, preference and situation/weather conditionally based where we play off.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I think tees should be based on ability/distance you can hit the ball or just plain you should be able to play from whatever tee you would like to. My wife would elect to play from the shorter 'red' tees for sure, whilst during summer at least I would like to play from the white tees day to day for more of a challenge for instance.

The one thing that would worry me, is what happens in comps and whether clubs would start saying you can only take part in the comp if you play from 'x' tee, therefore meaning certain people are then exclude, not sure what happens in other countries that have already gone this route.

 

[jim8flog]

I think tees should be based on ability/distance you can hit the ball or just plain you should be able to play from whatever tee you would like to. My wife would elect to play from the shorter 'red' tees for sure, whilst during summer at least I would like to play from the white tees day to day for more of a challenge for instance.

The one thing that would worry me, is what happens in comps and whether clubs would start saying you can only take part in the comp if you play from 'x' tee, therefore meaning certain people are then exclude, not sure what happens in other countries that have already gone this route.

At the present the ladies receive course adjustment shots when playing with the men in the same comp which allows for the difference in the CSS between the tees.

As I understand it when the World Golf Handicap System comes in to place all tees should have rating for both men and ladies so both will just have to adjust their handicaps according to the tee being used.

 

[backwoodsman]

Surely, in any given competition, whether mixed or single gender, everyone ought to play the same course and therefore off the same tees? All sets of tees rated accordingly, and presumably there will be a difference between the men's & ladies' ratings for each set - giving ladies an equitable footing if the comp is mixed. After that, its simply up to the comps sec to determine which set of tees the comp is played from? Sadly, l fear it will be a while before all clubs have all tees rated for both genders.

Obviously doesn't work at scratch level of play - but then it's less likely that men & women will be competing against each other at that level.

To me, the sooner we get away from "men's tees" and "ladies' tees" the better. Nothing wrong with calling them front, middle and back tees. Called them Tom, Dick, and Harry if you like - just play off any according to ability or desire (or as directed by tbe comps sec)

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Male golfers with high handicaps 24+, beginners and juniors should all play off the forward tees [ladies/juniors] until their handicap shows an ability to cope with a longer course.

 

[FairwayDodger]

At the present the ladies receive course adjustment shots when playing with the men in the same comp which allows for the difference in the CSS between the tees.

As I understand it when the World Golf Handicap System comes in to place all tees should have rating for both men and ladies so both will just have to adjust their handicaps according to the tee being used.

Not quite correct. Handicaps get adjusted but it could be the men getting extra shots.

 

[HankMarvin]

Male golfers with high handicaps 24+, beginners and juniors should all play off the forward tees [ladies/juniors] until their handicap shows an ability to cope with a longer course.

Try taking AT LEAST ten shots off that

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Isn't that what the US does. All tees marked and rated (or SSS/CSS) and disengage with the mens/ladies labelling. Surely with some impetus from clubs themselves in their marketing they could tap into a market, particularly for argument sakes with junior/senior golfers who can come and play decent local courses that would be enjoyable rather than a slog, even off yellows, especially when playing long as most courses are at the moment