Gender Neutral Tees

[Voyager EMH]

We started running our weekly weekday medal this year with a choice of tees. Some chose the shorter yellows at first. This lasted a couple of weeks.
There is still a choice, but I don't think anyone chooses the yellows now.
The mantra became, "Play off the whites and get two more shots."

Par 70 off both.
White 70.8 and 132
Yellow 69.1 and 127

 

[WGCRider]

The tees have been rated for both Gents and Ladies, so different indexes for each. I don't have a card handy for the Lansdowne where the comp is being held tomorrow, but the Rosemount indexes are Gents White 72, Yellow 70 and Red 68. The Ladies are White 78, Yellow 74 and Red 74. Slope for Gents is White 131, Yellow 127 and Red 121. Ladies White 137, Yellow 132 and Red 128.

Without knowing the course I think it's a close decision. Just googled a scorecard and it looks like for men;

Red - slope 125, par 69, 6000yds
Yellow - slope 130, par 70, 6400yds
White - slope 135, par 71, 6800yds

So for say a 10hc to play off the reds you get 1 less shot than off the other 2 tees plus you're playing 1 or 2 par 5's as par 4's. For a lower HC - say 5 where your playing HC is 6 no matter what tee. I think you choose the reds every time.

 

[jim8flog]

I used to play with 2 guys who due to age could not make the fairways off the tee on many holes ( happens to a lot of us now off the whites) and were always complaining about it. When I asked them if they would play off the reds it was very resounding no. That's men for you.

 

[rulefan]

Without knowing the course I think it's a close decision. Just googled a scorecard and it looks like for men;

Red - slope 125, par 69, 6000yds
Yellow - slope 130, par 70, 6400yds
White - slope 135, par 71, 6800yds

So for say a 10hc to play off the reds you get 1 less shot than off the other 2 tees plus you're playing 1 or 2 par 5's as par 4's. For a lower HC - say 5 where your playing HC is 6 no matter what tee. I think you choose the reds every time.

It would have been useful if you had given the Course Rating then the Course Handicap (in this case 10) could be determined accurately.

 

[doublebogey7]

Without knowing the course I think it's a close decision. Just googled a scorecard and it looks like for men;

Red - slope 125, par 69, 6000yds
Yellow - slope 130, par 70, 6400yds
White - slope 135, par 71, 6800yds

So for say a 10hc to play off the reds you get 1 less shot than off the other 2 tees plus you're playing 1 or 2 par 5's as par 4's. For a lower HC - say 5 where your playing HC is 6 no matter what tee. I think you choose the reds every time.

You've failed to take the Course Ratings into account in your calculations. These are for men, Red 69, Yellow 71.2, White 73.5. So me with a HI of 9.1, my PH from the reds would be 4 shots lower than from the whites.

 

[D-S]

We also had this email from the club

Dear Member,

Tomorrow sees the trial of using a mixed tee option for the Gents Stableford Competition. The process for entering the Sweep and Twos will remain the same as before, the only difference is that you will have to select the tees you wish to play from at the point of check in.

This then begs the questions, 'Which tees should I play from?'

There is no hard and fast answer to this question but there are a few methods that may help determine the answer for you.

• Think of the Par 3s and Par 4s, if you can't consistently reach all of the Par 3s in one shot or all of the Par 4s in two shots from the tee you regularly play from, it is a sign that you maybe need to move forward a set of tees.

and / or

• take the distance you consistently hit your 5 Iron, (not the distance of your 'Sunday best'!), multiply this by 36 and play from the tees that are closest to this number. For example:

average 5 iron distance of 165 yards x 36 = 5940 which equates to the Red Tee yardage on Lansdowne of 5986 yardage.

average 5 iron distance of 180 yards x 36 = 6480 which equates to the Yellow Tee yardage on Lansdowne of 6443 yardage.
and / or

• Drive Distance can be used as per the USGA recommendations:

Avg. drive	Recommended Tees
300 yards	7,150-7,400 yards
275 yards	6,700-6,900 yards
250 yards	6,200-6,400 yards
225 yards	5,800-6,000 yards
200 yards	5,200-5,400 yards
175 yards	4,400-4,600 yards

Please remember that the purpose of this trial is to provide the flexibility for members to play from the tees that will provide most enjoyment for them! The easiest way to make a course harder is not by growing the rough, adding bunkers or making the greens too quick to putt on but by simply making the course longer. It therefore stands to reason that being able to make the course shorter will make it easier and more enjoyable. The pace of play should improve too.

Handicap adjustments will be made depending on the tee played from to provide an equitable result at the end of the day.

We hope that all members enjoy this trial event.

Kind Regards

The Blairgowrie Golf Club

PS. This can also be transferred to bounce games, there should be no stigma attached to the red tees, as they are no longer to be classified solely as 'ladies tees' but are rated for the men now too.

Interesting to note the average male driving distances by age and handicap. I think we need to be rating a lot of forward tees!

 

[CliveW]

Interesting to note the average male driving distances by age and handicap. I think we need to be rating a lot of forward tees!
View attachment 49172

I do think those are more realistic than some yardages posted on this forum!

 

[Orikoru]

Interesting to note the average male driving distances by age and handicap. I think we need to be rating a lot of forward tees!
View attachment 49172

Nice... my driving is four years ahead of schedule.

 

[Imurg]

If those are total distances I'm about 25 years in credit......

 

[Backsticks]

Both Arcos and Shotscope data needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Data comes from a subset of golfers who have a particular interest in their scores, improving, distances, performance. Both always look overstated to me.

 

[BiMGuy]

Both Arcos and Shotscope data needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Data comes from a subset of golfers who have a particular interest in their scores, improving, distances, performance. Both always look overstated to me.

What data do you base your comparison on?

 

[Backsticks]

What data do you base your comparison on?

The R&A, USGA sets from the distance studies are from a wider representative sample.

 

[D-S]

The R&A, USGA sets from the distance studies are from a wider representative sample.

Do they have a similar table split by age and handicap? Also, when you say overstated, this means that these averages are too long?

 

[Voyager EMH]

One or more of the following must be true.

1. I'm more than ten years older than I should be
2. I'm hitting my drives a bit too far
3. My handicap should be a bit lower
4. I've been measuring my drives incorrectly

 

[Kaz]

One or more of the following must be true.

1. I'm more than ten years older than I should be
2. I'm hitting my drives a bit too far
3. My handicap should be a bit lower
4. I've been measuring my drives incorrectly

I seem to be a 15 handicap teenage boy

 

[Backsticks]