New women's tees

[Steve Wilkes]

Not sure many would be happy with the resultant extremes of the handicap scale that a single gender system would necessitate. Depending on where 0 is located, there would either be a massive increase in plus handicap men or a big reduction in the number of plus handicap women, and the maximum handicap would need to be increased significantly above 60. And men and women of similar golfing skill would not have remotely similar handicaps.

I agree , there maybe a increase in women handicaps above 54, The 3 cards I have which have a rating for men & women from the same tees would mean a 54 SD for women would equate to 61 to 63 for the men, so there may need to be an increase of max to 64 for women.
I also agree that if a male and female are both shooting 80, the female would probably have a better skill factor, rather than a strength factor.
but why they can't be both 8 handicap, as it's surely about the score on the bottom of the scorecard. that's like me, I'm a 5 handicap but only drive 220 yards and hit a 6 iron 140, so should I say I'm really a 3 handicap cause I hit like a women .

The whole Male / Female handicap thing is not a big issue for me WJ and I see the reasons behind it.

 

[nickjdavis]

Why should a course build a brand new tee so that 70 year Betty can reach a green in regulation

So that Betty can relive the joy that she might once have had by shooting a gross par...or even rolling in a 20 footer for birdie.

It is this sort of "challenge" or "reward" that I think is the intention of the article.

Yes Betty might only get 16 shots off these new forward tees and is no more competitive than she used to be off 24 off the longer tees...but she gets to experience something she never would if playing off longer tees, where she hasn't a hope of hitting the greens in regulation.

This is about the soul of the game, those moments of sheer joy that arise from time to time. The chance of a hole in one, holing out with an approach shot, rolling in a long putt for birdie.

It's not about competing on an even keel (the handicaps take care of that)...it's about giving players the opportunity to have similar experiences out on the course.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

Women's tees just a few yards straight out in front of the whites often make no sense.

On certain holes,
the gentleman hits his 230 yard drive,
the lady hits her 195 yard drive,
and then they both have a 185 yard second shot.

Women's tees should be offset at an angle so they can play the hole in a way that makes sense.

 

[Mel Smooth]

Women's tees just a few yards straight out in front of the whites often make no sense.

On certain holes,
the gentleman hits his 230 yard drive,
the lady hits her 195 yard drive,
and then they both have a 185 yard second shot.

Women's tees should be offset at an angle so they can play the hole in a way that makes sense.

I agree with this - smacks of lazy design, or a lack of budget. I think we have two holes where the red tees are an extension of the yellow and whites - those come on the 5th and 8th holes. Other than that, every forward tee is either well forward of the yellows/whites, offset to provide a different angle, or a combination of both.

 

[Hank]

After a couple of whinges about articles on the GM front page, I thought this article was thought provoking and interesting. Though the headline doesn't do it justice.

'It’s Important That We Stop Confusing Distance With Ability' - Is This Model The Answer To A Fairer Golf Experience?

Meet the women who are on a mission to bring to life their vision that will create a better golf experience for everyone

www.golfmonthly.com

We recently seem to have fewer women on the forum possibly put of by the bickering (mine included)
However this seems to be promoting the possibility of much shorter tees for women golfers.
Now I know very well that a few women are very long hitters and I am not for a moment suggesting that they should be restricted to shorter tees but there are a fairly large proportion of the population for whom the current tees on offer are quite simply too long..

Both my wife and myself are mid 60's and whereas there are a couple of the par 4's played off the usual tees that I will only reach in two with very dry fairways and a decent wind behind me which is not the prevailing one, there is not a single par 4 on the course which my wife can comfortably reach in regulation. Should we be investing in much shorter tees to encourage more women into the game?

Yes in an ideal world but who finances these changes? Most clubs couldn't afford to do it.

The maximum handicap allowance has been increased by 50% to help more women into the game.

A few weeks ago i played at Jedburgh GC and we were joined by a local lady who had a really good tidy swing, played some really good stuff off the reds. I reckon had she played off the whites she would've been 30yards behind us every hole except par 3's.

 

[Parsaregood]

Going the other way I find many inland courses in my area too short - even off white tees. If I hit driver on lots of par 4’s I will only be hitting a wedge or some form of gap wedge or less in. This becomes boring and monotonous after a while. There’s certain courses I just won’t play because I find them boring for this reason. Absolutely no variety. There are very few championship worthy inland courses in the uk. All are standard members clubs usually 6000-6400 yards.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Going the other way I find many inland courses in my area too short - even off white tees. If I hit driver on lots of par 4’s I will only be hitting a wedge or some form of gap wedge or less in. This becomes boring and monotonous after a while. There’s certain courses I just won’t play because I find them boring for this reason. Absolutely no variety. There are very few championship worthy inland courses in the uk. All are standard members clubs usually 6000-6400 yards.

What's your handicap and how far are you hitting it

 

[Parsaregood]

I am plus 2, I carry a driver around 280 through the air strike depending. A full pw I carry 141 and a 7 iron I carry 177 for reference. These are all averages. I have access to a launch monitor whenever I want as I own one

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I am plus 2, I carry a driver around 280 through the air strike depending. A full pw I carry 141 and a 7 iron I carry 177 for reference

What is the length of your own course. I assume it isn't inland?

 

[Parsaregood]

I am member of both inland and a links course, I’m not actually 100% sure on total length of the inland it is around 6200 yards I think and the links can be pushed over 7000 yards. I pretty much only use the inland course to practice on because I don’t find it very interesting to play in all honesty

 

[Backache]

Going the other way I find many inland courses in my area too short - even off white tees. If I hit driver on lots of par 4’s I will only be hitting a wedge or some form of gap wedge or less in. This becomes boring and monotonous after a while. There’s certain courses I just won’t play because I find them boring for this reason. Absolutely no variety. There are very few championship worthy inland courses in the uk. All are standard members clubs usually 6000-6400 yards.

The majority of golf clubs just don't have the space to significantly lengthen.
I guess you'll have to look for the ones that are long enough.

 

[chico]

We left our last club as my wife felt they put no thought into the women's tees. Most days the reds were just next to the yellows which made it a bit of a slog for her.

 

[Parsaregood]

The majority of golf clubs just don't have the space to significantly lengthen.
I guess you'll have to look for the ones that are long enough.

I thought golf courses should be enjoyable for everyone? Lots of courses do actually have space just not the desire or willingness to allocate funds to improve the courses in a meaningful way. Lots of members would rather funds were spent on superficial things

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I thought golf courses should be enjoyable for everyone? Lots of courses do actually have space just not the desire or willingness to allocate funds to improve the courses in a meaningful way. Lots of members would rather funds were spent on superficial things

We still have tee boxes in place albeit overgrown at the moment on several holes to extend them but have never bothered. Our 13th is already around 180 yards and the new box would make it around 215 yards. With two other par 3's already over 200 yards why add another?

 

[Backache]

I thought golf courses should be enjoyable for everyone? Lots of courses do actually have space just not the desire or willingness to allocate funds to improve the courses in a meaningful way. Lots of members would rather funds were spent on superficial things

Well I guess it depends on the course, but ours certainly does not have extra space.
I certainly agree that golf should endeavour to be enjoyable for all it's members which is why I think the article deserves serious consideration.
I'm not sure which superficial things members would rather have their funds spent on, and it certainly sounds like in your case you would do well to seek out longer courses to play.

 

[Parsaregood]

We still have tee boxes in place albeit overgrown at the moment on several holes to extend them but have never bothered. Our 13th is already around 180 yards and the new box would make it around 215 yards. With two other par 3's already over 200 yards why add another?

Par 3’s are the wrong holes to lengthen especially if there are an abundance of par 4’s of similar length that mean anybody who hits the ball a decent distance is hitting a wedge in. The best par 3’s are all under 200 yards. Length isn’t everything either, hole design can be considered although there is always reluctance from older golfers etc to add in areas of heavy rough, new bunkering or a forced carry. Simply because most older/women/higher handicap’s tend to bounce balls onto the green than fly them. The thing that separates a great course from an average to good one is that the great courses are a fun challenge for everyone. Too many courses in the uk were designed long ago and haven’t changed much since