Visitors: White or yellow tees?

[Imurg]

Much like dress codes and such its down to the club.
If they only want Members to be able to use the Whites - or Blues, Greens, Pinks etc - then that is their right.
I've generally used the Yellows as default unless playing with a Member - like BiM at Cuddington on the day before H4H....
Its generally accepted at my place that Whites are for comps only and General Play is from the Yellows.
But there's only 180 yards difference over the whole course.
Which tee you use should depend on your ability - where's the fun in playing off competition tees with 200+ yard carrys over water when you can't carry 200 yards..? The Pro should be checking handicaps/ability and suggesting an appropriate tee, although actual ability doesn't ,as we know, necessarily equate to how far you can hit the ball....
I would normally expect to use the yellows unless playing a competition/ match.

 

[ger147]

Medals/Comps only off the Whites, Yellows are the normal every day tee for members & visitors at my place.

 

[Tommo21]

Played my local course as a visitor today. I've played this course so many times I've lost count, but today something happened that got me wound up a bit, and also raised a question (see end of this post).

Just after midday today, my PP teed up (as usual) off the whites, only to be halted by a bellowing voice marching up the cartpath.

"Excuse me! Are you members?!", he asked.

"Err, no", I replied.

"You can't play off the whites as you are not members", he answered.

"Sorry, I don't follow. We've paid our full green fee. Aren't we honorary members for the day?", I said, stating my opinion.

"NO!", came the reply.

"Other clubs allow visitors to use the whites..."

"I DONT CARE!!!", he bellowed, interrupting me.

I said nothing after this, as I was fairly shocked at his manner. The course was quiet, no medal, comps or societies going on, so I couldn't see the problem. I don't have an issue in not being allowed playing off the whites; it's his attitude that stuck in my throat a bit. He's not selling the club in the right manner, IMHO, coming across as old fashioned, confrontational and symptomatic of why golf is struggling today. To add some context, the yellow yardage is a mighty 5521 and the white a whopping 5890.

Anyway, the point of this thread is not my moan, it's:

should visitors be allowed to play off what colours tees they wish? What does your club do? Should it depend on capability or should visitors who pay full fee be able to play the full course? What other factors need to come in??

I know the question is about visitors playing the whites..................but who was this guy, did he have any right or authority. I would have been tempted to give him a Billy Connelly answer.

Anyway, at Dunbar we can play the whites, but the tees are very hardy. At Royal Musselburgh it's a bit of a sore point. Saving tees for them to look good rather than using them annoys me. Paying members should be able to play the full length.

 

[ManinBlack]

Played at Celtic Manor last week and played off the whites. After teeing off we proceeded to our balls only to be waved by the starter. He asked for our handicaps and then said that's fine! I though that was strange.

I would always play of the whites. I'm my mind that's what the course architect would have based the tee shots from so your playing there design.

Depends how far you personally hit the ball. A lot of holes are designed with a specific landing zone & if you're too short to reach it you can't play the proper second shot. Also, greens are often designed to receive a particular kind of shot. If you're hitting a hybrid into a green designed for a 9 iron or wedge, or can't reach at all then you're playing off the wrong tee. If I play a "championship" course I want to be hitting the type of second shots the course is designed for. This macho notion of playing off the longest tees is not for me.

 

[Doh]

As Members we are able to play off any tee we chose so we always play off whites, unless it's winter then we only have yellows and reds in play. If visitors wanted they could play of whites otherwise it's the tee of the day. I've never known the tee of the day be anything else but yellows.

 

[Deleted member 15717]

Visitors at our place are yellows only...which is understandable as the course changes a lot when it heads to the whites, and if you don't have the course knowledge, then you can struggle.

 

[MadAdey]

A place I have played at a few times allows you to choose your tees, yellow @6000 yards or white @6600 yards. If you have a single digit handicap the starter will let you play the blacks, but at nearly 7000 yards and some big carries from the tee, they are not too keen on letting high handicappers or beginners play from them.

I have always checked with the pro when visiting a new course as to what tee to use. But I think it is bang out of order if the members can play any tee they wish, but visitors have to play off the front ones.

 

[moogie]

Medals/Comps only off the Whites, Yellows are the normal every day tee for members & visitors at my place.

This ^^^^ is how it is at my course
It also applies to almost every club in my county too, it is the "norm"
Exceptions generally are hotel/resort type courses

 

[dufferman]

Did it not simply say on the scorecard which tee to use? If not, how can a member tell you to play off anything otherwise?

No info on card or from pro shop = play off the tee you want to!

 

[Ethan]

Visitors at our place are yellows only...which is understandable as the course changes a lot when it heads to the whites, and if you don't have the course knowledge, then you can struggle.

I don't really buy that argument. A golf hole is a golf hole, it doesn't really mater if it changes a lot. In fact, sometimes that is a good thing. it is pretty annoying to prepare for visiting a new course by looking at the website and seeing blurb saying that the 3rd hole is one of the best long par 4s in the area/county/region/whatever, a fine 430 yard hole with requires a 240 yard carry over the bunker to open the green. Then you arrive and find that from the yellow tees it is a mediocre medium distance par 4 which forces you to hit a 3 wood over bunkers 200 yards away.

Most decent courses are designed from the medal tees and should be played from there. The yellow tees are usually just thrown somewhere 10-30 yards forward and often ruin the hole. The Belfry Brabazon is a classic case. Mediocre course from the whites but absolutely terrible from the yellows.

 

[NST]

Played my local course as a visitor today. I've played this course so many times I've lost count, but today something happened that got me wound up a bit, and also raised a question (see end of this post).

Just after midday today, my PP teed up (as usual) off the whites, only to be halted by a bellowing voice marching up the cartpath.

"Excuse me! Are you members?!", he asked.

"Err, no", I replied.

"You can't play off the whites as you are not members", he answered.

"Sorry, I don't follow. We've paid our full green fee. Aren't we honorary members for the day?", I said, stating my opinion.

"NO!", came the reply.

"Other clubs allow visitors to use the whites..."

"I DONT CARE!!!", he bellowed, interrupting me.

I said nothing after this, as I was fairly shocked at his manner. The course was quiet, no medal, comps or societies going on, so I couldn't see the problem. I don't have an issue in not being allowed playing off the whites; it's his attitude that stuck in my throat a bit. He's not selling the club in the right manner, IMHO, coming across as old fashioned, confrontational and symptomatic of why golf is struggling today. To add some context, the yellow yardage is a mighty 5521 and the white a whopping 5890.

Anyway, the point of this thread is not my moan, it's:

should visitors be allowed to play off what colours tees they wish? What does your club do? Should it depend on capability or should visitors who pay full fee be able to play the full course? What other factors need to come in??

I wouldn't say 5890 is whopping? I wonder what average course length is?

I always play off the yellow tees. My general understanding is that they are for everyday, run of the mill golf whereas the whites are for comps. But i'm guessing that understanding may well be a bit antiquated!

The problem with that is when you get used to the yellow tees, then play comps off whites different parts of the course come ino play etc.

 

[patricks148]

My club you can play off the whites no problem, the Blue tee's only get used for 4 or 5 comps a year at most and the scratch of the club champs.

but a few of the other clubs in the area wont. the 3 parkland courses in Inverness its yellow no matter what unless its a comp. Royal Dornoch is the same Yellow. Fortrose on the other had have changed their policy, they put new tee's in this year and now you can play right off the back (still only 6000 yards though).

I can sort of see the point in restricting who's using the medal Tee's. Dornoch is slow enough during the day with visitors, god knows how bad it would be off all the yanks were allowed of the white tee.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Members or guests can play off whichever tee they want without restrictions. As it should be in my opinion and I don't see the issue. The blocks get moved regularly so the white tees don't get worn out or tired

 

[Hacker Khan]

They should do as they do in the US, there are 4 or sometimes 5 choices to play off and you can play off which ones you want. But this should also be backed up with a note on the scorecard and in the pro shop telling visitors that they should not play off a tee that is likely to slow down the pace of a round.

Trouble is that you get the macho attitude of some men (and it is always men) that think unless they tee off from the back tees they are not playing proper golf. And sometimes the ability can't match the tee choice. And when this effects the pace of play then this does become a problem. I've seen men in the US playing off the back tees who were sometimes struggling to drive it much more than 50 yards beyond the front tees.

My opinion is often that the game is hard enough without making it more difficult by playing off the back tees so I'll more than often play off yellows. But if someone has the ability then I don't see why they can't use the white tees as one rule for one and one for the other just smacks of old fashioned attitudes.

 

[Duckster]

We have yellows as "tee of the day" and whites are normally restricted to competitions, however people can play from them if they want. There's no hard and fast rule about not allowing play from the whites that I'm aware of. We do remove them, along with the blue tees, over winter though only leaving yellows and reds out.

I played at Silloth earlier this year where we went from the yellows in the morning, then played the whites in the afternoon as we then knew the layout a bit and I really enjoyed it that way.

In the morning though, we were following a group of Americans who were playing off whites, but in all honesty shouldn't have been. They must have lost at least 20 balls between them and appears to be having a hard slog round the course instead of just playing off yellows and enjoying it. Had to laugh when we finished and they were saying that the course was a "fair test of golf, but some of the holes seemed a little tight", after watching them drive, the 1st and 18th at St Andrews could be classed as "a little tight"!

When it comes down to it, you should be allowed to choose your own tee to suit your ability and then enjoy the round. I can see that there are certain types who would always try to get to play off the very tips, but so long as they don't hold people up I can't see any issue with it.

 

[Piece]

I wouldn't say 5890 is whopping? I wonder what average course length is?
.

Sorry, I was trying to be sarcastic. 5,890 off the whites is short. I would say most public courses around here (Surrey) will have whites around 6300. Private courses more.

Did it not simply say on the scorecard which tee to use? If not, how can a member tell you to play off anything otherwise?

No info on card or from pro shop = play off the tee you want to!

Nothing on the card. Never has been for the 20 years I've played it.

I know the question is about visitors playing the whites..................but who was this guy, did he have any right or authority. I would have been tempted to give him a Billy Connelly answer.

He had some authority, I think, as he had a badge on. I wasn't close enough to read it though.

 

[IanG]

We can only play from the blue (= yellow !) boxes except for competitions. As a member that is a bit frustrating as it would be nice to play bounce games off the whites. They are a decent chunk longer but not tiger tees in any sense (6500 total). I guess with as many visitors as we have, it might slow everything down a bit if they were playing off the back tees - but if I was paying full whack for a green fee, I'd appreciate being given the choice.

At Castle Stuart they have the balance about right - all tees available but some straight talking 'advice' from the starter about how to best enjoy your day.

 

[Retread61]

Where on earth were you?? At my place they do prefer visitors to play off the yellow tees but I have not yet seen anyone get bent out of shape if you want to play off the whites. It really only makes a few yards diff anyway.

 

[Fyldewhite]

Up to the club isn't it? Just like all the other arguments about club rules. You do what you are allowed to do and to be perfectly honest I would never expect to play off White's unless it's a competition and that goes for most private clubs in my area. Hotel/proprietary courses seem to be different though.

So, no I don't think visitors should be allowed to play off the white tees. Tees of the day are there for that reason. This should apply to members too though (but as I said it seems pretty consistent that it does round here). This protects the tees and ensures the best possible conditions for competition play which IMO is what it's all about.

 

[Piece]

Where on earth were you?? At my place they do prefer visitors to play off the yellow tees but I have not yet seen anyone get bent out of shape if you want to play off the whites. It really only makes a few yards diff anyway.

At one of the Crown Golf Clubs in my area...