Which tee ?

[Jaco]

Apologies for my ignorance but could someone explain which tee you should play off and when? Most scorecards have red, yellow and white yardage’s but when we played in Portugal there were even more options. We asked the guy at the course which to use and I think he said yellow.
And when I watched somebody playing at Royal Porthcawl, from the coast path outside the course, he walked to the whites and then took his driver a further 20 yards or so back, so I’m confused.
I’m sure most of you proper golfers will know exactly what each is for.

 

[Imurg]

Yellow tends to be the "Tee of the day" for general play/visitors
White tends to be Competition tee only
Red tends to be Ladies
No hard, fast rules, some clubs let you choose if you're playing a social game but comps will be off the comp tee - whichever that is.

 

[Bazzatron]

Whichever tee suits your ability. I'd hate to play the whites at some courses, just wouldn't be fun for me. Especially those with big carries.

 

[Doh]

We use White tees for comps, ladies use red tees and the senior section use yellows. For social golf and visitors you can play off any tee that suits your abilties. When I have played in the USA and South Africa we will play off tees that measure about 6.300yds to 6.500yrds.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

At my club the Friday stableford comp use the white tees for 9 holes and the yellows for 18 holes.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Tee choice is a mess IMO and needs to be addressed. Current situation is not suited to modern Golf and golfers.

 

[rosecott]

Tee choice is a mess IMO and needs to be addressed. Current situation is not suited to modern Golf and golfers.

Clubs whose courses are being rated under the current scheme have the choice of having all tees rated for both sexes.

It is then up to each club to decide which tees will be used, so, if it is a mess, as you say, that is down to the individual club.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Clubs whose courses are being rated under the current scheme have the choice of having all tees rated for both sexes.

A step forward that IMO, still have to change the atttude of the golfer though but a better choice is a big step!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Some courses will not allow you to play off the white tees, usually the competition tees at a course, unless it is in a competition. They want them to be pristine for competitions and so restrict their use. If you ever play at a different course it is always best to ask in the pro shop which tees you are allowed to use so that you don't upset anyone.

As a general rule, on most courses I have played at, the tees are:

Red - Ladies
Yellow - General use
White - Mens Competition
Blue - Mens elite competition, e.g. club championship

As others have said, the definitions can be outdated but that is how they are. If you are new to golf then go off the yellow tees until you feel more comfortable.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Blue - Mens elite competition, e.g. club championship

Blue tees at my course are for juniors. And in the winter the white/yellow tees are combined.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Blue tees at my course are for juniors.

They were at one of my old courses, which makes it confusing for newbies like the op. Some have back tees which are black, some gold, ours are blue.

For most occasions, this is for the op, you only need worry about red, yellow and white though.

 

[duncan mackie]

Clubs whose courses are being rated under the current scheme have the choice of having all tees rated for both sexes.

It is then up to each club to decide which tees will be used, so, if it is a mess, as you say, that is down to the individual club.

Exactly (Although this has always been the case but few rated historical ladies tees for men and vice versa).

For competition play it's clubs, for social play it's the players...and that will never change!

 

[Orikoru]

Red = ladies
Yellow = normal tee for friendly games
White = competition tee

That's usually how it is.

 

[jim8flog]

Blues can vary from club to club so there is no standard. Ours are used for shorter than the red.

Our club has 'tees of the day' for men. Most days it's yellow and we only have whites when we have a comp on but players can choose yellow if they wish on those days.

Juniors are allowed to tee off the reds/blues for non competition play.

 

[boyatthebay]

My club introduced multi tee medals two years ago and have proved popular. We decide on the day what tee we want to play off, green, yellow, white or blue and mark on the card which tee we played from. The club were finding players were turning up for the medal and if it was windy they wouldn't play, instead just playing a bounce game. With this system players can play a more forward tee and still compete in the medal.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

My club introduced multi tee medals two years ago and have proved popular. We decide on the day what tee we want to play off, green, yellow, white or blue and mark on the card which tee we played from. The club were finding players were turning up for the medal and if it was windy they wouldn't play, instead just playing a bounce game. With this system players can play a more forward tee and still compete in the medal.

How does this work? Does this mean that you effectively have multiple competitions?

 

[boyatthebay]

No just one competition, anyone playing off the tees with the higher Standard Scratch Score will receive additional shots at the end of the round.

 

[ScienceBoy]

No just one competition, anyone playing off the tees with the higher Standard Scratch Score will receive additional shots at the end of the round.

So it’s not always as much of a mess as I thought, there are some progressive clubs out there!

 

[Crazyface]

Tee choice is a mess IMO and needs to be addressed. Current situation is not suited to modern Golf and golfers.

Agreed. Although, only on the restrictions. Put as many different ones out as you like but let player decide which to use. (General play)

 

[Slab]

My club introduced multi tee medals two years ago and have proved popular. We decide on the day what tee we want to play off, green, yellow, white or blue and mark on the card which tee we played from. The club were finding players were turning up for the medal and if it was windy they wouldn't play, instead just playing a bounce game. With this system players can play a more forward tee and still compete in the medal.

Interesting, do you know if players were dropping out to avoid the comp fee or the 0.1 increase

In general Tee's do see to be a bit messed up in some places and hard to figure out what the thinking is
i.e
Only 2-300 mtr difference in overall course length between tees
Tiny teeing grounds that don't facilitate moving tee markers daily to spread wear/allow recovery (no need to protect the whites just for comp days then)
Too many who insist on playing a course at its 'full length' without regard to ability