Which tees do you play away?

[VVega]

7000+ is a long way no matter what way you dress it up.

Agree in principle, but if you look e.g. at Castle Stuart, even from the back all but the last hole are nothing unusual distance wise. The last is an exception being a 595 par 5.

The reality is that if the weather conditions are benign a 7k length is OK for many. Throw in the weather and it’s a totally different game

 

[VVega]

How Far Does The Average Club Golfer Hit Their 7-Iron?

We've had a look at the numbers – and they might just surprise you....

www.golfmonthly.com

Thanks but this article doesn’t mention the quoted above USGA correlation of the length to yardages.

 

[D-S]

Agree in principle, but if you look e.g. at Castle Stuart, even from the back all but the last hole are nothing unusual distance wise. The last is an exception being a 595 par 5.

The reality is that if the weather conditions are benign a 7k length is OK for many. Throw in the weather and it’s a totally different game

In my experience, even if the weather is benign, any course of around 7000 yards is really not ok for the vast majority of golfers.
Having golfing groups playing of this sort of length of course is just a recipe for painfully slow rounds.

 

[garyinderry]

Agree in principle, but if you look e.g. at Castle Stuart, even from the back all but the last hole are nothing unusual distance wise. The last is an exception being a 595 par 5.

The reality is that if the weather conditions are benign a 7k length is OK for many. Throw in the weather and it’s a totally different game

If someone is hitting it less than 250 there is still a lot of meaty par 4s leaving long approaches. That's not taking into account the approach is on average 1 in 2 coming from the rough. Its long day for the average Joe at 7k

I know all about it.

 

[rulie]

The 'mericans would play 7000, want the value for the money paid. Or, as I read somewhere, Japanese may also, as they get more shots in for their day on the course.

 

[Bobthesock]

Generally the tees of the day, unless I know the course and which tees will provide the best variety/most enjoyable challenge.

What actually is tees of the day? I've only heard it a few times and it's always been yellows.

 

[Slab]

For me its:
Play course as designed - 6,000-6,200yds
Push my game to its limit/test - 6,400-6,600yds
Be a prat and destroy pace of play for everyone following - 7,000+yds

By ‘designed’ I mean Par/GIR i.e by playing solid shots can I get a GIR on many but not all holes

If tee optional I'd use that as my guide when playing an away course

 

[wjemather]

What actually is tees of the day? I've only heard it a few times and it's always been yellows.

Yes, usually yellows at courses that only have the traditional white/yellow/red markers. However, at courses with more options for men/women/both, tees of the day often vary.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It very much depends on the standard of my PP's and alos the layout. Why flog yourself on a hilly or very hard set up but if I am playing with some decent players on a flattish course ona benign day why not move a set back?

 

[VVega]

Play course as designed - 6,000-6,200yds
…

By ‘designed’ I mean Par/GIR i.e by playing solid shots can I get a GIR on many but not all holes

Don’t think this is as “designed”.

The course is typically designed to create some hazard in the landing area of a good tee shot putting a premium on the execution(so it’s not just length but direction).

Playing forward tee is the easiest way to skip this and just carry over all the trouble. It’s still fun but not experiencing the course “as designed”.

 

[Slab]

Don’t think this is as “designed”.

The course is typically designed to create some hazard in the landing area of a good tee shot putting a premium on the execution(so it’s not just length but direction).

Playing forward tee is the easiest way to skip this and just carry over all the trouble. It’s still fun but not experiencing the course “as designed”.

In my definition my "solid shots" are length and direction & do not include well hit but offline/into hazards/bunkers etc (these are errant shots) Unless I was aiming for the hazard of course

i.e A solid shot definitely finds the fairway maybe trickles to a first cut

 

[D-S]

We played on the Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama, they have multiple tees on each course that you can play from.
A couple of the courses near Muscle Shoals are over 8,000 yards off the back tees. I asked the starter if anyone ever tried to play off the tips and he said that “there have been a few, we just tell them that we’ll send an ambulance to collect them when they are on about the 12th”.

Similarly at Kiawah, the back tees are 8k plus but in Pro events they move the blocks dependent on the wind direction and aim for a set up around 7,500. The caddy told me there is always a muppet or two every now and again who tries to play it off the very back platforms. We went back to a couple of the back tees, the carries were well over 250 over alligator strewn wasteland onto a raised fairway into a stiff breeze.

 

[VVega]

into hazards/bunker

The point was that the hazards won’t be in play if you are forward enough to carry them.

 

[Slab]

The point was that the hazards won’t be in play if you are forward enough to carry them.

Maybe looking at my original post too closely/critically

When I say play 'as designed' I certainly didn't mean to imply playing the course shorter than the design.
Bunkers and other hazards are certainly part of the design. They shouldn't all be out of reach, equally neither should I be able to carry them all

 

[Lord Tyrion]

To play as designed surely depends on how far you hit the ball? If you hit the ball 260yds off the tee then you will be landing and looking at very different shots to someone who hits it 200yds off the tee. Sounds obvious but some seem to forget this.

I'll be playing at The Roxburghe in an open later this year, seniors and off the yellows. Off the yellows I will be playing shots as the designer meant them to be played. I've also played it off the whites and I doubt the designer meant someone to use driver on 18 holes. I doubt they meant someone to go driver, hybrid, iron (variable number) on each par 4.

I want to play courses as the designer meant, as do most of us, but that means getting a head start off the tee.

 

[VVega]

To play as designed surely depends on how far you hit the ball?

Exactly! Hence the original point that handicaps are a poor proxy for selecting tees to play from.

 

[Slab]

I suppose we’re kinda limited on what to use as a measure if clubs wished to ‘allocate’ a set of tees to players. Many will have/know their handicap but as pointed out above that has flaws

Swing speed might be good but how many players even know it
Driver distance/carry distances, way too many players have false numbers in their heads for that to work
If its an away course then the using home club length and choosing tees based on that could be useful

A shame really given how much impact that one group can have to the days pace of play if they choose poorly

 

[Backache]

I very rarely play a course with more than three tee options and usually play the middle one , could choose the long ones on a very short course. ( my home course is 6000 yds and the back tees are a sensible option for my distance though the middle tees work as well, there is not a big difference.
Fast running links courses seem fine when they are a bit longer.
I've nothing against taking forward tees if the course is particularly long, though the places I play that has not been necessary.

 

[nickjdavis]

Similarly at Kiawah, the back tees are 8k plus but in Pro events they move the blocks dependent on the wind direction and aim for a set up around 7,500. The caddy told me there is always a muppet or two every now and again who tries to play it off the very back platforms. We went back to a couple of the back tees, the carries were well over 250 over alligator strewn wasteland onto a raised fairway into a stiff breeze.

I wonder if this is a consideration when the course is rated?

 

[PJ87]

For me its:
Play course as designed - 6,000-6,200yds
Push my game to its limit/test - 6,400-6,600yds
Be a prat and destroy pace of play for everyone following - 7,000+yds

By ‘designed’ I mean Par/GIR i.e by playing solid shots can I get a GIR on many but not all holes

If tee optional I'd use that as my guide when playing an away course

Amazingly the amount of members at our place who want to play off the black tees is unreal..

When we opened it was

Red 6187
Yellow 6633
White 7122

They kept the yardages the same and moved away from red tees and made it

Yellow
White
Black

I'll play 70% of my golf if given the choice off the whites .. yellows in winter but people insist on playing the blacks even tho in reality that's what the pros play when they come for tournaments

However visitors naturally play the yellows now so it's sped their game up and made it less punishment for them