Womens tees.

ScienceBoy

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Every course should have at least two sets of tees.

Forward tees which offer a shorter course with no forced carries (lakes, scrub etc)

Standard tees, slightly longer but have carries.

Then courses can add longer tees as wanted.

Tee choice needs a revamp, move a way from “women’s” and “men’s” to a forward, middle and back choice.

This means probably yellow tees get a bit shorter and a 4 tee setup would become the norm, with all four in play for people to choose from.
 

Lord Tyrion

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Think I've seen on a few courses tee positions dependent on handicap.

Is it correct blues are for beginners (#2)?
I think the colour and it's meaning can vary from course to course, with the general exception of reds, yellows and whites. Blues at most courses I have played at are for juniors to start off on. I have also been to the odd course where blue is the back medal tee, which other courses have as a gold tee or a black tee. I couldn't tell you which course it was but it stood out to me as I was so used to blue being a very forward tee and this was the absolute opposite. One to check on the scorecard for each course.
 

Capella

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Every course should have at least two sets of tees.

Forward tees which offer a shorter course with no forced carries (lakes, scrub etc)

Standard tees, slightly longer but have carries.

Then courses can add longer tees as wanted.

Tee choice needs a revamp, move a way from “women’s” and “men’s” to a forward, middle and back choice.

This means probably yellow tees get a bit shorter and a 4 tee setup would become the norm, with all four in play for people to choose from.

I am all for gender equality, but I am afraid, the average difference in distance between the men's and the women's game is just to big to be catered by just two sets of tees. For one thing, if you make the shorter tees (which will in most cases the only ones feasible for women to play) bland by leaving out all the carries, that makes the game rather dull. It should be possible to play a challenging, interesting game, and one that suits the eye, for shorter hitters as well. Also, if you set up those two sets of tee boxes with the average male player in mind (let's say a high handicapped middle aged player for the short ones and an athletically inclined young single handicapper for the longer ones), most women will not get much pleasure out of it. We need tee boxes designed for the average or even below average female player. That does not mean that men should not be allowed to play them. Quite the contrary. And as I said, there will always be a few women who are longer hitters or who just enjoy the challenge of playing off the back tees and they should be allowed to as well. But don't be surprised if very few women do. As I have stated before. Even the red tees on most courses are not suited to the average women's game. Many female players (and a few males ones for sure) would profit from shorter but still challenging and interesting course layouts. I know they are difficult to add for existing courses, because the courses just weren't designed with the female player in mind. But at least for newly designed courses, there is really no excuse for letting those out.
 

rulefan

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Think I've seen on a few courses tee positions dependent on handicap.

Is it correct blues are for beginners (#2)?
Blue is often the longest set of tees. Most courses that hold major amateur events use blue or black as the Championship Course. Blue is also used on other courses as the shortest for use primarily for juniors and/or beginners. Green is also favoured for this purpose.

However there is no rule specifying what colour should be used. See post #5.
Outside of competitions where the tee colours will usually be specified by the committee, clubs will usually inform visitors which tees are to be used and which have been rated for which gender(s).
 

TheJezster

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It's default for women to go off reds though. I don't know that I've ever seen a woman at a golf club, ie not a pro, play off anything other than the reds. I suspect most don't contemplate going off another tee, are they even aware it's an option?

As Tashy has commented, no skin off our noses and if they aren't complaining then I'm not going to make an issue of it. It just seems unbalanced.
My 4ball partner played her first 3 rounds off the whites as she needed a handicap. She'd never had one before and someone told her they needed to be played from the whites!! I told her she only had to play from the reds but as it was her 3rd round she stuck to the whites. She was only 2 over gross off the whites!

Lo and behold, the handicap secretary rejected the cards and she had to replay them off the reds. All worked out in the end, but what a mess, anyone should be able to play from any tee.
 

clubchamp98

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My 4ball partner played her first 3 rounds off the whites as she needed a handicap. She'd never had one before and someone told her they needed to be played from the whites!! I told her she only had to play from the reds but as it was her 3rd round she stuck to the whites. She was only 2 over gross off the whites!

Lo and behold, the handicap secretary rejected the cards and she had to replay them off the reds. All worked out in the end, but what a mess, anyone should be able to play from any tee.
What did she shoot off the reds?
 

TheJezster

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What did she shoot off the reds?
I think she ranged from 2 over to 4 over, possibly a 2, 3 and 4 if I recall.

She doesn't play that often, but could easily maintain a scratch or 1 if she just played 3 times a month. Currently it's closer to once a month but there are occasional spurts of play, like 3 weekends running (she only likes to play one day at the weekend).

We played our summer 4ball quarter final a couple weeks back, she had 6 birdies. That helped us win comfortably and we were giving 12 and 14 shots to our opponents too!
 

rulefan

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My 4ball partner played her first 3 rounds off the whites as she needed a handicap. She'd never had one before and someone told her they needed to be played from the whites!! I told her she only had to play from the reds but as it was her 3rd round she stuck to the whites. She was only 2 over gross off the whites!

Lo and behold, the handicap secretary rejected the cards and she had to replay them off the reds. All worked out in the end, but what a mess, anyone should be able to play from any tee.
If the whites had not been rated for ladies the handicap secretary would have no way of processing the scores, as the correct scores and rated course would have to appear in her handicap record.
 

jim8flog

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Where I play anybody can play off any tee at any time socially.

The reds have only been rated for ladies and yellows and whites only for men.

On our 9 hole course the Yellow tees have been rated for both sexes

The ratings were only carried out a few weeks ago, I had suggested we get our reds rated for men (would allow juniors to play comps using just one tee) and yellows for ladies.
 

Old Skier

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The club would/should have been consulted about which tees should be rated for which gender. The rating team don't want to waste time rating tees that are unsuitable for the players and won't be used for competitions. eg red too short for men, yellow too long for ladies. Remember, they don't get paid for rating and it can add an hour to a 4/5 hour job.

We asked and were told no.
 

rulefan

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Where I play anybody can play off any tee at any time socially.

The reds have only been rated for ladies and yellows and whites only for men.

On our 9 hole course the Yellow tees have been rated for both sexes

The ratings were only carried out a few weeks ago, I had suggested we get our reds rated for men (would allow juniors to play comps using just one tee) and yellows for ladies.
You may find a delay as the rating teams will be shutting down in October unless the weather is really good and the leaves haven't fallen yet.
 

Jigger

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Yellow tees aren’t just for seniors

Normal set up currently is

Whites ( or full length course ) is for most Male comps

Yellow - normally the tee of the day for social , society’s, winter and some comps

Reds - Ladies

Blue - juniors or beginners

The plan for all clubs should be for all tees to be rated for both Male and female so all tees can be used for all

I whole heartedly support that last bit. I’m always trying to get my mates to mix it up.
 

rulefan

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Our ladies objected to the men playing from the reds. To be fair the pads are fairly small and the ladies legitimately said they were getting torn up by the men. Especially the par 3s.
 

garyinderry

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A young lad at our club was recommended by our pro that he play some practice rounds off the red tees. He did this a few times to get comfortable going low and keeping that score going. It also helped to sharpen up his wedges.

Hes now the course record holder. 6under


Food for though.
 

stefanovic

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To resolve the confusion, how about Blue tees for men, Pink for ladies, Red for competition, White for juniors or novices.
 

HomerJSimpson

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A young lad at our club was recommended by our pro that he play some practice rounds off the red tees. He did this a few times to get comfortable going low and keeping that score going. It also helped to sharpen up his wedges.

Hes now the course record holder. 6under


Food for though.
We have a 9 hole supper club on Wednesdays and the format usually involves at least some tee shots of the ladies red tee of the day markers. Gives the course a really different perspective and changes clubbing into the greens massively. I can definitely see where your pro is coming from
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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In additional to the 'usual' four sets of tees for Ladies/Juniors x 2 and Gents x2 we also have a set of very forward tees for players from our academies. They are positioned so that there is absolutely no carry risk from the tee (and so often on the fairway) - the player will always be able get their ball into play off the tee - and that is encouraging :)
 

williamalex1

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To resolve the confusion, how about Blue tees for men, Pink for ladies, Red for competition, White for juniors or novices.
Why there isn't universal standard colour code set for tees and distance markers i don't know :confused: .
ATM clubs can chose whatever colour tee and distances markers they wish. Maybe to make you buy a course planner :unsure:.
 
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