Which tees would you play at Augusta?

[Matt MacIver]

If I only get to play one round, I agree with the first comment -- play whatever set of tees gives me a reasonable chance to hit my dream-shot -- going for #13 in two.  

And if I whiff my tee shot...like I'm sure I would...I would punch the ball out to 200 yards and then give it a rip.  No matter what else happened that magical day, pure-ing a fairway wood onto #13 would be my highlight -- hopefully I'm laying one when I hit it and more hopefully I make the putt, but that's all secondary.  

And to a lesser extent, ditto #15.  In fact, swap #11's 2nd shot, that's now my second favorite (again, with my 5-rescue).  

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I would play from any tees they instructed me to play from.

[Glenn Spencer]

Tony,

Played North Berwick myself, it is one of my favorite courses in the world. I just know myself and I would want to play the back tees at any course. I am more comfortable there and that is what I like. I would not want to spend the kind of money that my grandfather did (don't have it) and not be happy. How is that silly? I would not want my "Yeah, I birdied 13 story"- to be followed up with- from the front tees at 465 with a huge headed driver that I pounded 310 out into the rough, just left of the big stand of trees and then lofted a 9-iron into the green and scraped in a 2 putt. I don't think that makes for the story of a lifetime.

[Sean Leary]

So, all you guys who would feel 'hard done by' if you didn't play Augusta National from the Masters tees, would you also feel the same way is you didn't play TOC from the new Open Championship tees.

One is my greatest disappointments in golf is that when I played TOC that it played at about 6200 with little wind.  Being firm and fast, it played too short for me to get a real appreciation of the course...I shot my career low that day, and it feels kinda cheapened by the setup.

[tonyt]

I accept your logic Huck,

It is just that look at the two posts I targeted. They are the antithesis of a lot of the supposed pontificating on this site, and are proof enough to me that many here haven't the fortitude to walk the walk with their convictions.

Some guys on here need to learn something: There is an enormous gulf of difference between playing the forward mens tee at a typical modern golf course, and playing the original tee (or close to it) at a Golden Age or thereabouts course that is among the planet's finest.

[tonyt]

Tony,

Played North Berwick myself, it is one of my favorite courses in the world. I just know myself and I would want to play the back tees at any course. I am more comfortable there and that is what I like. I would not want to spend the kind of money that my grandfather did (don't have it) and not be happy. How is that silly? I would not want my "Yeah, I birdied 13 story"- to be followed up with- from the front tees at 465 with a huge headed driver that I pounded 310 out into the rough, just left of the big stand of trees and then lofted a 9-iron into the green and scraped in a 2 putt. I don't think that makes for the story of a lifetime.

Sure, and I don't think a round from the members' tees would go for you as you assume it would.

[Tom Huckaby]

I accept your logic Huck,

It is just that look at the two posts I targeted. They are the antithesis of a lot of the supposed pontificating on this site, and are proof enough to me that many here haven't the fortitude to walk the walk with their convictions.

Some guys on here need to learn something: There is an enormous gulf of difference between playing the forward mens tee at a typical modern golf course, and playing the original tee (or close to it) at a Golden Age or thereabouts course that is among the planet's finest.

Understood.  Just THIS course we equate with the Masters so closely, well... we want to play the Masters' shots - especially if it's a one-time thing.

Interestingly though, I felt no such need at The Old Course... I can't really figure out why.  I was happy as hell to play the markers they had set out.

And it's not that I would be UNHAPPY to play the Masters' tees at Augusta... I just would like to have one crack at them, so my 100+ score would be equated properly and described properly.  I guess it comes down to if I break 80 from the 6200 yard tees (I'm a 3-6 handicap depending on how the putts fall, so although that's unlikely, it has to be possible), well... the boys back home know that has an asterisk next to it.

TH

[Glenn Spencer]

I would rather shoot 89 from the back and have an appreciation for what those guys go through each April when I watch, than shoot some bs score from the front. I am 31 and there is no excuse for me to play from anywhere else. It seems like a lot of people have a complex about this, noone ever says anything about the 80-year old wanting to play up, why should the 20-year old be mocked for wanting to play back, I don't think I have any great need to learn anything Tony, but thanks for your wisdom.

Tom Huckaby- Your post is what I am trying to describe perfectly.

[tonyt]

than shoot some bs score from the front.

What is your handicap?

89 of the back means you play off what, 3? 4? If not 4-5ish, then you aren't going to be hitting all your nine irons onto the greens here, and you will NEVER shoot a bs score. One thing is for sure. You are highly unlikely to play to your handicap from the forward tee. And with a handicap of any more than 8ish, you would probably bring up your 100th stroke playing the 17th hole.

I'll bet nobody on here with a two digit handicap seeing it for the first time can break 95-100 off the tips.

Guys, I accept some of the back tee answers are based on the "once only" factor of ever playing at Augusta. And I can't tell you what you'd enjoy more. Just what makes more common sense. And yes, it is an American physche thing.

[Glenn Spencer]

Tony,

I am a scratch handicap. If I play a 6100 yard golf course and tell people that I broke 80 the first time I saw Augusta, it is a bs score. What I shoot or would is not in question here, the question is where would I want to play from. I would want to play from the back, no matter how smart you are or how well you know my golf game. If I was lucky enough to play Augusta, I would like to be able to talk about it, instead of being ashamed of it.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tony - is this really just an American thing?

Aussies, Scots, Brits, others don't want to emulate their heroes and play back tees just that once, on famous courses they've seen on TV so many times?

I'll take your word for it, but that seems odd to me.  I see this as a golf nut thing more than any national trait.

TH

[Darren_Kilfara]

I've heard that some members aren't very happy by the lack of tees between the "members" and "Masters" tees, and that a compromise set of tees might be reinstated at roughly the length that the tournament tees were 20-30 years ago. I'm pretty sure that the tees Jack played from in 1986 are the ones I'd want to play...

Cheers,
Darren

[Tim Pitner]

Tim Pitner,

If you get it out there and are off 8-9, the members' tees are ideal for you, and will present you with MORE than enough that you can handle. Despite eqiuipment changes, are you going to wipe the floor with the mediocre players whom have played the course at a length closer to these tees than the back ones, that have names like Sarazen, Nelson, Snead & Hogan?

What is it with you Americans and your ridiculous fascination with length that ignores clever green complexes with the ability to repel and exact a toll from those playing from 6200 yards? We get on this website and many knock some forms of frequent and perhaps misguided modernisation and we all talk about strategy, clever greens and nuances that fool the unthinking golfer instead of raw length. Then when it comes to the crunch, so many of you head back into the herd and follow the mantra of the unwashed masses.

I doubt I'd need my second hand of fingers to count the number of guys on this site who could rip this place a new butt from the members' tees.

Tony, I'm surprised you identified my post as one that raised your ire, but let me explain my comments.  I have no doubt that even from 6100 yards, ANGC would be challenging for me.  I don't play enough to have the sort of short game I'd need for Augusta.  So, it's not from a scoring perspective that I'd prefer to play a longer course.  It has more to do with wanting to hit different sorts of iron shots.  If I were driving well (a big if when playing such a course), I'd have quite a few short irons into the greens.  Now, I haven't studied where the members tees are and how the course would set up for me, but it could play pretty short (assuming no wind and not wet conditions).

There's a world of difference between a 6000-6300 yard links course that often sees 20-30 mph winds and a parkland course of the same length.  Since I'm going there in June, I'm thinking of Bandon and Pacific Dunes.  With little wind, the tees on those courses at about 6100-6300 yards are a little short for me.  When the afternoon winds kick up, they're all I can handle.  

Some of the courses that are at the top of my wish list (e.g., Swinley Park, West Sussex) are shorter courses so I wouldn't categorize me as an advocate of "raw length."

[Darren_Kilfara]

Aussies, Scots, Brits, others don't want to emulate their heroes and play back tees just that once, on famous courses they've seen on TV so many times?

Tom, I think it all comes down to what you mean by "to emulate". Personally, I'd rather hit driver/5-iron on a hole that the pros hit driver/5-iron, even if that means playing from 40-60 yards forward, because that would most closely give me the experience that the pros get. Take #18 at Augusta: from the Masters tee, at 460 yards uphill, for me, as someone who hits the ball 240-260 or so off the tee on a flat hole, that's probably a driver, a 3-wood and a sand wedge. How does playing a hole like that help me understand what the pros are facing? (Glenn, would you really need to play that hole to get an appreciation of what the pros are facing?) Or take #15: from a forward tee, I might be able to get a good drive into position to where I face the option of going for it or laying up. From the pro tee, I'd be hitting driver and laying up without any element of choice whatsoever. Which is the more "authentic" experience?

And by the way, I could care less what my friends think about what tees I play. Golf is tough enough from any set of tees...there's no such thing as an asterisk on my scorecard, even when playing the mandated forward tees at a short but classic UK linksland or parkland course (like I normally do in a standard bounce game over here). Tony is exactly right in this thread, as far as I'm concerned.

Cheers,
Darren

[tonyt]

Aussies, Scots, Brits, others don't want to emulate their heroes and play back tees just that once, on famous courses they've seen on TV so many times?

If playing there for a couple of weeks, then ONCE I'd just love to do that. I agree with you. But if I'm only getting one or two games, I wouldn't want to waste the experience.

From the Masters tees, very few guys on here (you and I included) would be emulating anything!! In fact, on anything other than our more accurate driving days, we'd be hitting second shots out of trees from well short of the fairway. There isn't a course on the planet I'd want to play in that fashion.


Tim, a considered and thoughtful response. I accept your logic and didn't mean to provoke you. I think I just dialled in on the point of an 8-9 marker not finding the members' tees suitable. The seaside 6000 yard courses that are defended by wind are not necessarily better defended than a 6200 yard Augusta on an extremely hilly site that was never meant to play at near 7000 yards, let alone well after. Don't forget, the tips at most long courses can be played by pros so that -4 or -6 could be the cut. Augusta at a similar length is a far more brutal test, and can't be dismissed as a "parkland" course in terms of difficulty versus length.

Glenn, if you are off scratch, then I rescind my point. Apologies.

[Sean_A]

I would be quite happy to play the forward tees and not very amused to be saddled with folks that want to push back to 7400 yards.  That almost certainly would be a long slog of a day and not one I would wish to watch.  In my experience loads of so called scratch players have no business on the back markers of local munis let alone at Augusta.

I have never played the course, but from visiting in the early 80s Augusta struck me as longer than its yardage because of so many uphill shots.  True, some holes are downhill, but the greens easily see to this perceived problem.  

Ciao

Sean

[Mike Benham]

Perhaps this should be a separate topic but ...

What hole locations would you want to play to?

[tonyt]

Any!!

If being choosy, #3 front left, #8 anywhere on the back half, #16 anywhere left half, and the others I'm less fussy.

[Dunlop_White]

Someone once said, " last time I checked you are not here every day", in other words, urging me to go for everything. I proceeded to dump it in 13 and 15.  

[Dave Bourgeois]

Member tees for me.  Augusta National seems like it could be a fun course to play based on the amount of hills, green contours, etc.  For me a significant chunk of fun would be gone as I'd hit driver, 4 wood, and wedge on the longer par 4s from the Master's tees.

As a 14, and imagining a once in a lifetime trip to Augusta, fun would be the priority for me rather than telling folks I beat myself up from the Masters tees.  This same reasoning has me always play the white's at Bethpage Black and never feel the need to head back to the US Open tees.  

[texsport]

You not playing the real Augusta National unless you play from the back tees are you?

I see no point in playing the member's tees unless you're a member who plays a lot of rounds there.

[Tim MacEachern]

That would have to be the member's tees.  Let's face it -- none of us are Tiger Woods or Phil Michelson.  In fact, none of us are Charles Howell or David Duvall.  I play to a 5 or 6 handicap normally, and the 6100 yard course would be plenty for me to handle.  What good is it trying to hit 3- and 5-woods into every green?

[Glenn Spencer]

Tony,

No apologies necessary friend. I never have claimed to think properly, but I do know that right now I would walk from Cincinnati with my clubs on my back to play that course from the back and see how hard it really is. From the front tees, I would rather go play at NCR with my friends from the back. In my mind, I am there to play the ultimate challenge and I wouldn't want it any other way. Fun, for me, is going to a football game or going drinking or having sex. Golf has never really supplied me with those same feelings, I play it for the challenge and the competition it supplies me with. Golf's fun to me, comes in the bar afterward, when discussing the great shots that everyone in the group hit.

[Wayne Freeman]

I like most of these replies.  I'm all for playing a course where  you're comfortable especially if it's a one time deal, and yet challenging.  For me, a 56 y.o. senior 3 hcp. the 1986 suggestion sounds ideal-  plenty of length for me but reasonable.  Above all else, I think it's important to have fun playing golf-  why totally beat yourself up just to say you played a course from what is really a ridiculous length for all but a very few select players.  

[Patrick_Mucci]

Why do so many want to play a golf course that's beyond their ability ?

Isn't that systemic in golf ?