Playing from the front tees: An Experiment

[ChipRoyce]

I think its a great idea!
At my home course, some holes, par 4's could obviously play way too short. However, reachable par 4's and par 5's then add some element of risk / reward around the greens for those that don't execute perfectly.
The par 3's also get interesting, more for the novelty of hitting 50-80 yard wedge shots never before attempted.

[Adam Clayman]

I really think that choosing the correct set of tees really has more to do with driving length than anything else.  What I hate to see is guys who drive the ball 285 going from the 6200 yard tees -- invariably they have nothing but wedges and pitches into the par fours.  Even if they have crappy wedge games and end up shooting 90, do you really think they have chosen the correct set of tees?

Aaron-
Your point is good because it raises the question of who decides what's right for others.  

In the real world, your above example is the exception. So much so that I have never seen it. Being considerate of those behind you is paramount and if someone feels they need to play forward inorder to be considerate, they should not be told they need to move back.

Besides, In your example, I reccomend raising the stakes and play that guy everyday.

[Ron Farris]

I will be playing with my son, in about an hour, from the forward tees at The Golf Club at Red Rock, Rapid City, SD.  Tempatures are in the 60's.

We will play five holes:

1: 262 yd Par 4 (straight forward w/ bunkers guarding the landing area and green front.)

2: 465 yd Par 5 (uphill, small green, small undulating green, bunker behind the green.)

3: 262 yd Par 4 (Hazard completely crossing the fairway at 280yds.

4: 278 yd Par 4 (downhill hole with an uphill approach to a small green.  Slope on right kicks ball onto green.  Very drivable-even for the average player.  Heck I was in the clubhouse and a gentleman who tested the Nike Driver had just exclaimed "I drove the green on 4.  I love this club. {378yds).

5: 144 par 3 (Down hill to large green with two tiers).

Bit of a breeze so it should be a blast.

Happy Turkey Day to All!

[Walt_Cutshall]

I've played my course several times from the front tees. My first impression is that I know how the pros feel, since most of the par 5s are reachable with an iron, the long par 4s require only a short iron. One par 4 is reachable from the tee (actually I went over the green and OB with my driver the first time I played it from the front   ). Additionally, there are some places that do not require a layup shot from the front tees. There are also some bunkers/hazards that come into play from the fronts that aren't in play from the tips.

However, my course is a Ross course, and you still have to deal with the greens regardless of which tees you use.  

I can't tell you how much fun it is to play the front tees from time to time.

[Rick Shefchik]

Dan knows my home course -- Oak Glen in Stillwater, Minn. -- as well as I do, but I'll try to make this clear enough to be useful for everyone else:

My wife Barbara and I played the back nine at Oak Glen Thanksgiving morning. I played from the foward tees, used a Sunday bag with 8 clubs, gave Barbara one shot per hole and two on the par fives, and got my clock cleaned.

I found myself trying to overpower the course, and I was out of my comfort zone on most of the tees -- particularly the dogleg lefts, where it was too tempting to take the ball over the trees from the up tees rather than going around them, as I would normally do. That caused me to make some bad swings.

We started on 14, a 500-yard par 5 with OB and a fairway bunker on the left side, then a wetland; and a fairway bunker on the right and then OB. I hit a 5-wood here instead of a driver, and hit the middle of the fairway past the pinching fairway bunkers but short of the drop-off to the wetland. It was one of the few smart, safe shots I executed all morning. I mishit my next 5-wood, pulling it left and short, then chunked a sand wedge and took a six. Nevertheless, I thought the hole was at least as good from the forward tee, since driver was definitely a risk-reward play.

15: From the forward tee, this uphill dogleg left tempts you to take the direct line over the trees in the left rough. My wife played her normal drive to the middle of the fairway, but I tried cutting the dogleg and hooked it into the trees. I had an opening and managed a par with a sandwedge, but I could just as easily have had to punch out. I like the challenge of the tee shot from the forward tee more than the back tees, but it's too short.

16: This terrific downhill par 3 can play 220 from the back tees, but played only 150 from the forward tee. I hit the green with an 8-iron and two-putted. Despite a creek in front of the green a pond right of the green, it's too easy a hole from the forward tee.

17: This slight dogleg right par 4 plays about 280 from the forward tee, so I hit driver and left myself 30 yards from the green, with a great angle to the back left flag behind a greenside bunker. Then I skulled the half-sandwedge over the green and out of bounds. The 45-yard shot is not my specialty, and hitting driver from the forward tee is likely to leave me with this shot most of the time, unless I really nail one. It would be smarter to lay up, but I don't know how often I would. I like this hole better from the forward tees.

18: A severe dogleg left from the white and blue tees, this hole requires that you cut off some of the dogleg to have a reasonable approach to the green. But from the forward tee well to the right, the dogleg is straightened considerably. Now the ideal landing area is just over the intruding trees on the left -- but I hooked my drive OB left. From the whites, on a more sever angle, that drive would have been fine. This is a better hole from the back tees, but more dangerous from the forward tees.

10: The toughest par 4 on the course has a pond left of the fairway, then a creek cuts across the fairway about 280 yards from the tee, and another pond borders the last 100 yards of the hole and the green on the right side. I probably should have tried to clear the creek with a driver from the forward tee, but instead I hit a safe 5-wood, againd putting the ball in the ideal location in the fairway. I hit the green with an 8-iron and two putted. I think this is a better and more interesting hole from the forward tees.

11: 500-yard dogleg left par 5, over the crest of a hill and then over a bit of a hollow to an elevated green. I tried to cut the dogleg but pushed the drive through the fairway on the right. I had a good lie and an open line to the green, and hit a 5-wood that ended up just over the green near the back left pin. Ended up with par after missing a 3-footer. Better hole from farther back.

12: Par 3 plays 175/183 from white/blues, but about 155 from reds. Just short with an 8-iron, up and down for par. Better hole from farther back.

13: A 350-yard dogleg left with a pond guarding the front right half of the green. I normally hit driver and leave it short of the pond, but from the forward tee I hit a five wood, carrying the fairway bunker on the left side of the hole and leaving myself a sand wedge from the rough. Driver would never be an option on this tee for me -- I couldn't reach the green, and it would just bring the pond into play.

My conclusion is that my course, like most courses, would be more fun to play if it had one short, driveable par 4 per nine.

[Bob_Huntley]

Bob,

  I still remember how much we enjoyed the circle tees that day with George and Christian. Remember the turbo boosts that came into play ? Remember the short approaches that were so very interesting ? Remember the record scores ? ( Well, two out of three ain't bad.)

Neil

Neil,

I do remember and I wish I did it more often.

Bob

[Bob_Huntley]

I know my limitations. I see no reason to play so far back that I cannot reach a par-4 in 2 shots [if i WILL or not is problematic, of course, but I insist it be possible]. I hit a good drive 190 - 200yd. My 5-wood makes maybe 175 on a nice flight. So 360-370 is my upper limit. That generally translates to not playing over 5600 - 5700 yds.

If this means FRONT tees, I am not too proud to play them [and often do]. The good news is, with front tee comes the occasional 280 yd par-4. That's 3-wood and PW for me. See what I mean?

One of the things I like about Hurdzan courses [and I am certain others consider it too] is that he seems to keep most of the 'features' in play for we short hitters too. I have played a lot of his courses and as yet have not been sorry.

So; do not be proud. It is not 'LADIE's' tees, it is FORWARD tees. Hey, are they told they may not play from 'MEN's' tees?

Just a little anecdote: I was at Fox Run [slope 143] and we were teeing from the front. A group of 4 young men teeing from the tips are making derogatory noises. THEN they teed off. Ground balls, duck hooks, and crys of rage rang out! I didn't even give them a look of pity [I am, of course, way too classy for that]  . But I assure you I could have beaten any of the four from any tee, and poor a golfer as I am.

Golf is fun in so many ways.

Doug

Doug,

I have found an honest man! This is the very first post I have ever read on GCA concerning driving distance, where someone has posted that they hit their drives 200 yards.

Bob

[Jim Sweeney]

A young assistant pro here in Cinci a few years back thought he could play and wanted the head pro to help him find sponsors for a try at q-school. The old pro told him to play twenty rounds from the forward tees and report back. The hotshot scored approximately the same as he did from the backs. The lesson was learned and the young assistant is now an outstanding head professional at another club in town.

Playing the fromt tees can teach humilty and impart wisdom.

[Dan Herrmann]

For me, it really points out the need to work on short game.  

Also - If I recall correctly, some of Tom Doak's holes play BETTER from the front tees.  I think I remember #16 at PD being especially different (better?) from up front.  I may have the hole wrong, but Laura needed to make quite a different walk to get to some of the tees.  

In fact, Laura thanks Mr. Doak for not just putting the tee in some spot just to get it done.  She feels that Doak really strives to make forward tees interesting.

[Shane Sullivan]

I know this thread is about playing from the front tees (which is where I always play from) but for fun every now and then my husband and I play back, middle, front, back, middle, front etc.  It's surprising how the extra length is not so much of a problem because it takes a lot of trouble out of play for me.

Dan,

I agree with Laura.  Barnbougle Dunes is the best golf experience I have had so far because of the thoughtful placement of the front tees.  There was a variety of elevations and angles which you don't often get - my husband always came around to my tee and commented on how it was a different hole from the back tees.

Shane

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I've played Friar's Head from every set of tees, and I'll be the first to say that from every set of tees, including the front it is never hampered as far as interest!

The funny thing is that I just went along with it for the fun of it, because the guy I was playing with was no slouch as far as golf talent is concerned (Assistant Caddie Master) who wanted to get to know the course better from that angle. Ironically, it brought us somewhat--closer--together in terms of competition, or from a competitive angle. I could see how that could better anyone's game.

I think that two months in Baiting Hollow made me a better golfer. Playing from the foward tees was probably a key ingredient to that.