Different tees during the same round

[John Mayhugh]

As kids we used to play a game where the tee box was determined by the prior hole.  We all started on the whites.  If you made par or bogey, then next hole is from the whites.  If you made birdie, you got to play the next from the reds.  If you made double or worse, you had to go back to the blues (our tips, since there were only three tees).  Of course, we were just kids and did not care about official scores or handicaps (or rules for that matter).  It was just for match play and was a total blast.  You could obviously change the formula around with better or worse players (par or better gets to go to the Reds, etc.)  It adds a ton of fun and pressure to a birdie putt or to that dreaded comebacker for bogey. 

Also, since we struggled to get on in regulation from the tips, you could get on a cataclysmic run of double bogeys and just not be able to get off those back tees.  I know it is in violation of various rules of golf and probably would not do much to speed up play, but give it a try some time. 

Now, with everyone obsessed with scores and handicaps I can never get people to try it, but it is very fun in a friendly match,

Art This sounds like a LOT of fun.  I can't wait to try it, assuming I can convince my buddies to do so.

I usually end up with different tees in a single round to try to get the total yardage to a reasonable amount.  The ideal mixture of fun/challenge for me is generally when the overall course length is around 6600 yards.  Of course, this varies with all sorts of factors but it's a good general guideline.  Sometimes we'll play a course where there are tees that add up to about 6300 and then the next set up is 6900.  When we prefer to end up somewhere in between, we'll leave par 3 & par 5 holes at the longer yardage and then adjust par 4 tees depending on the hole & its length. For example, if a par 4 was 440/390, we would probably play the 390 yard tees.

[Eric Smith]

John,

I'm up for it if you are for a round playing Art's game when you get down to Knoxville next week.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I hate playing the same tees over and over.  So do my buddies.  We will move around quite often.  It makes the course different.  When I play a new course I will generally play both the regular and back tees on the par threes.

[Sean Leary]

I have tried to get my buddies to play different tees at my home course (especially the par 3's). They are basically all scratch players or better, so I believe that they won't do it because:

1)  they feel like a lparticularly low round would be cheapened by playing shorter tees

2) they feel that my course slope and rating is too high as it is, so a low score will lower their low handicaps even further.

[Paul Jones]

Sometimes I will play the Par 3s from different sets of tees just to get a variety, some courses have all the Par 3s over 185 yards.  Therefore,  I will play from different tees so I do not have to hit the same club.

[Dan Moore]

Given the gap between the 6,400 tees and 7,000+ tees at Erin Hills the only way I will play it is to mix up some tees.  

I also like to tee it up a little farther back than the tees go on a few holes at Spring Valley,  #s 12 and 13 in particular.  

I have noticed a public course or two that will move up the tees  rather systematically from what the card indicates in what I assume is an effort to get players playing from the right set of tees.  If the blues are 6,800 yards and they play 6,600 and so on for the white tees it seems more players end up on the correct tees for their ability and pace of play is correspondingly better.  .    

[Kalen Braley]

For those of you who have played a few rounds with the ladies, including myself, its never been much of a nusiance to play from the men tees and then walk up to the forward tees where they tee off.

With this in mind, why would it be any more of a bother to have one or two in an all male group play from the back tees, and then walk up to the whites for the shorter hitters? 

Is it really just ego that gets in the way here?  A bit of out-of-control testerone at work?  Is this what causes the perceived nuiscance?  Because I can't think of a real reason why its a fuss for an all male 4some to play from different tees.

[Kirk Gill]

Kalen, I will admit that sometimes I feel compelled to move back with the longer hitters just for social reasons. If I hit from my own tee it's like playing as a single with a bunch of guys I don't know. It all depends on just how brutal the difference is on any given course.

As a shorter hitter, I tend to play from the whites (or the equivalent) on most courses, but sometimes, especially I find on par 3's, the white tees just don't seem to provide the most interesting (or scenic, or heroic) qualities that the longer tees do. So I head on back.

[Sean_A]

If I have guests with me, the pace is ok and they want to go to the tips on a some holes, I am happy to oblige - though folks rarely ask.  As a guest I will play the tees I am told to - I don't have any hangups about this bunker or that - its just a game and am not at all worried about seeing "the whole course".  I normally stick to tees of the day because I am not good enough to play all the way back.  There are usually some holes I don't mind moving up on if it saves a walk or if the hole looks better from the ladies tee. 

Kalen - I hate it it when the ladies tees are not near the regular tees.  This is my biggest beef with so called sets of tees solving the problem of golfers with different abilities.  For most people golf is primarily a social game.  Creating separate tees doesn't promote the social side of the game.  All the players in a group should play from the same tee.  If there are more than a few holes which ladies or whoever can't play properly because of carries or whatever then that course isn't for a mixed group or the archie screwed up or maybe, just maybe, there shouldn't be a golf course on that particular piece of land.

Ciao 

[JohnV]

If you mix and match a set of tees, you can always post your score.

Go to the following link:

http://www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/manual/sections/section_05.html#5-2

Scroll down until you find the table named "Men's Rating Adjustments From Unrated Tees"

Figure out the difference in yardage from a set of tees that are rated and adjust the rating and slope for the new yardage.

If the set of tees becomes a frequently used set, contact your local assocation and have them do a rating from those tees.  Usually they don't even have to visit the course, but can just use the data that was collected for each tee during a previous rating.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Phil McDade,

If you were invited to play Augusta.

And your host indicated that he was going to play from the "Members" tees, but, that you could play from whatever tees you wanted, and, to make your host feel comfortable you indicated that you'd play with him.

Then, you arrive at the 12th tee.

And you say to your host, I"ve seen the Pros play this hole in The Masters on TV hundreds of times and I've often wondered how I would play it, and your host said, go ahead, play it from The Masters tees.

And then, when you arrived at # 13 tee, # 15 tee and # 16 tee you made the same statement and your host made the same response, are you telling us that you'd refuse that opportunity ?

So, what's the difference between # 12 at ANGC and # 2 at PB ?

If you're there to enjoy yourself and experience the course as you've seen others do on TV, AND, you want to analyze a given hole from a specific set of tees, WHY wouldn't you do it ?  Will the earth stop rotating ?

Is it so critical that you play a single set of tees ?

Wouldn't you want to play # 16 at CPC from the back tee rather than the front tees as the rest of your group chose to do because they're 18 handicap players ?

If you were the last person to tee off and the group ahead was slow, wouldn't you want to play several balls on certain holes ?
Wouldn't you want to experience the holes from different tees ?

If you were in a charity event and they said you could tee off from the charity tees, way up front, or any other tees you wanted, would you adopt a rigid, solitary set, or would you go with the flow and play from where ever you felt like ?

Relax, enjoy yourself, tee it up from whatever set of tees pleases your fancy that particular day.

It's not like the set of tees you choose, and the deviation from that choice, will rock the world or upset anybody's apple cart.

Now, would you play # 2 at PB from 420, 460 or 493 ?

[Tim Bert]

As kids we used to play a game where the tee box was determined by the prior hole.  We all started on the whites.  If you made par or bogey, then next hole is from the whites.  If you made birdie, you got to play the next from the reds.  If you made double or worse, you had to go back to the blues (our tips, since there were only three tees).  Of course, we were just kids and did not care about official scores or handicaps (or rules for that matter).  It was just for match play and was a total blast.  You could obviously change the formula around with better or worse players (par or better gets to go to the Reds, etc.)  It adds a ton of fun and pressure to a birdie putt or to that dreaded comebacker for bogey. 

Also, since we struggled to get on in regulation from the tips, you could get on a cataclysmic run of double bogeys and just not be able to get off those back tees.  I know it is in violation of various rules of golf and probably would not do much to speed up play, but give it a try some time. 

Now, with everyone obsessed with scores and handicaps I can never get people to try it, but it is very fun in a friendly match,

Art This sounds like a LOT of fun.  I can't wait to try it, assuming I can convince my buddies to do so.

I usually end up with different tees in a single round to try to get the total yardage to a reasonable amount.  The ideal mixture of fun/challenge for me is generally when the overall course length is around 6600 yards.  Of course, this varies with all sorts of factors but it's a good general guideline.  Sometimes we'll play a course where there are tees that add up to about 6300 and then the next set up is 6900.  When we prefer to end up somewhere in between, we'll leave par 3 & par 5 holes at the longer yardage and then adjust par 4 tees depending on the hole & its length. For example, if a par 4 was 440/390, we would probably play the 390 yard tees.

I've played a game with some friends a couple of times that is almost the exact opposite of this.  It's a self-adjusting handicap game that works rather well with a group of guys with a range of handicaps as long as no one is significantly better or worse.

The best score on the previous hole plays from the tips on up to the worst score, who plays from the ladies tee.  It's a nice twist on a skins game that often results in not too much cash changing hands.  It is also a lot of fun on a course that you might play frequently, but have never had the nerve to step up and play from the ladies tee or back to the tips and have a go.  Playing from four different tees can certainly add a little time to the round (though not too much if you play quickly.)  WE "invented" the game on the 10th hole of a round that was on a 5+ hour pace.  We needed something to keep us occupied without going crazy.

I played this format with two other attendees at Longshadow on the back nine Sunday afternoon post-Dixie Cup.  That was a great nine to mix the tips, middles, and front.  There were some pretty extreme yardage differences.

[John Mayhugh]

Eric
Weather permitting, would love to try out Art's game at HH.

Tim
The back 9 at Long Shadow would be perfect for either the game you describe or Art's.

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

The Olympic Club has recently introduced a blended/composite set of tees.  On the 9 toughest handicap holes, play is from the white tees. On the easiest 9 handicap holes, play is from the blue tees. This composite set of tees has been rated & given a slope.

How has the experience been?  This seems smart and palatable to me.

While I haven't played the new combo tees at the O Club yet, I have played a similar setup at Desert Forest which they call the Red Lawrence tees.  Thought it was a very enjoyable way to experience the course.

[Andy Troeger]

I mix and match frequently, especially on courses I haven't seen before, especially if there is not a set of tees around 6600-6700 yards. Lakota Canyon for example I played the back tees I think on 12 of the 18 holes, moving up on the par threes and two others. Instead of playing from 6400 or 7000 it made it 6800 and a good test for me.

I'm re-establishing my handicap this year so I suppose I shouldn't do such things, but I so rarely play for anything that it likely won't make much difference.

[Art Roselle]

I've played a game with some friends a couple of times that is almost the exact opposite of this.  It's a self-adjusting handicap game that works rather well with a group of guys with a range of handicaps as long as no one is significantly better or worse.

The best score on the previous hole plays from the tips on up to the worst score, who plays from the ladies tee.  It's a nice twist on a skins game that often results in not too much cash changing hands.  It is also a lot of fun on a course that you might play frequently, but have never had the nerve to step up and play from the ladies tee or back to the tips and have a go.  Playing from four different tees can certainly add a little time to the round (though not too much if you play quickly.)  WE "invented" the game on the 10th hole of a round that was on a 5+ hour pace.  We needed something to keep us occupied without going crazy.

I played this format with two other attendees at Longshadow on the back nine Sunday afternoon post-Dixie Cup.  That was a great nine to mix the tips, middles, and front.  There were some pretty extreme yardage differences.

Believe it or not, we tried this version a few times too, but it took about two holes for the accusations to arise that people were taking a dive on purpose (remember, we were about 15).  I guess we should have done it as you said, and based it on who wins the hole rather than score.  As I recall, we did it based on score and if a kid had a meaningless bogey putt, you could bet he would miss it and proudly head to the reds.  We also preferred the cutthroat snowball effect of rewarding and punishing prior scores.  Our course was very short from the reds, which made it even better.  There was no better feeling than birdieing the hole before a par 5 and knowing that it was a medium par 4 from the reds.  Two decent shots and you had another birdie and were back to the reds for the next hole too.  Some of the longer hitters and better players would shoot fantastic scores because they could drive several par 4s and hit all the par 5s in two (from the reds).  It all depended on making that first birdie though.  And, it could go the other way in a hurry too.  It would have been better if the course had been tougher from the tips.  On many of today's courses, with "tournament" tees back behind the parking lot, it would be fantastic.

This discussion has made me determined to find a way to reintroduce it.  I know I can at least get my son to play and probably teach it to his friends.  Golf is war with no mercy when you are a kid.

[Phil McDade]

Phil McDade,

If you were invited to play Augusta.

And your host indicated that he was going to play from the "Members" tees, but, that you could play from whatever tees you wanted, and, to make your host feel comfortable you indicated that you'd play with him.

Then, you arrive at the 12th tee.

And you say to your host, I"ve seen the Pros play this hole in The Masters on TV hundreds of times and I've often wondered how I would play it, and your host said, go ahead, play it from The Masters tees.

And then, when you arrived at # 13 tee, # 15 tee and # 16 tee you made the same statement and your host made the same response, are you telling us that you'd refuse that opportunity ?

So, what's the difference between # 12 at ANGC and # 2 at PB ?

If you're there to enjoy yourself and experience the course as you've seen others do on TV, AND, you want to analyze a given hole from a specific set of tees, WHY wouldn't you do it ?  Will the earth stop rotating ?

Is it so critical that you play a single set of tees ?

Wouldn't you want to play # 16 at CPC from the back tee rather than the front tees as the rest of your group chose to do because they're 18 handicap players ?

If you were the last person to tee off and the group ahead was slow, wouldn't you want to play several balls on certain holes ?
Wouldn't you want to experience the holes from different tees ?

If you were in a charity event and they said you could tee off from the charity tees, way up front, or any other tees you wanted, would you adopt a rigid, solitary set, or would you go with the flow and play from where ever you felt like ?

Relax, enjoy yourself, tee it up from whatever set of tees pleases your fancy that particular day.

It's not like the set of tees you choose, and the deviation from that choice, will rock the world or upset anybody's apple cart.

Now, would you play # 2 at PB from 420, 460 or 493 ?

I'd play PB #2 from 460, I think, from what I can tell from aerials and other comments here. That fronting bunker before the green would certainly make me think about an approach if I hit my normal 200-225 yd drive. From 493, I wouldn't even consider trying for the green in two, and would hope I'd hit two decent shots to give me a comfortable third shot into what is described as a smallish green with tough surrounds.

If invited to play Augusta, as the good Lutheran I try to be, I'd pretty much do whatever my host suggested I do, including playing with five clubs or wearing a tuxedo on the course.

On a serious note, I think if invited to play at Augusta I'd play from the appropriate tees for my game. I don't have a great burning desire to "play" a course as the pros play it. My game resembles the pro game the way Hannah Montana resembles Mozart -- they're both musicians, in the broadest sense of the word. That I'd be playing on the world' most famous course I'd attribute to my tremendous good fortune, but I'd have no desire to play Augusta National from the back tees.