[Sam Maryland]

usually about 6500.

6800 +/- in good conditions in the summer.

never play the back tees on the Black!  (never ever)

a couple summers ago 2 of us had a time on Black and up come two kids carrying college team bags (1 Rider, 1 UVa?).  they go straight for the back tees...

...we said "ever played this course before"?  they said "nope".  we tried to explain to no avail.  on the 6th tee the kid from Rider joined us on at the white tees.  his buddy insisted on playing from the plates and no way he broke 100, only finished about 8 holes in regulation.  he was very very long but it was middle of summer, rough up, he lost at least a dozen balls.

[Phil McDade]

As a bogey golfer, I'm most comfortable between 5,800 and 6,200 yds. Anything much beyond 6,400 is tough for me to even play, though one of my favorites -- Lawsonia -- is 6,400 and change and I enjoy that more than some a few hundred yards shorter.

[Joe Hancock]

For me, the answer is the same as for that age old joke of a question "do you smoke during sex?"

Hell, I never check......

 

[John Kavanaugh]

We have close to if not more than 100 tees on our course and I may be the only member who has played from every one of them.  I really enjoy hitting woods into greens be it from either the tee or the fairway.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I used to say 6800. Now, 6333-6600 is fine and more of my friends are saying the same.

BTW, I have seen industry stats and they are as follow:

7000+ - <3%
6700+ - 16%
6300 +/- 57%
5800 - 19%
<5300 - 4.5%

Length does matter, as a 190 shooter on a longer course simply can't reach as many greens and ends up taking more shots.  Not sure how to counteract guys like Shiv - like to bang it a long way but only enough control to muster a 20 index.  They sure take more shots, too, but it sounds like playing for control might reduce that number a bit.

Jeff--are those numbers lengths from the longest tees for courses, or where golfers usually play? If the number is for total length of golf course, I am not buying it.

JKM,

Its the length golfers prefer to play.

[David Whitmer]

My Dad, who is 61 years old, is a 5 handicap who can't hit it more than 250 off the tee. He routinely beats me from whichever tees we play. I know length is important, but accuracy and a good short game trumps all. I'd gladly trade 30 yards off the tee for a better wedge game.

David, just curious.  Why does a 5 routinely beat a 3?  Are the handicaps from different courses? 

Jim,

When I say "routinely," I don't mean every time or even more than 50 % of the time. I do mean, however, he beats me probably one-third of the time, and can beat me any day we tee it up. If his short game is on that day, he can shoot some good scores. He's a great putter and excellent around the greens, and those skills make up for his lack of length as it compares to me.

Being a former club pro, I saw way too many people practicing their tee ball at the driving range compared to practicing their short game at the chipping green. I can count at least 3 members who killed the ball off the tee, but were 16 - 18 handicaps because they had the touch of an ogre. My point is that, while people should tee it up at a length that they are comfortable with, a good short game lowers your handicap, not a good long game.

We had a guy who plays on the Nationwide Tour practice at our club whenever he was in town, and he practiced his short game (chipping, pitching, putting, sand play) probably 75% of the time. When I asked him why he wasn't on the big tour, his immediate response was "putting." Therefore, I truly believe a good short game is the key to good scores. Anyone can have a good short game, and therefore anyone can shoot good scores on longer courses.

As I stated earlier, I honestly don't care how far I hit the ball...I only care how many it takes me to get it in the hole. Length is important and not to be overlooked, but it should not be the sole determinant when choosing a set of tees to play.

[Rick Shefchik]

The white tees at my club are 6451 yds. The blues are 6672, and it doesn't seem to make much difference which tees I play from. I almost always play from the whites, because those are the tees everyone else plays from, and those are the tees used in our club championship. I'll move back to the blues whenever someone else wants to, but I won't suggest it. I figure I need to practice from the tees we play when it really counts.

[Lloyd_Cole]

No course is too short for me if the holes hold some sort of challenge and charm. I enjoy pitch and putt. Our course is 6000 from the tips and I've never broken 70 (I'm a 5). I play whatever tees my partners want to. Usually the back tees, and I usually score better from there because I know the angles.  I'm not a long hitter but I've had fun on courses up to around 7000. More than that and I'm hitting too many 3 woods. So for me, length isn't really a factor - I never play from the pro tees and where are the medal tees 7000+ ?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I play about 7200/par 71 when I play at home.  On the road I let the others in the group decide where we will tee it up.

[Bill_McBride]

If you mean on my home course, then I prefer the 6400 yard holes to the 6000 yard holes.  There are only two where there is a huge difference, but it is big.  #2 is 397 blue, 330 white, and slightly uphill so there's a big difference.  #17 is 419 blue, a cape hole, and 325 white from across the water, so you feel like a girly man playing from there.

Otherwise it's hard to say what yardage I play from.  Some courses at 6100 play longer than others from 6600.  I like a course where I'm not hitting 3 hybrid second shots all day.

[John Sheehan]

Gold   72     73.1    129     6886-yds.
Blue   72      70      121     6244-yds.
White 72      67.6   116     5743-yds.

I play mostly from the blue tees at my club.  I have played them all, sometimes playing the par 3's from a different set to mix it up.  I'm happiest anywhere from 6000-6500.  Once the length get over 6600 I have to have my game on or it becomes a slog.  I'm at that age where even a couple of weeks without golf seems to have a seriously detrimental effect on my length.  If I am looking strictly for enjoyment, or struggling with my game, I will always opt to play the shorter set of tees. 

The last time at Bandon, I was struggling with my game.  I was also playing with my buddies who are real chops.  We played from the 5,371 yard Gold tees at Bandon Trails.  We had a blast.  Our caddie quietly applauded our decision, confessing to me that most people who play there would have a lot more fun if they moved up a set of tees.  But most don't.

[Nicholas Coppolo]

In Texas in the summer, I nearly always play the back tees...+/- 7200.

In New York in the fall and spring I usually like to play from around 6800, though I find most of the time that's the back as well.

I generally hover around the low single digits but I am not long at all, I can pop one 290+  occasionally (I have been called sneaky long) but for my normal controlled 75% tee shot, I think I only carry the ball 240-250. 

I like playing from the back for handicap purposes.  I feel pretty good with my number this way.  I know that the USGA ratings and slopes adjust for length.  But I think it much easier for a guy thats a 4 who plays from 7000 yards to play well from 6500 than the other way around.

How can you feel confident saying you're scratch playing from a set of tees that doesn't require you to hit long irons?

[John Moore II]

In Texas in the summer, I nearly always play the back tees...+/- 7200.

In New York in the fall and spring I usually like to play from around 6800, though I find most of the time that's the back as well.

I generally hover around the low single digits but I am not long at all, I can pop one 290+  occasionally (I have been called sneaky long) but for my normal controlled 75% tee shot, I think I only carry the ball 240-250. 

I like playing from the back for handicap purposes.  I feel pretty good with my number this way.  I know that the USGA ratings and slopes adjust for length.  But I think it much easier for a guy thats a 4 who plays from 7000 yards to play well from 6500 than the other way around.

How can you feel confident saying you're scratch playing from a set of tees that doesn't require you to hit long irons?

Well, I would say that depends on how far you usually hit it off the tee. I mean, I played a 470 hole a Mid South typically with a 8 or 9 iron second shot. So, I am not sure I can find a course that makes me hit 2-3-4 irons into the greens on par 4's. But I think anymore, you have to make courses insanely long in order for many scratch players to need long irons into greens. (Funny thing, just today, me and one of the other pro's, older fellow, talked about whether or not Hogan would be real good long iron player today. The best players don't need long irons anymore for approach shots.)

[Tim Bert]

Related thread from a while back connecting tee selection to "pride"...

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,27472.0.html

[Carl Nichols]

I generally prefer to play the back tees because my strength is length and ball-striking outside 100 yards, while I struggle hugely inside 100. But I like to mix it up w/ shorter tees to require different choices off the tee (like how to stay outside of 100!)

[Patrick Kiser]

I base it on conditions and what knowledge I may have about the layout.

If the wind is up and the course isn't too much to handle, I'll pick what's closest to 6,500 (over or under).

If the course is a bruiser, definitely under 6,500.

Flat easy going layout and good weather ... I'll go for 6,800.

I rarely will go for for 6,800.  Those can occur when greater than half of the tees are elevated to a downhill fairway and the weather is good.

[Tom Yost]

Generally speaking, I look for tees in the 6400-6600 yard range.   Depending on conditions and course difficulty, I may move up or back.   Much more than 6800 and  I start to struggle.

I played a course last week with FOUR sets of men's tees. 
7544  75.2/137   
7337  74.8/137   
6851  71.9/128   
6329  69.9/124   

As it was the first time playing the course, I chose the forward tees.  I felt like a geezer.

[Nicholas Coppolo]

In Texas in the summer, I nearly always play the back tees...+/- 7200.

In New York in the fall and spring I usually like to play from around 6800, though I find most of the time that's the back as well.

I generally hover around the low single digits but I am not long at all, I can pop one 290+  occasionally (I have been called sneaky long) but for my normal controlled 75% tee shot, I think I only carry the ball 240-250. 

I like playing from the back for handicap purposes.  I feel pretty good with my number this way.  I know that the USGA ratings and slopes adjust for length.  But I think it much easier for a guy thats a 4 who plays from 7000 yards to play well from 6500 than the other way around.

How can you feel confident saying you're scratch playing from a set of tees that doesn't require you to hit long irons?

Well, I would say that depends on how far you usually hit it off the tee. I mean, I played a 470 hole a Mid South typically with a 8 or 9 iron second shot. So, I am not sure I can find a course that makes me hit 2-3-4 irons into the greens on par 4's. But I think anymore, you have to make courses insanely long in order for many scratch players to need long irons into greens. (Funny thing, just today, me and one of the other pro's, older fellow, talked about whether or not Hogan would be real good long iron player today. The best players don't need long irons anymore for approach shots.)

No John, I'm not talking about the scratch player that plays from the back all the time.  I'm talking about the "scratch" player that only plays from 6300-6500 yards where the "long" par 4s are 420 but most are under 400.

 If you drive the ball with accuracy 285-300, there will be very few courses from the tips you'll need to hit long irons into par 4s.  But I'm not that long so I need to hit those sticks usually 3 or 4 times a round including the odd long par 3.   
 
Like I said, I hover around a 4 (although the other day I played like a 20 on BP Red), I have a good wedge game, and I could definitely play up from around 6500, which would probably get me down to a 2 and maybe after some time, scratch.  From the tips, most of the shots I drop are on long par 4s, and there aren't usually enough wedge approaches for me to make up with birdies....that being said I feel pretty confident I could beat a 4 that never plays from the back on any set of tees.  Rather than eliminating my weakness by moving up, I'm addressing them....

[Rich Goodale]

From wherever my playing companions wish to play, but preferably where they can play.

Some of the most disappointing golfing experiences I have had is where my hosts have seemingly politely forced me onto the very back or even at that time out of play tees from which they could not cope.  There is no pleasure in watching others suffer when you are having a friendly game.

[Tom Huckaby]

From wherever my playing companions wish to play, but preferably where they can play.

Some of the most disappointing golfing experiences I have had is where my hosts have seemingly politely forced me onto the very back or even at that time out of play tees from which they could not cope.  There is no pleasure in watching others suffer when you are having a friendly game.

That's my take as well... almost.  I have also been forced to play back tees with which I couldn't cope, and that wasn't much fun either.

TH

[John Kavanaugh]

From wherever my playing companions wish to play, but preferably where they can play.

Some of the most disappointing golfing experiences I have had is where my hosts have seemingly politely forced me onto the very back or even at that time out of play tees from which they could not cope.  There is no pleasure in watching others suffer when you are having a friendly game.

That's my take as well... almost.  I have also been forced to play back tees with which I couldn't cope, and that wasn't much fun either.

TH

Please name the course and explain "couldn't cope".

[Kyle Henderson]

I hit my woods plenty far and straight but my irons very short and I struggle with trajectory in the wind. Hence, I don't mind playing a lot of 185-200-yard approaches. 6600-7000 yards. A few courses play longer than their yardage, in which case 6,400 is plenty (e.g. Pasatiempo, though I wasn't hitting my woods well that day )

[Mark Pearce]

From wherever my playing companions wish to play, but preferably where they can play.

Some of the most disappointing golfing experiences I have had is where my hosts have seemingly politely forced me onto the very back or even at that time out of play tees from which they could not cope.  There is no pleasure in watching others suffer when you are having a friendly game.

That's my take as well... almost.  I have also been forced to play back tees with which I couldn't cope, and that wasn't much fun either.

TH

Please name the course and explain "couldn't cope".

Let me have a go.  I first played Muirfield as a guest of my father in law in July 1992, having taken the game up in the summer of 1991.  It was the week after the Open and the tees hadn't been moved forward.  There were a number of long carries (200 yards+) to fairways and the rough was deep.  As a beginner I could barely get most of those carries.  Fairways were narrow and, as I said, the rough was deep.  I could not cope.

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