tee marker location

[Tommy Williamsen]

I play golf with a couple of friends who like to mix up which tees we play.  Before we tee off we decide which tees on what holes to play.  On some par threes the differnce is 100 yards.  In Britain, many courses only put two tee markers out and move them around.  The course will play very different from one day to another.
I remember playing Double Eagle when it first opened.  There were no tee markers.  Whovere won the previous hole decides where to tee off on the next hole.

[Rob_Waldron]

Tommy

I agree with you wholeheartedly. In an attempt to add yardage architects designing new courses tend to extend the length of par 3 holes. Unfortunately it seems many new courses have 4 par threes ranging from 200 to 215 yards....not much for variety.

I enjoyed the concept of using a variety of tee locations when we played Four Streams and have found myself repeating the procedure at other courses based on conditions.

Considering tees and cups are usually set by a member of the maintenance staff who are not necessarily very knowledgeable about course setup you never know what to expect when you play a hole.

As a rules official, I take a significant amount of time whenever I am responsible for course setup. It is a shame more effort is not placed on training those who set courses for everyday play.

[Mark Brown]

I also like to play a variety of tees in one round because I want to play the holes the way the architect designed them to play, and also to adjust to wind, weather conditions and the firmness of the turf. It amazes me how few club pros and superintendents move tees and pins based on the each day's conditions. The firmness of the turf has a huge impact on how a course plays -- up to 30 to 50 yards per hole. Once again overseeding is usually the problem with soggy conditions

[Nyk Pike]

I play from a regular rainbow of teeing grounds.

Here at Pacific Dunes if the wind comes from the south (winter), I will normally play holes #4 and 7 from the orange (forward) tees and play 12 and 13 from the black (back) tees.
On days when I'm racing against daylight, I often play from the teeing ground that is nearest to the green I just played.

I am also a fan of the "Dunes Club/Sheep Ranch/Double Eagle" approach of winner of the hole determines the tee for the next.

Regarding course set up, I know that Jeff Sutherland (our super) sets up the course dependent on the number of players and weather conditions, i.e. heavy play= easier pins, winds direction and strength dictates tee box placement.

A lot can be learned about a course when viewing it from a tee box you hardly play. Variety is the spice of life. I have put myself in places I don't think I would of ever visited if I limited myself to one set of tees every round.

A quick aside, when I first started playing full rounds I wouldn't "graduate to the next box back until I beat bogie golf from the tee I was on. I enjoy all tees equally now and have never chided anyone from playing from a tee they enjoy most and when will people stop calling the "forward" tees the "women" tees.

[Ian Dalzell]

As I was watching the final round at TP, I was pondering the idea if changing tee markers in a PGA event.

What if the PGA Tour said for one event that it was going to use all 4 sets of tees at a site, and did not let the players know what tees they would use on a given day.

They could mix them up, so on the first tee it could be back, the next hole might be a par-3 of 237 yards the first day and the next off the forward tees only measure 149 yards.

This would make the players get to the tee before starting to decide strategy on a hole, and put a little more thought into it.

Imagine a player coming down the stretch needing a birdie, not knowing if the tees are up or back on a par-4 or par-5 coming home.  Bravery, not just length would be rewarded, and it would be kind of fun to watch the players figure out how to play from different tees each hole.

Just a thought to liven up the telecast

[JohnV]

Actually all it would mean is that the caddies would be sent out ahead of time to check which tees were being used.  This would be "unfair" to the players who played early while the latter holes were still being setup, but they could send their managers out to check it out as information about where the tees are is not advice.

Now, if they moved them between groups...