[Jeff_Brauer]

Having advocated shorter courses for a while, thought I would play up a few times this year.

Played the 4400 yard tees at La Costa earlier and quite a blast and short game test.

Played Cowboys on Tuesday with clients and moved up (for a variety of reasons, one guy wasn't great) to the 6100 yard tees.  Also a blast.   Despite not having played in two weeks, some stats:

FW hit 10 of 14 (not really unusual for me, though)
Greens Hit: 11
Fringes Hit: 4
Greens Missed: 3

Irons hit to greens - SW, PW, 8, 9, 6, 9, PW, (3RD SHOT AFTER FW MISS), GW, 7, SW, 6, 4, PW, SW, 8, SW (3RD SHOT AFTER FW MISS) 7, HYBRID (P5 IN 2)

Ya know, it could have been a little longer to get a few more long irons in, but no more than 6300 yards to be loads of fun.  I also noted from the cart GPS that I was driving well, with most drives in the 260-275 range, which is long for me.  Knowing me, I would move back a tee, and then start hitting those 230 yard fan tee shots again......LOL

Just wondering how many of you have tried moving up a tee to see what life is like for pros hitting short irons to most greens?

It was fun for me!

[Mark Saltzman]

Jeff, I've done it a few times at courses I've played many times.  It really is a lot of fun.  What amazes me is that there is as much thought required to play properly even from the forward sets.  It's like I'm playing a whole new course and, actually, it may require more strategic thought.

This is probably stupid, but I often get to play new courses only once.  When I visit a new course I don't think I'd ever 'move up' for fear of missing something.  Truth is, though, when you play back you are just as likely to miss something as when you play forward.

[David Cronheim]

Jeff,

I think in general most people will benefit from teeing it forward. However, I don't really care for the name much. Something along the lines of "play it like the pros do" might be catchier and express the true sentiment of the idea. For example, I played a few weeks ago in a small outing where everyone besides myself was at least a 25 handicap. My carry distance with a driver is about 270. We played up and I really did not enjoy the experience. I either had to hit irons off most of the tees or when I did hit driver, I was hitting it into bunkers that were not landing area bunkers. (Not having a yardage book didn't help matters). I felt like I didn't actually get to play the course because half the holes were quasi-driveable.

So, while on the whole I think it's a GREAT, GREAT initiative, for me personally, I'll stick to playing back farther.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Yeah, it does need a more positive, rather than negative name.  Play like pros, Pro Iron, etc.

As I tell people, years ago I played in a pro am with Tom Watson and was about 20 yards behind him.  Now, if I played with Bubba Watson, I would be about 50-100 yards behind him, so the fantasy of playing near the pros level is long gone for me, and good reason to move up.

Most of all, its just nice to hit reasonable clubs into greens on most holes, and to hit a par 5 with something less than a miracle shot.

[Cliff Hamm]

Years ago heard a story that someone arrived at  US Open venue and said he wanted to play it like the pros from the tips.  The response was 'if you want to play it like the pros play it forward and maybe you'll get a feel for the shots the pros face'.

As for me I have never understood the macho need to make the game tougher than it already is.

[PCCraig]

Every so often I'll meet up with my wife after work for golf, and in the interest of being more social I've moved up to the ladies tees with her. My home course is already pretty short (~6400 yards), but the back nine features 4 par-5's which range from approx. 520-570 from the tips. However from the up tees they turn into fun long "par-4's" where I'm hitting driver/mid-iron, a combo I don't see much of from the back tees. So for me I enjoy changing it up every once in a while and playing a "different" course.

[Lester George]

Played Kinloch Tuesday with another Golf Course Architect and a PGA Pro.  Moved up to the 6,400 yard tees and had a blast.  I actually competed on most holes.  They are both longer than me, but the adjustment had us hitting similar clubs into greens which helped me because of the rust I was throwing off.

Lester

[Mike Nuzzo]

Jeff
Have you moved up a set of tees and moved back on a few holes to get a longer approach or two?
We don't have no stinking tees where I like to play.
cheers

[Matthew Petersen]

In high school, our coach would often have us play from various tees in practice. It was a good move, since practice was generally just playing the same 9 holes day in and day out. Playing from the very forward tees really made you think about position and how much you want to challenge even holes that seem drivable.

[Jim Colton]

 I definitely like mixing up tee boxes and sometimes don't bother to constrain myself to one set within a round. I like the idea of letting the guy with honors pick 'em out.

 I came across one of the USGA's promotional posters for their Play it Forward campaign in the bathroom of a local course recently. One of the pros advocating to Play it Forward was Dustin Johnson, with a quote something like, "Play it Forward...it's cool!" I thought to myself, is Dustin Johnson really the right guy for this poster? He probably last played a blue tee when he was 10-years old.

[Garland Bayley]

I really have to wonder how someone hitting it 260 to 275 from the tee has a 4 iron, and a couple of 6 irons left when playing from 6100.

Your post does not compute for me.

[Bill_McBride]

Played Kinloch Tuesday with another Golf Course Architect and a PGA Pro.  Moved up to the 6,400 yard tees and had a blast.  I actually competed on most holes.  They are both longer than me, but the adjustment had us hitting similar clubs into greens which helped me because of the rust I was throwing off.

Lester

Lester, did the other guys hit from those tees too?  I'm still not real comfortable playing white if the others are playing blue, but getting there!

[Adam Clayman]

Jeff, I play forward quite a bit. The biggest difference is that I swing my driver so much easier, that I often hit it much better than when I feel as though I have to way lay just to keep up, or carry to the fairway.

For guys like me, it's all about the short game shots anyway.

i.e. I played yesterday at Dismal River. Mac Plumart had a guest that was a newer golfer. So we played very forward. Hitting shots into those greens, from interesting distances, only accentuated the fun had by all. It was blowing pretty good, so the challenge was definitely there. As were the options of aerial or ground game approach.

As an aside, I brought a former card carrier who went out with Mac's other guests that wanted to play the tips. He shot 89 and lamented not playing up one set, on a windy day. He had fun, just a different kind. One that involved the word F&*% a lot more.

[Chris_Hufnagel]

I just finished my annual trip to the Kingsley Club - four guys for four days.  90 holes, 10 point competition for the Dormie Cup followed by an 18 hole team, Pinehurst Alternate shot match for the Jameson.

We played the member's tees most often - a combination of the gold's and blue's - but mixed in several of the shorter par fours from the whites/reds.  It was a lot of fun...

We played #4, #6, #8, and #13 from the forward tees at least one time during the weekend - it was a really great way to bring some variety into the matches and make us think a little more about each hole.  Each one of the holes is drivable from the forward tees and every green was driven at least once during the week.  My guys really liked it...

Of course, one of the days we played #13 from the front tee to the back left hole location - talk about a fun hole!

[ward peyronnin]

I think playing forward has several benefits I will chronicle as follows. John Kavanaugh and I were playing Victoria one cold (40 degrees) wet and somewhat windy day. Ball wasn't going anywhere anyway and JK suggested we play from the very forward tees. I think around 52ooyds.

Anyway I didn't feel so ground down after a few holes like  i would have form normal tees and I really didn't need any additional grief than the weather already provided so the shorter length let me deal with  the challenge ol Man winter was dishing out adequately.

But the other benefit, because we have lots of tees per hole and therefore the teeing grounds are placed without regard for the other tees, was that we had a fresh look at the course playing it from angles and not just lengths we had never seen before.

[David Bartman]

Jeff,

When I first turned professional out of college, I went and played the Hooters Tour.  The courses were certainly easier than the west coast college courses ( Olympic Club, Pasatiempo, Stanford, Sand Piper)  I had been playing where any under par round was solid.  After the first four weeks and every cut being 2 or more under par, and winning scores in the -20 range.   I came back to Los Angles and started playing 1 round a week from the front tees to get used to being "deep" as we used to call it.  It was certainly fun, and did help me learn to continue to try to go lower rather than protect 2 or 3 under par rounds.

I also work very closely with a top LPGA player, when we play together I usually play a course in the 6300-6500 yard range like they do on their tour.  Its really good for her to compete against me from those front tees, she rarely beats me, but its fun for me to fell like I used to back when I was in my late 20's and could bring courses to their knees    

My point is that playing forward , has its advantages, even for pros!

[Lester George]

Bill,

Two of us played from the 6,400 yard tees and the PGA Pro played from the 6,800 yard tees, which was one up from the back where he might normally play.  He enjoyed it as well.

Lester

[John McCarthy]

For me, the forward tee puts more fairway bunkers into play.  It makes me think about club selection much more.

I played a tough course last year from about 7200.  There was no thought, just grabbing a driver and go.  I got outvoted on tee selection.   

[Peter Pallotta]

I've never done it, Jeff - I'm not a good enough golfers for such frivolities. I take my very average game very seriously -- playing it forward would feel like giving up. I'd put a smiley face in to show that I'm joking, but actually I'm not.

(But I'll put one in anyway because I know otherwise it sounds goofy )

Peter

[Jay Flemma]

Absolutely great.  We had to play the PRO tees at Forsagte for the Writers Tournament - all of us even bogey golfers and it is so hard!  Moving to the right set of boxes for a fun round later I could recover from bad shots.  Hit a bad drive off the pro tees there and hello double or triple. More fun playing the right set of tees.

[Keith OHalloran]

When I have visited Sand Hills, I play the circle tees on the final round of the day, usually the third. I don't know what the distance is, but many par 4's are drive able, and the angles present a different look than you are used to on each hole. I always enjoy it.
At Southampton, we just put in several "super front" tees. They were intended for junior and beginner golfers. Funny thing is, many senior men love them. Turns out that the ability to reach greens in regulation makes people enjoy the game a bit more.

[Paul Jones]

I have been playing one set up since it has been raining so much in South Louisiana.  However, with that said, there are a lot times I will just play from a tee box I feel like on each hole  

[Ronald Montesano]

I tell my varsity golf boys that they should play their first round of the year in western New York from the most forward tees. I do this for two reasons. The long-term one is to embed in their subconscious that the smaller shots are often cooler than the bigger ones. The short-term reason is to identify whether they can score without fear. I suggest that if they can't get it under par while playing a 5200-yard course, A) their short games suck and B) what makes them think they can do it from a standard men's course?

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