[Sean_A]

Sean,
Take a 7200 yard golf course where every back tee is the closest one from the hole you just played, just think how much dead time the poor player has who has to walk all the way forward to play from the 4500 yard markers  Better to think of it this way, those golfers who want a longer or shorter experience might have to make a slight “dead” time sacrifice to get it such as walking back 30 or 40 yards, heaven forbid, to the tips, or walk the same distance forward without having to hit a shot to get to their shorter tee.

Just think how long golf would take if we made everyone start from those back tees just to save “dead” time!  It would no longer be your 3-4 hours. Then again maybe it would be because most players would give up the game. 

Hence the reason I think courses need to be more targeted. If you want a long course that’s ok. It stretches between 7000 and 6000. If you want a moderate course that stretches from 6200ish to 5000ish. If you want a short course that stretches from 5700ish to 4500ish. I just don’t buy that a course is a good walk with tees between 7000 and 4500. Hence the reason these courses are generally played in carts or are awful walks. Thinking that mega tees is a magic bullet is a myth.


Ciao

[Paul Jones]

What about similar to Double Eagle and few other clubs where they do not have tee markers.  Winner of the hole picks the next box, wouldn't even have to put the yardage on the score card for each hole and/or total yardage.

[Mark_Fine]

Paul,
I said the same in other threads; every existing 7000+ yard course could have infinite starting locations (like Congaree, Sebonack, … where they don’t have formal tees).  If you want to walk to a different starting point have at it.  If not, don’t. Some golfers don’t mind a walk to their tees. 


Sean are you saying Pine Valley isn’t a very good walk from the shortest tees which by the way are probably 2000 yards shorter than the tips!  I am willing to bet the golfers who play from there don’t mind the walk one bit. They couldn’t play the course without them.

[Peter Sayegh]

Thanks to reading this site for 15+ years, I learned golf is golf no matter the yardage played. It's been the best thing I've taken from GCA.
I haven't seen the tips of any course in a long time, nor do I miss them. For the past ten years, I've kept a spreadsheet of the tees I've played at each course. I do not play the same set on consecutive visits. It's enhanced my enjoyment AND interest. The recent proliferation of "hybrid/mixed" tees has been a godsend in my opinion.

I've seen the light but I feel there is still a lotta "machismo" out there. Some of my partners snicker when I propose we play the senior/ladies/forward (whatever the label) tees but I continue to convert them.
(As an example, last month I was back at Pinehurst #8 and, for the first time, there was a plain paper scorecard for a red/green (short) setup that I had never seen before. I asked the starter if I could take it-the only sheet at the time-and he told me it wasn't meant for me).

P.S. I rarely walk when playing. Sean A continues to educate me on the perspective of a walking player as subjects like this arise.

[James Reader]

My home club, Huddersfield, has recently introduced a new set of tees - the Fallon Course, after John Fallon who was Ryder Cup captain in 1963 while the club professional. It’s a combination of yellow (forward mens) and red (“ladies”) tees and measures under 5,700 yards.  The pars of the holes haven’t been changed, so there are a couple of par 5s of less then 440 yards and two par 4s at about 250.

It’s being used once a month for the midweek Stableford competition, which is played off the yellows in the other weeks, and there are consistently more than twice as many entrants when the Fallon tees are used.

As a 3-handicapper, it’s fun to be hitting completely different shots on many of the holes (perhaps experiencing them as the big hitters do). For some of the older members (who wouldn’t dream of playing off the ladies tees) it’s a chance to play competitive golf, which they just don’t enjoy from the normal 6,200 yards.

It’s been a great success and I hope the club will use them more often. I’d also encourage other clubs to do the same. There’s no logic in men being reluctant to play from what are perceived to be the ladies tees but it’s a reality unfortunately. “Branding” a short course, as Huddersfield has done, seems an effective way to overcome it. 

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