What would you shoot off the ladies tee?

[dhartmann34]

I used to play from the ladies tees a lot back in college. It helped me focus and get used to playing at or below par. It's a different mindset when you get a couple under....I think I'd be around +2 or so if I always played from the ladies tees.

 

[niteowl03]

I used to play from the ladies tees a lot back in college. It helped me focus and get used to playing at or below par. It's a different mindset when you get a couple under....I think I'd be around +2 or so if I always played from the ladies tees.

So you are thinking it would make a 9 point swing in your handicap?

 

[Evok]

Im going to try it this weekend. Should be fun

 

[amsmith61]

Honestly.. not sure if I would shoot a better score. Would depend on whether I play smart or not. Hit driver off the tee and I might be at yardage I am not used to. It would be interesting. Will have to try it.

 

[niteowl03]

Niteowl03 and capt.dru's experiment was very enlightening. I imagine the 2 stroke downturn in scores is within their standard deviation of scores, so it could as easily be +2 the next time they tried it. It makes sense that playing to a specific yardage won't give you much of a change in scores because it's changing your club selection off the tee. I'm going to purposely stick with the clubs I'd usually play off the white's and adapt to the game as it comes. Wonder how that'll effect my score.

We can try this some tonight, my guess woulf be that I will leave most people with odd yardages.

For example 350yd par 4 from whites, I will hit 5w to put me around 120. From the reds lets say it plays 290, that would give me about 60yds.

120 is a full swing 55 im comfortable with. 60 isnt a distance I like as much. It would be good for practicing those distances but I would guess it could actually make scores increase unless you are really comfortable with distances inside 100.

 

[Sanzabar]

My initial reaction is alot better...

However, I feel like I would spend alot of the time trying to drive greens. Therefore, really going after the ball isnt my forte. So, in the end, I think it would be about the same.

Par 3's would be ALOT easier at my home course. We have 3 par 3's that are >200 yards from the back 2 tee boxes, but the ladies tee box is at 120 or so.

 

[deuce]

We can try this some tonight, my guess woulf be that I will leave most people with odd yardages.

For example 350yd par 4 from whites, I will hit 5w to put me around 120. From the reds lets say it plays 290, that would give me about 60yds.

120 is a full swing 55 im comfortable with. 60 isnt a distance I like as much. It would be good for practicing those distances but I would guess it could actually make scores increase unless you are really comfortable with distances inside 100.

Yeah, if it's not a typical shot it could be problematic. For me, 65 yards is a full swing with my 60* and my 50* gets me in that 85-90 yard range, and I pretty much split the difference with my SW.

Maybe I should always play from the red tees!

Sent from my SGH-T599 using Tapatalk

 

[rbarthle17]

We can try this some tonight, my guess woulf be that I will leave most people with odd yardages.

For example 350yd par 4 from whites, I will hit 5w to put me around 120. From the reds lets say it plays 290, that would give me about 60yds.

120 is a full swing 55 im comfortable with. 60 isnt a distance I like as much. It would be good for practicing those distances but I would guess it could actually make scores increase unless you are really comfortable with distances inside 100.

This is what I think will skew the results for us as a group. Anything inside 100 I actually look forward to and feel confident about getting on the green and getting out no worse than 2 putts. Someone less confident in that distance would have trouble.

Of course this could also expose what I perceived to be a strength in my game and shine a light on what I need to work on, which is also good.

I've also been thinking about how I'll deal with the inevitable questions that will come as to why I am playing up. I figure it will be a great time to advertise THP to the masses in stating this as a THP challenge (if unofficial) and promote the site some!

 

[T0AD]

I might do this tomorrow if my regular partners back out on me. Our greens right now are just about the worst I've seen here in 9 years. Last time I drove by there was nobody there.

Might as well at least tee it up from the reds and try to see how it would play out (putting is almost impossible on 11 greens). I know I would have a ton of <100 yd wedge shots instead of 6 and 7 irons.

 

[niteowl03]

Of course this could also expose what I perceived to be a strength in my game and shine a light on what I need to work on, which is also good.

I've also been thinking about how I'll deal with the inevitable questions that will come as to why I am playing up. I figure it will be a great time to advertise THP to the masses in stating this as a THP challenge (if unofficial) and promote the site some!

The top I believe is what happened to Dru. Felt fairly confident there but didnt perform as well as expected.

To the below we actually got no comments at all and I wasnt aware of any looks either. For full disclosure we did tee off at 545 so the course was fairly empty.

 

[rollin]

Niteowl03 and capt.dru's experiment was very enlightening. I imagine the 2 stroke downturn in scores is within their standard deviation of scores, so it could as easily be +2 the next time they tried it. It makes sense that playing to a specific yardage won't give you much of a change in scores because it's changing your club selection off the tee. I'm going to purposely stick with the clubs I'd usually play off the white's and adapt to the game as it comes. Wonder how that'll effect my score.

But then you wiouldnt come up with a fair answer. I guess it depends on your course layout also but firing away with the same clubs kind of defeats the purpose of the experiment imo. Just like if i played back at the blues I would have some different choices to make to amnage a slightly different game, so why would I ignore the different choices from the reds in order to manage that game?

For one who simply gets up at every tee and rips it without much thought and then plays whats left (good or bad) then it doesnt matter becuse that how he normally plays . But for one who does put more effort towards managing club choices and shots he can not get a true answer to this question unless he gives the same managing effort as he would from the other tees. If you play with a certain logic from the whites and then dismiss that logic for the blues or reds, you cannot give a fair answer because you are varrying from the way you normally play.

The only way to get a good answer is to play while making the same thought out decisions you normally would make. They might be different ones because yardages are different but the thought process needs to still be the same. If not then its not a fair assessment. You are "purposely going to use the same clubs" regardless so you are no longer managing the way you normally would. You are varrying from your normal thinking and the experiment then fails imo. Even if one manages the same then we would still have to play several rounds just to eliminate the extremes of really good and really bad ones from the equation to achieve an average. But not playing the same way just doesnt work imo.

 

[majBC]

I haven't read this whole thread so it might have been mentioned, but if your not hitting greens from shorter distances it is consistent ball striking you need to work on. I know you said you needed more work on short game, and we all do, but ball striking will help more if shorter distances are not making the game easier. Also while I am a big proponent of laying up to a distance that is only if you are consistent enough to make this strategy work. I know in the " Every shot counts book" he says for ametuers hitting it closer is the best way to go. I do believe that laying up to a distance can lead to a comfort level in golf and help avoid trouble and thus the big number holes. Even if you don't shoot any better sores, at least it always seems they are easier scores, if that makes sense.

 

[Parshooter36]

So I tried this today on a whim, and was quite shocked with the results.

I played my home course. It's a shorter course playing at 6120 yards from the back tees according to the card, and plays from 5120 from the front tees. I'm a fairly short hitter, so even though it's only 6120 yards, there are 7 par 4s that I have to hit hybrid or fairway woods into the green assuming I have hit a decent driver. From the forward tees every green was reachable and most of those hybrid approach shots turned into 9 irons or pitching wedges and even though I didn't hit any of them, the par 5s were reachable in 2 which never, ever happens for me. I felt like I should be making par or better on every hole when normally there are several holes I know going in that bogey will be a good score.

I have 24 rounds on this course this year, with scores ranging from 80 to 94. My average for the year was just a bit over 87, but the past couple of months it's been closer to 83. I also only average 3.6 GIR for the year on this course.

Today I shot 76 with 8 GIR. I really didn't expect it to be that big of a difference, but it was. It was one of the most fun rounds I've ever played, and as an added bonus I played it in just a shade over 2 hours.

 

[Evok]

So I tried this today on a whim, and was quite shocked with the results.

I played my home course. It's a shorter course playing at 6120 yards from the back tees according to the card, and plays from 5120 from the front tees. I'm a fairly short hitter, so even though it's only 6120 yards, there are 7 par 4s that I have to hit hybrid or fairway woods into the green assuming I have hit a decent driver. From the forward tees every green was reachable and most of those hybrid approach shots turned into 9 irons or pitching wedges and even though I didn't hit any of them, the par 5s were reachable in 2 which never, ever happens for me. I felt like I should be making par or better on every hole when normally there are several holes I know going in that bogey will be a good score.

I have 24 rounds on this course this year, with scores ranging from 80 to 94. My average for the year was just a bit over 87, but the past couple of months it's been closer to 83. I also only average 3.6 GIR for the year on this course.

Today I shot 76 with 8 GIR. I really didn't expect it to be that big of a difference, but it was. It was one of the most fun rounds I've ever played, and as an added bonus I played it in just a shade over 2 hours.

Nice!! We really need to start a thread on this little experiment so we group all the data together as other try it, including myself. Pretty crazy the stroke difference you got

 

[majBC]

So I tried this today on a whim, and was quite shocked with the results.

I played my home course. It's a shorter course playing at 6120 yards from the back tees according to the card, and plays from 5120 from the front tees. I'm a fairly short hitter, so even though it's only 6120 yards, there are 7 par 4s that I have to hit hybrid or fairway woods into the green assuming I have hit a decent driver. From the forward tees every green was reachable and most of those hybrid approach shots turned into 9 irons or pitching wedges and even though I didn't hit any of them, the par 5s were reachable in 2 which never, ever happens for me. I felt like I should be making par or better on every hole when normally there are several holes I know going in that bogey will be a good score.

I have 24 rounds on this course this year, with scores ranging from 80 to 94. My average for the year was just a bit over 87, but the past couple of months it's been closer to 83. I also only average 3.6 GIR for the year on this course.

Today I shot 76 with 8 GIR. I really didn't expect it to be that big of a difference, but it was. It was one of the most fun rounds I've ever played, and as an added bonus I played it in just a shade over 2 hours.

Great round. Maybe there's something to this tee it forward movement.

 

[rollin]

I haven't read this whole post so it might have been mentioned, but if your not hitting greens from shorter distances it is consistent ball striking you need to work on. I know you said you needed more work on short game, and we all do, but ball striking will help more if shorter distances are not making the game easier. Also while I am a big proponent of laying up to s distance that is only if you are consistent enough to make this strategy work. I know in the " Every shot counts book" he says for ametuers hitting it closer is the best way to go. I do believe that laying up to a distance can lead to a comfort level in golf and help avoid trouble and thus the big number holes. Even if you don't shoot any better sores, at least if always seems they are easier scores, if that makes sense.

To the hilighted above. I say yes and no. Firstly, some people love hitting approach shots with a certain club or two. But besides that It all depends what hitting it closer means and the hole layout and the risk that might be involved. I dont use my 5w off the tee because I want to be further away than my dirver. I may do it because my driver may run across the fairway on a dog leg. Or because the widest, most forgiving and easiest part of the fairway to come in from may be at my 5w distance instead of driver or simply due to higher risk in my driver landing area. I may want to simply play what the hole gives me. Those and other reasons for what one may feel gives best cahnce to make par with a chance at bird can often dictate that trying to get closer is not just simply the better choice. Just too many variables hole to hole can and do exsit for that to always be so true.

 

[deuce]

But then you wiouldnt come up with a fair answer. I guess it depends on your course layout also but firing away with the same clubs kind of defeats the purpose of the experiment imo. Just like if i played back at the blues I would have some different choices to make to amnage a slightly different game, so why would I ignore the different choices from the reds in order to manage that game?

I disagree. The test is to see how you would score differently from playing a different yardage. Some choose to lay up to a certain yardage, some will go for it. I plan on "going for it". A large part of the game is mental, and if mentally you have a confidence boost to try to drive that green from the red tee box, I'd say it's legit.

 

[darnall]

I kind of did this once... 2 years ago I was playing 3-4 times a week, and usually either playing 6-12 extra holes each time or playing 2 separate balls on each hole... I was consistently shooting 75-79 on a par 70 course...one day I decided to play a white ball from my regular tees and a yellow ball from the red tees just to mix it up and have some different shots into most of the greens... the reduced yardage made a huge difference in my score with the yellow ball.... I shot 67 with it... all the par 5s were easily reachable in 2, a couple of them my second shot was with a 7 iron, and the par 3s played radically different, usually 3-4 clubs less on the red tees. My tee shots on most of the par 4s required a different strategy, so my scoring on those didn't see near as much of an impact as the par 3 and par 5 holes gave me from the red tees.

It was interesting, and I have to admit it was fun doing it... kid of made me feel like I was seeing my course through Bubbas eyes...hahahah

 

[majBC]

To the hilighted above. I say yes and no. Firstly, some people love hitting approach shots with a certain club or two. But besides that It all depends what hitting it closer means and the hole layout and the risk that might be involved. I dont use my 5w off the tee because I want to be further away than my dirver. I may do it because my driver may run across the fairway on a dog leg. Or because the widest, most forgiving and easiest part of the fairway to come in from may be at my 5w distance instead of driver or simply due to higher risk in my driver landing area. I may want to simply play what the hole gives me. Those and other reasons for what one may feel gives best cahnce to make par with a chance at bird can often dictate that trying to get closer is not just simply the better choice. Just too many variables hole to hole can and do exsit for that to always be so true.

Nothing came through as highlighted. I think I know what you are talking about, though. I am one of the biggest proponents to lay up to a number or plan the hole when you get to it, assessing the conditions of the day. I was telling what the guy that wrote the book said, I actually rarely play that way ( its difficult to bomb & gouge with a 220 yard drive).

 

[lilbilly]

I disagree. The test is to see how you would score differently from playing a different yardage. Some choose to lay up to a certain yardage, some will go for it. I plan on "going for it". A large part of the game is mental, and if mentally you have a confidence boost to try to drive that green from the red tee box, I'd say it's legit.

When I play from the red tees, I will likely still come out with driver on most par 4's because that's how I play from whites/blues. Regardless of if the hole is 350 or 420, I pull driver, unless it is a real short dog leg and I have to use a different club.

May be a bad strategy to try, but I don't normally try to play to distances.

 

[deuce]

When I play from the red tees, I will likely still come out with driver on most par 4's because that's how I play from whites/blues. Regardless of if the hole is 350 or 420, I pull driver, unless it is a real short dog leg and I have to use a different club.

May be a bad strategy to try, but I don't normally try to play to distances.

I don't play to distances usually myself because when your driver is anything from a 180-230 club (which varies from hole to hole) you never know what you're going to get! If I'm in the fairway, I'm happy and will figure out how to cover whatever distance I have left to the green. While I can make a GIR here or there (mostly on par 5's and short par 4's), at this point in my game I tend to be happy with bogey golf ... this experiment will be interesting because I will have a legitimate shot at many more GIRs.

 

[Parshooter36]

When I play from the red tees, I will likely still come out with driver on most par 4's because that's how I play from whites/blues. Regardless of if the hole is 350 or 420, I pull driver, unless it is a real short dog leg and I have to use a different club.
May be a bad strategy to try, but I don't normally try to play to distances.

I don't play to distances usually myself because when your driver is anything from a 180-230 club (which varies from hole to hole) you never know what you're going to get! If I'm in the fairway, I'm happy and will figure out how to cover whatever distance I have left to the green. While I can make a GIR here or there (mostly on par 5's and short par 4's), at this point in my game I tend to be happy with bogey golf ... this experiment will be interesting because I will have a legitimate shot at many more GIRs.

I only used less than driver on 2 holes today that I would normally use driver on. They were both dogleg holes that I would've driven through with a good drive.
The rest of the holes I used driver, I was just left with 100-120 yard approach shots instead of 180-200.

 

[rollin]

I disagree. The test is to see how you would score differently from playing a different yardage. Some choose to lay up to a certain yardage, some will go for it. I plan on "going for it". A large part of the game is mental, and if mentally you have a confidence boost to try to drive that green from the red tee box, I'd say it's legit.

Sort of. But club choices dont have to only be about laying to a yardage. tee club choices could be about wanting to hit certain more desireable areas of fairways, flatter, wider, les troublesome, better angles and elevations into greens, playing to ones stregnths and also to what the hole offers, avoidong certain troubles, etc the list goes on.. laying up decisions are not simply always based about distance to play towards but instead often those other things i mention too. Thats all management too.

You are intentionaly going to use the same tee clubs as you do from the whites regardless of all that. You know this now before you even get to any tee. So with that in mind you are imo changing the way you normally play without even thinking about the other factors or not caring to evaluate them. Of course this is only if you do normally mange for and through those factors. If you normally dont then I'd say your playing the same game and the comparison works. But if you normaly do take all those things into account and are now going to igore them, then imo your playing a game different from your norm. (not distance wise, but in terms of your game management and logic). So comparing the results for how many strokes differnce a differnt set of tees will create is not apples to apples anymore but is apples to oranges. But again, i dont know how you normally play. Have a blast and knock yourself out with all the fun you want and how you want and good luck, But the comparison (unless you normally play similarly) doesnt fly imo.

 

[jochan90]

I think the real difference will be seen with someone who will have a shorter approach shot, as myself. Where from the whites I am left with a 5 iron from 150 out, turning into a 6 or 7, possibly 8 iron for my approach. Of course a bad swing will result in a poor shot, but we will see how it works out.

 

[drp3434]

I disagree. The test is to see how you would score differently from playing a different yardage. Some choose to lay up to a certain yardage, some will go for it. I plan on "going for it". A large part of the game is mental, and if mentally you have a confidence boost to try to drive that green from the red tee box, I'd say it's legit.

I agree with this. Depends on your strengths. If I'm great with my driver, why would I put it away just because the distances are shorter? If I can play the new distances from the fairway, you better believe I'm going driver.