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Go Hard or Go Low?

wilwin

wilwin

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I just wanted to get people's opinions on what tee boxes people play and whether it's better psychologically to play the furthest tee box that you're comfortable with or play closer up and try to score as low as you can.

I have one playing partner that insists on playing as far as possible because it will improve his handicap, even though he can't physically make all the par 4s in regulation (that's one of my requirements for my choice in tee boxes). I personally think it's ridiculous and give him crap about it all the time. My logic is that if you can't lower your handicap playing a closer tee box, you shouldn't be playing the one further back.

For me, I mix it up depending on who I am playing with and it usually results in a 2-5 stroke difference if I'm playing from white tees (5500-6200yds) or blue tees (6000-6700). I'm a little disappointed in my scores because I feel I should shoot a lot lower than that if I play further up (short game is everything!).

Lately, I've been playing with a friend that just started the game this year, so I play the same tee box with him. I'm really hoping I see much lower scores, so psychologically I can know what it feels like to go lower. But at the same time, I think I may feel like I cheated if I broke my all time scoring record by playing closer up.

Thoughts?
 
I try to play from the longer tee's when I can. The reason is kinda silly but...

I am MUCH better off the tee with my driver than a fairway wood. When I play white tee's (as opposed to blue) I am put in the awkward position of playing a lot of FWs off the tee and it never seems to work well. I am long enough to play from the Blue tee's and even if I don't score all that well, it isnt any worse than if I had played whites. All my strokes come from 150 and in.
 
interesting topic. i usually play one up from the tips (usually around 6400-6800 yards). i just have done that for a while now and it's more of habit than anything. i have played from further up tees in captains choice tournaments and honestly find it a bit tougher. that distance usually brings in more hazards and narrower parts of fwys for me.
 
This came into play for me my last round. The two guys I was with wanted to play the front tees but I usually play the middle tees. Playing up close got me closer with my drives but I ended up in the sand all day. Like 14 holes of it. And it wasnt off the tee , it was approach shots and missing the greens.
 
If you're keeping an official handicap, it won't really be affected all too much since it'll take it into account.

I think you should try it and see. Personally speaking, if there's no carry issues (like 200 yard par3s with a lake to carry or something like 250 yards to get to fairway), the difference will probably be only several strokes different depending on your handicap.

If it means anything, I haven't played a par3 course in over 4 years, but when I did I was a bogey golfer and finished 9 holes at +7. On average when I played on regulation courses, I was around +10 per 9 holes. Maybe this is just me, but when I was a bogey golfer, I was a bogey golfer irregardless of the hole.
 
jmingt said:
If you're keeping an official handicap, it won't really be affected all too much since it'll take it into account.

I think you should try it and see. Personally speaking, if there's no carry issues (like 200 yard par3s with a lake to carry or something like 250 yards to get to fairway), the difference will probably be only several strokes different depending on your handicap.

If it means anything, I haven't played a par3 course in over 4 years, but when I did I was a bogey golfer and finished 9 holes at +7. On average when I played on regulation courses, I was around +10 per 9 holes. Maybe this is just me, but when I was a bogey golfer, I was a bogey golfer irregardless of the hole.
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I shoot VERY similar scores regardless of length of a course... so playing from tee's further back helps my handicap a fair bit. I played a tough course not to long ago twice. One from blue and one from white. Shot a 94 from the blues and a 92 from the whites but due to changes in difficultly the 94 is actually better for my handicap than the 92.
 
Im 18 and a bit of a powerful guy when it comes to my irons, so I should be playing the back tees (In which I do) usually im still hitting a 9 or 8 iron into most holes still there are a couple holes that take a bit of a longer iron to get to.

When I play the whites I usually play worse or notice it really doesnt make a difference to me.
 
RxGus said:
I shoot VERY similar scores regardless of length of a course... so playing from tee's further back helps my handicap a fair bit. I played a tough course not to long ago twice. One from blue and one from white. Shot a 94 from the blues and a 92 from the whites but due to changes in difficultly the 94 is actually better for my handicap than the 92.
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That's definitely possible.....however, handicaps are also all about averages so it's very hard to say without playing at a course consistently.

Also.....this is so very course dependent. The course by my home in LA literally has at most 5 yards of difference between the blues and whites. Literally, I can't tell the difference at all...I play almost the same clubs regardless of which teebox I'm off.

My home course up in the bay area has about 10 yards difference on *MOST* holes, but then one of the par3s goes from 160 downhill, over a lake, and between 2 massive trees into a 190 version. Also, the closing par 4 gains an extra 50-60 yards, becomes blind, and you have to hit a hard draw to fit it into the shape of the fairway. On those 2 holes alone, any miss will probably add 2 strokes to my total.
 
I'm sure I'll get dinged for this,but Tee boxes are set up for different skill levels to help allow different ability's shoot close to par .When that happens then we should move back and start the process all over again.JMHO
 
My home course is short enough that I can play either with no real change in scoring. I am 7 to 8 iron out at most on par 4 approach shots, and only one par 5 is hard to reach in 2 even from the back tees.

On other courses I usually play tips or one up. Short game is always what kills me. Chipping and putting..
 
You should play the tee box that is appropriate for the level your game is at. Theres nothing worse that a hack who plays the blue or black tees.
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
I'm sure I'll get dinged for this,but Tee boxes are set up for different skill levels to help allow different ability's shoot close to par .When that happens then we should move back and start the process all over again.JMHO
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I have seen courses that provide tee box recommendations on their scorecards (the cut-offs vary by course)
Scratch-8 Black
8-16 Blue
17-26 White
27+ Gold
 
Bucky36 said:
You should play the tee box that is appropriate for the level your game is at. Theres nothing worse that a hack who plays the blue or black tees.
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I actually think you should be able to play whatever tee box you want as long as you don't slow down the pace of play.
 
Growing up my home course only had whites and reds. I was never really exposed to a real course until recently, just starting back out I have been playing the tips of my regular course. It is harder, but I figure If I can relearn and improve my course management this time around it would really benefit my game in the long run.
 
This is hilarious that you mention this because I just had this conversation with my Saturday 12 man group. We were all standing on the first tee waiting to tee off and here comes a foursome over the turn. Like alot of courses the 1 and 10 tee boxes are relatively close so you can watch people tee off. They all step up to the blue tees (This particular course doesn't have championship gold, blue is the furthest back) and one by one proceed to hit their drives into the trees. Every single one of them I kid you not. It was hilarity.

Back on point. I play the white tees, I'm not too proud and thats what they are there for.
 
RxGus said:
I shoot VERY similar scores regardless of length of a course... so playing from tee's further back helps my handicap a fair bit. I played a tough course not to long ago twice. One from blue and one from white. Shot a 94 from the blues and a 92 from the whites but due to changes in difficultly the 94 is actually better for my handicap than the 92.
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I'm in the same boat as you. While playing blues will challenge me physically hitting more longer irons, I think playing whites is a better challenge mentally. You can't grip it and rip it on virtually all par 4s and it will make you think more around the course. You may be forced to tee off with an iron, you also will probably have more opportunities to consider going for par 5s in two and you'll also have your scoring irons in your hand more often.

I think I've convinced myself I should play more rounds from whites, but in the back of my head I feel I'm being cheated out of 1,000 yards of the golf course if I don't play further back. But I really think I need to teach myself how to score again. Right now, I'm not hitting enough GIRs and doing too much chipping and long putting. I need to get back to learning how to go low because my last 10+ rounds have been pretty similar in scoring.
 
wilwin said:
I actually think you should be able to play whatever tee box you want as long as you don't slow down the pace of play.
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That's fine,but why make this hard game even harder on you?I 've heard your answer many times with nobody explaining that thought process.
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
That's fine,but why make this hard game even harder on you?I 've heard your answer many times with nobody explaining that thought process.
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When I first started playing, I played exclusively from the white tees until I was able to break 90. After that, I started to challenge myself and play from the blues. Maybe I should have waited until I broke 80, but it was definitely a slightly different game than what I was used to playing. Now, I just play whatever tee box my playing partners are playing as long as I can physically reach all the Par 4s in two. It just makes it easier to all play from the same tee box, rather than have to wait at two different tee boxes.

I think the biggest reason people play from the wrong tees is they believe it's too "girly" if they play up a tee box. And men play from the back tees. The best example was when I played a course where red tees were 5,700, white tees were 6,600 and blue tees were 6,900. The whites are definitely pushing the physical limits of some golfers and they would be much better off playing from the reds, yet I did not see a single male play from them. I've played courses where white tees were shorter than the reds here.

That's probably why most golfers are more likely to brag about how far they can hit the golf ball than sinking a long putt.
 
I play the middle tees no matter the course. I dont have the game for the back tees...yet
 
I don't think it's so much score but ability with certain clubs. I normally play whites but I see myself creeping up to the next set of longer tees because I'm getting better at spotting my driver and on par 4's my next shot is wedge. I'll lock in to the next set once I see that I'm trending more towards hitting 3 wood off the tee (which I noticed has been happening a lot more lately). Either way it doesn't matter to me as pride matters not in my game. What is funny, like what was said above, is watching a bunch of hacks trying to bomb away from the back tees and next shot hitting wood or hybrid on 2nd on a par 4 (that's if they hit the fairway).
 
I just end up playing what my buddies' choose for that day. I have the length for the blues but my handicap probably puts me directly between whites and blues.

One of my crazy friends and I went out to a pretty tough local course and the wind was howling. He dared me to join him on the championship tees, so of course I couldn't say no. It was verry challenging, but in the end it was a nice change of pace. I scored a little better than I thought I would too. What was very statisfying was one of the par 5's was 660 yards, into a 25 mph wind. I hit driver, 3wood, 3wood again and somehow parred the hole. Made my whole round.
 
I usually end up playing whatever tee comes out around 6,000 yards. Then I can reach par 4's in two shots, assuming I don't mis-hit the ball.
 
I usually just go with the majority of the group. I play a couple regular courses and we like to mix it up a bit for a change of pace. I really don't care one way or the other. If it is my choice to make, I prefer the blues just for the extra length. If I play a new course I look for whatever is around 6500 - 6700 and check the slope/rating to check the difficulty.
 
I like to rotate teeboxes. One round ill play the 'ladies' tees, the next ill play the tips. and flip flop around between the mens and seniors too. Because of our hole layouts and designs, its a completely different game from all 4 tees. Par 3s range from 130 to 230. The driving of the ball is way harder off of the 'ladies' tees. And it helps me place my way around the golf course. Throw down a money game with friends from the most forward tees you can find, and play to a number all day. I can almost promise your buddies will take driver on every hole, while you sit back and collect.
 
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