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- #51
Not necessarily. On my home course it's 3 from Blue to White, and 2 from White to senior tees.
Aging, Ego, and Tees
Not necessarily. On my home course it's 3 from Blue to White, and 2 from White to senior tees.
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- #52
As long as you are having fun, that is all that matters, but I see many a frustrated golfer who may have more fun if they moved up. I would suggest that putting for birdie is more fun than scrambling to make par, but that is just my opinion.
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- #53
I think it was Sam Snead who said that all golfers should play the forward tees until they shoot par or better.
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- #54
I think most modern course design has more forced carries than older designs. For example, I live in the Boston area and we have a lot of old golf courses...some dating back to the 19th century...and you can play the ball on the ground. With newer courses in my area, you get a lot more forced carries.
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- #55
Luchnia
You will never conquer golf.
We have one older golfer at our local club and I would say he is closer to 80 years old, but that dude can pump nice drive and he still plays whites and he wins the senior club championship most every year. His swing is lock solid.
I watch some of the other stubborn players that play the "tips" and some times it is almost hilarious to watch them. It is one thing to play the longest tees just for the heck of it or change of pace for fun on an uncrowded course, but it is entirely another matter to play them and you should not be playing them because you simply don't have the hitting distance to do them justice.
On a number of occasions last year I watched golfers play the long tees and could barely get the ball 225 yards. I remember two guys that were behind me and a buddy. I told my buddy, let's keep an eye on them and see how they do since they are behind us playing from the long tees and play was moving along average.
It was the funniest thing watching these two guys that rarely hit the ball over 225 yards. After a few holes even as bad as me and my buddy were playing we were easily pulling away from them. I told my buddy that the two of them would be lucky if they score better than 110-120 watching them take all the extra shots on Par 4s to get to the green.
Luchnia
You will never conquer golf.
I am not sure I could shoot par even from the forward greens
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- #58
I remember standing on the tee box waiting for the group in front of us. They were playing the tips and from there you had to hit your drive over a pond...maybe 125 yards. All four hit their first tee shot into the pond. They reloaded and 3 of them put it in the pond again. The 3 who went into the pond were getting ready to hit yet another tee shot when the starter told them to move out, and maybe move up a tee box or three.
A little off subject but similar. Have a friend that's 55 and still using Ping eye2 with stiff shafts and a driver stiff shaft and can't hardly walk at the end of the round. I recommended regular shafts and it hurt his feelings, said that he wasn't that old. Being 75 I know how much the shafts can effect your joints. Seems foolish to play something that actually hurts you.
DG_1234
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If you are talking about a short but straight hitting player then I agree moving to forward tee boxes will likely make for a more fun round of golf.
But stronger, longer hitting players who spray the ball with driver I don't believe will have more fun playing from forward tee boxes (unless they take driver out of the bag and play the tee box shots with an iron so that their ball finds the fairway).
The "ego factor" you wrote about in your OP I believe is more related to crooked hitters insisting on swinging driver from the tee boxes. In other words, if one takes away the ego and recognizes that 6-iron or 7-iron is the longest club he can consistently hit straight , then moving up to forward tee boxes makes sense.
Agree it matters most on ability and distance you can hit the ball, but also course design matters. At my old club, I would play the blue tees at about 6600 yards, but at my new club I play the blue/white hybrid at about 6300 yards. I only hit driver on 8 holes there versus more on my previous club. With 4 par 3s, that means there are 6 holes that I am hitting a hybrid off the tee or less.
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At your new club it is dog leg holes that prompted you to move up a set of tee boxes ? Or is it just more narrow fairway landing areas ? Or is it both factors ?
Whatever the reason, you are playing less than driver so that your ball finds the fairway, and that is smart golf.
He is being foolish. At 66, I've used 80-95g graphite in regular flex for almost 20 yrs after using steel. Your friend is also stubborn. My policy is not to give advice unless asked but I'd just comment on how you feel great after a round with graphite. Flex is not about age, it's about what fits your game.
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skujan
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Agree that it's important to look at the total distance for a course and choose the appropriate tee. For me somewhere in the 6,200 yard vicinity.
I was fortunate to be paired with an elderly gentleman here while back while golfing in Galveston. The man loved the game and plays it well. 3 of us played a set of tees one up from the back he played the front. The man hit it dead straight down the middle. He had to drive his cart right up to his ball as he used a walker at times if have to go very far. Also used walker when he went to green to putt. We never once had to wait on him. He played the game just as fast as the rest of us and enjoyed it more. Gave me hope that I too could and would still enjoy the game from front tees when the time comes. I enjoyed the round as much as any I have played. Moral to the story drop the ego and play at a length you and the others you play with can and do enjoy.
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- #67
I am not talking about the longer hitters. I am talking about, for example, the guy who hits it maybe 200 yards and plays from 6000+. I think I mentioned this earlier, but once in a while I play with a son and his father, the son wishes his father would move up to the senior tees as a good drive for him is 160 yards.
Regardless though, as long as the golfer is having fun, that is all that matters. On a personal note, I don't find it fun hitting fairway woods into par 4's. Heck, even professionals have a hard time hitting greens with fairway woods. Plus, I bought a set of irons, I might as well use them.
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- #68
I was talking to a fitter once, and he had a guy come in for a driver fitting. They tried everything (variety of shaft/head combos), and he wasn't gaining anything over his old driver. So the fitter gave him one more club to try. Boom...he gained a legit 20 yards shot after shot. The customer was all excited, then he looked at the shaft and saw there was an "L" on it. He told the fitter he only plays stiff shafts and he will never play a Ladies flex, and he insisted on buying a new driver, with a stiff shaft, that didn't give him any gains over his old driver. That's ego...it's just a letter on the shaft, get some white out and cover it up if it offends you.
I would play pink Hello Kitty shafts if they gave me 20 more yards, lol.
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- #69
A few years ago I played with a 95 year old gentleman...he walks 9 holes daily, weather permitting. He didn't use any tees. He would walk out to the beginning of the fairway and hit from there. I thought that was a great idea. I see some father's with their young sons teeing it up from the blue tees, and the kid has no chance. When my son first started playing, I had him tee up from the fairway.
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This one is easy. The son and the father should both play the forward/senior tees.
In the early 00's, I fit my 10 yr old son to a 43g shaft at 43 inches in a Senior flex at 10.5 loft and hit it about 3/4 speed and smooth instead of the gorilla tempo I had at the time. I thought, "This is so delightful, easy and straight. It did not fit me but 10 yrs later, I was hitting a 43g shaft and 43.5 inches. As my swing has improved with 3 straight yrs of lessons and 45 inches, D4 and 9 of loft, more efficiency with good technique and a smoother tempo, I'm thinking of a second driver with those early specs and an easy going shaft.
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- #72
That's smart Desmond. It's all about what gives you the best performance.
@JB carries a second driver and the idea is appealing. For me, 10.5 loft, 43.5 inches, low kick shaft and R flex.
Would go in tandem with the 45 in, D4, 9 of loft Epics on their way.
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- #74
I have enough trouble with one driver, let alone two.
I have an Epic Flash set to 12.5º. I just ordered an Aldila Quaranta 40 gram shaft in senior flex for it. The driver is 45.5 inches, but the fitter told me that is like 43.5 for the average golfer (my irons and wedges are +2-inches).
I am another senior golfer trying to get back to 100 driver SS, at 94 now after going down to 84 after heart surgery several years ago.
Complete swing change, more efficiency, an instructor that drives me, rowing/kettlebells/stretching/massages for therapy (yes, but they do loosen the shoulders, back, hips and legs). I recommend, if interested, you find a guy who worked for a pro sports team and knows about movement.
But I'd never play the back tees unless a par 3 was tempting. 7000 yards and hitting 3, 5 woods and long hybrids for 18 holes is no way to play golf.
Whenever I play, I always see the inevitable younger guys playing the back tees who don't belong there - I laugh. And more often than not, that high speed drive is going fore left or fore right. As long as I'm not behind them.
Complete swing change, more efficiency, an instructor that drives me, rowing/kettlebells/stretching/massages for therapy (yes, but they do loosen the shoulders, back, hips and legs). I recommend, if interested, you find a guy who worked for a pro sports team and knows about movement.
But I'd never play the back tees unless a par 3 was tempting. 7000 yards and hitting 3, 5 woods and long hybrids for 18 holes is no way to play golf.
Whenever I play, I always see the inevitable younger guys playing the back tees who don't belong there - I laugh. And more often than not, that high speed drive is going fore left or fore right. As long as I'm not behind them.