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Fear of the evil back tees.

Popeye

Popeye

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Yesterday I played by myself at a near empty golf course with storms all around. Played 9 holes.
At 7025 yards, slope of 137, from the black tees.. its not for everyone but I relished the chance to play from them. 9 pars and had a blast!!
I play as a single most rounds, so I am usually paired up with people at the first tee. Being the only player to play from the back tees to me seems obnoxious, so I usually play from where the rest of the group is.
I often see very good players opting against the back tees. Is it a fear of the added length or the pressure to play well from there? I even see this on very short courses where the back tees hardly make any difference at all.

Do you as a golfer look forward to playing from tees that will really test your game?

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Played 6700 this weekend and played pretty well given the length.
 
I like the challenge of playing from different tees and I often will play different tees in the same round and that adds some excitement too. I have only played from the tips a couple times as it is really pushing the limits of my game depending on the courses. Around here some of the drives have to be pure and long to make it to the fairways on some holes when hitting from the tips.

The other day I tried something totally different and played from the red tees. Wow...that was most interesting. Completely turned into mostly an iron game and I had to spend some time thinking more about the shot yardages and found myself trying to make it to the greens differently. It was a ton of fun.

I think I like tees that run anywhere from around 5200 to as much as 6400 give or take.
 
Luchnia said:
I like the challenge of playing from different tees and I often will play different tees in the same round and that adds some excitement too. I have only played from the tips a couple times as it is really pushing the limits of my game depending on the courses. Around here some of the drives have to be pure and long to make it to the fairways on some holes when hitting from the tips.

The other day I tried something totally different and played from the red tees. Wow...that was most interesting. Completely turned into mostly an iron game and I had to spend some time thinking more about the shot yardages and found myself trying to make it to the greens differently. It was a ton of fun.

I think I like tees that run anywhere from around 5200 to as much as 6400 give or take.
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I have played in matches where the loser of the previous hole calls the next set of tees. It certainly does make you think

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Back tees aren’t always so bad. Sometimes it’s easier since some hazards aren’t in play.

You get used to hitting longer clubs into the hole, but it’s not typical that you’ll be going from short iron to 3w into par 4’s, unless you’re playing something crazy long
 
My home course last year was only about 6400 and they did a good job of limited what people can do to make it easier, so playing responsibly you'd only hit driver 7/8 times. Made me relish the days I could stretch out from the tips at another course. Still do.

And I'm completely over being paired with people and playing from their tees. Completely. It doesn't take longer or ruin comaraderie or anything. It just lets people play where they want or should. If I play forward it needs to be because I actually want to. Not because of some perceived pressure to. Which when I stopped giving any ****s about, I realized it was mostly in my head.

Bring on the back tees. My 4-iron and I love a challenge on approach.
 
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I will play back a few times a year depending on the course. Most I will go though is about 7000. I like to test it. Doesn't seem to change my game too much though as I don't hit a lot of green anyhow haha. So instead of chipping from just off the green, there will be a few of the longer holes where Ill have a longish pitch instead.

Popeye said:
I have played in matches where the loser of the previous hole calls the next set of tees. It certainly does make you think

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That seems like a really fun idea. Might have to bring it up to my friends next time we get a chance to play.
 
I really enjoy playing over 7000 yards and this Year have just been playing the 7092 yard tees regardless. The only downside is that I get a few players that wont let their ego aside and insist on joining me when they should be playing a tee box or even two up. It makes for a long day for them.
 
PapaJohick said:
I will play back a few times a year depending on the course. Most I will go though is about 7000. I like to test it. Doesn't seem to change my game too much though as I don't hit a lot of green anyhow haha. So instead of chipping from just off the green, there will be a few of the longer holes where Ill have a longish pitch instead.



That seems like a really fun idea. Might have to bring it up to my friends next time we get a chance to play.
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Its a lot of fun. But it can back fire on you. (When I could still hit a 300+ drive.) On a par 3 I lost the previous hole so I pushed it back to the back tee that played 205. I won that hole and it really bothered the other guys so the next hole the red tees were at 319. They figured it would take my length out of play evening things up as its a narrow hole.
Not only did I drive the green but I made the eagle putt. They were more than hot and the rest of the round was easy... they nearly gave up.

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I’m tested enough under 6,000! That being said, I don’t play many drivers on those short courses and am comfortable shooting a similar score up to 6,500.
 
if by myself, i just play the white tees (occasionally, i'll play the tips)...otherwise, i play from where the person/people i'm paired with play from (if they are at the tee first).
 
I'm struggling enough playing the regular tees! Only time I'll really play the tips at my course is when I'm playing one of three comps I have to play a year to maintain handicap.
 
Back in the day, I only played from the back tees. Seemed like cheating not to. The courses we played only got interesting from the back. But when playing as a single, with 3 others playing up front, it was awkward making them wait for me especially if the back tee was a considerable distance away. Today, I wish I could still hit it far enough to reach the greens in regulation from those back tees.
 
At my home course, whether I'm playing from the tips at 6900 or the front boxes at 4900 I always seem to score about the same.
 
Every once in a while I like to push to the back tees or hte tips just for fun. Unfortuantely most of the folks I play with would get crushed by them so I usually end up playing whites/blues. Every once in a while, I'll play black/tips for fun.
 
NullNomad said:
At my home course, whether I'm playing from the tips at 6900 or the front boxes at 4900 I always seem to score about the same.
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Thats pretty interesting. Have you tried to analyze why you are not scoring better? Are you not pushing yourself as hard from 4900?

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At our course, I play from the whites on men's league Monday and from the blues the rest of the time. Fun to use different clubs and unfortunately, or fortunately, my scoring is almost identical from the 2.
 
Popeye said:
Thats pretty interesting. Have you tried to analyze why you are not scoring better? Are you not pushing yourself as hard from 4900?

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Its actually pretty simple, I suck.


All kidding aside, yea by nature I play conservative lay up golf so I'm definitely not attacking as aggressively as I could when on the forward tees.
 
Popeye said:
Thats pretty interesting. Have you tried to analyze why you are not scoring better? Are you not pushing yourself as hard from 4900?

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Where do you play out of? I'm originally from Dallas and was at Irem for a while. Have buds at Scranton, Glenmaura and Huntsville. Great area of golf. Last time thru I played Blue Ridge and Jack Frost. Have a bud who just bought the old Orange/Twin Oaks and is reopening shortly. Greystone Mt.
 
In many cases, the course opens up from the back tees for me and it allows me to hit driver or 3w off the tee more often. If I am playing with a group and everyone else is playing from a tee up, I will join them so as to not be the one player playing from a different set. I prefer to play from the back on most courses.
 
While I don't mind a challenge 7000 is to far for me because of length off the tee. 6300 is about my top end nowadays and prefer the 6000 range. I did it one time this summer on the home course from the tips, (6800) and shot a 40 so not bad but it was a lot of fairway woods into greens and chips with one putts to save par.
 
I wish I could play the back tees, or at least the Blues in that 6600-6800 range but I simply don't hit the ball that far anymore.

If I play back there it's just going to be a very long day of having 175,190,210+ into greens. That isn't fun to me.

I don't mind having 3-5 holes including a Par 3 be a long club on approach shots but not a majority of the round, sorry.

The whites are good with me, last week it was 6300 70.9/133, plenty challenging for me. I have plenty of scoring opportunities and it makes sense with my length, or lack thereof, off the tee.
 
I like to play the back tees even though I am not that long. I generally play as a single and if the group I join is playing the blues I will play with them. If they are playing the whites which are only about 6000 yards I will opt to play the blacks. On the first tee though I usually just tee of from the blues to not seem like a hardo then move back.
 
GolfTravelDude said:
Where do you play out of? I'm originally from Dallas and was at Irem for a while. Have buds at Scranton, Glenmaura and Huntsville. Great area of golf. Last time thru I played Blue Ridge and Jack Frost. Have a bud who just bought the old Orange/Twin Oaks and is reopening shortly. Greystone Mt.
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My home course is Pine Hills when I just want to get out.
I try to push myself these days and play the harder tracts. Irem, Scranton CC, Jack Frost. Yesterday i played Lederach which is down by my daughters.

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I almost always play the back tees.
 
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