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Long Drive Contest: Debate

zbeekner4

zbeekner4

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Alright so I played in a charity golf scramble yesterday and I want to hear others opinions on the long drive subject matter.

Who cares what the prize is, we all want to win the long drive contest. Myself included. I absolutely pelted my drive on the long drive hole yesterday and drive up to find I’m about 5 yards short of the sign (GPS said my drive was about 295 from the tee). Dang. That guy must’ve been a beast....

Fast forward to the post-event and they announce the guy who won and hes clearly an older guy. He laughs as someone shouts from his group “he played from the senior tees!” There was some mumbling from the rest of the players as he got his prize (whatever it was). Checked the scorecard and the senior tees are about 40 yards in front of the regular tees for that particular hole!

So my question to THP, should long drive contests be played from the same tee no matter your age? Does this bother anyone else? Should events make it more clear that long drive holes must be played from XYZ tees or am I totally wrong and its completely fair for seniors to play the long drive from their own tee? Or do I need to just get over it?




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Probably should have had two LD prizes for that reason. Or, designate a tee box for that hole regardless of length for that reason. Lesson learned for next time, I guess?
 
It should probably be from a designated tee or at least have a prize for each age group. I used to care but I don't anymore charity scrambles are full of cheaters anyways, not worth it. Hope he enjoys his dozen golf balls haha
 
I would be embarrassed to win longest drive with a 295 yard poke :wink:

Shouldn't count if it's not over 3-bills.
 
MWard said:
Probably should have had two LD prizes for that reason. Or, designate a tee box for that hole regardless of length for that reason. Lesson learned for next time, I guess?
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jdtox said:
It should probably be from a designated tee or at least have a prize for each age group. I used to care but I don't anymore charity scrambles are full of cheaters anyways, not worth it. Hope he enjoys his dozen golf balls haha
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Yea I really don’t care about the prize. Frankly, I don’t even care who wins. Just bothered me for some reason that this guy wins cause he’s teeing off 40 yards ahead of everyone else. Is it really even the longest drive?


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All the events I’ve seen or played in there is a designated hole and tee box to use for the prize.
 
I'm surprised they don't just use 1 set of tee boxes for an outing. I'd have to agree that LD should be from a designated tee box.
 
It probably should be from the same tees just to make it fair but yeah, you should just get over it. Its a fun event, nothing to get worked up about.
Personally, Ive always been of the mind that all of these contests at events are rigged anyways. Almost everyone cheats and no one in honest. I remember one time, I played in a work golf outing that had hole contests and the same couple won all of the prizes and they clearly only played golf about once or twice a year. When you duff your driver, shank your irons and 3-putt almost every hole; I find it hard to believe that you can win longest drive, closest to the pin and longest putt.
 
Trmpt98 said:
I'm surprised they don't just use 1 set of tee boxes for an outing. I'd have to agree that LD should be from a designated tee box.
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Used to be that everyone played from the whites. But last couple years ones I've played have changed to blues and senior tees over 50. I'd rather everyone play from the whites than have seniors and blues. But it is supposed to be fun and not about winning.
 
Hole & tee box need to be designated before the round.
That's on the organizers of the event.

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Designated tees per long drive.

Though seriously, it's a charity event....have fun?


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Lately, the few events I've played have had LD holes for seniors (60+) and ladies, if any are in the event. If a tournament can get the prizes for the extra holes, that is the best way to do it.

Several years ago, I played in a 2 person scramble where a young woman won the LD. There was all sorts of yelling about her benefiting from playing from the women's tees until the team playing along side said she played from the men's tee. The complainers still whined because she admitted that she competed in long drive contests. The next year, that tournament added a ladies LD hole.
 
jdtox said:
Used to be that everyone played from the whites. But last couple years ones I've played have changed to blues and senior tees over 50. I'd rather everyone play from the whites than have seniors and blues. But it is supposed to be fun and not about winning.
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I agree, all the outings I've been to in recent memory are all played from 1 set of tees, usually the white so it's the middle set of tees. Fun is always the name of the game! I'd rather win the hole in one contest instead of long drive, lol
 
Badger_Golfer said:
It probably should be from the same tees just to make it fair but yeah, you should just get over it. Its a fun event, nothing to get worked up about.
Personally, Ive always been of the mind that all of these contests at events are rigged anyways. Almost everyone cheats and no one in honest. I remember one time, I played in a work golf outing that had hole contests and the same couple won all of the prizes and they clearly only played golf about once or twice a year. When you duff your driver, shank your irons and 3-putt almost every hole; I find it hard to believe that you can win longest drive, closest to the pin and longest putt.
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I'm amazed at how people pencil-whip a scorecard, or LD or closest to the pin sheet, for a $100 gift certificate.
 
Golf Ghost said:
Designated tees per long drive.

Though seriously, it's a charity event....have fun?


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Haha it certainly doesn’t keep us from having fun!


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zbeekner4 said:
Haha it certainly doesn’t keep us from having fun!


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But who cares who wins long drive? It's fun to try as hard as possible, but at the end of the day does it matter?


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Parrot said:
I'm amazed at how people pencil-whip a scorecard, or LD or closest to the pin sheet, for a $100 gift certificate.
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I’ve helped organize a few charity golf tournaments in the past and I always encourage the best prizes to be raffled or auctioned off, not to the winners, CTP or long drive.


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If you made everyone play from the same set of tees to be eligible for the long drive contest then you have probably eliminated half the field before they even hit a ball. I guess you can make a case that the age limit to play from the forward tees is too low but most of the time the people playing from those tees are there for a reason. I just think everyone should have a fair chance of winning the prize regardless of age or sex.
 
I played in an event years ago that had a fiendish twist on the "Long Drive Hole" prize. They chose a super-narrow downhill hole where the fairway was maybe 25 yards wide (at most) and sloped from left to right. The rule was you had to hit the fairway to win with the longest drive.

I finished second...because only two of us ended up in the fairway out of 40 guys. I hit a 5-iron that rolled out about 190 and a buddy of mine in an earlier group hit a fairway wood that was about 5 yards past me and just inches inside the right edge.

Some of the guys had gone ahead and bombed their drivers. I recall one ball ended up only a yard or two off the fairway and nearly 300 yards distance.
 
zbeekner4 said:
I’ve helped organize a few charity golf tournaments in the past and I always encourage the best prizes to be raffled or auctioned off, not to the winners, CTP or long drive.

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I think that is the best way to do it.
 
Golf Ghost said:
But who cares who wins long drive? It's fun to try as hard as possible, but at the end of the day does it matter?


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1000% agreed with you here. It’s fun to win but no it doesn’t matter. Was just curious as to everyone’s thoughts on the matter.


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There should definitely be a designated tee box. You can't measure longest hole by changing the beginning point.

I played in a scramble recently (not for charity) with a longest drive. The scramble also had a "cheater's pass" for purchase, which gave you one foot wedge, one mulligan, one baseball throw (then tee off from that spot), and one jump to the next tee box. A guy in my group had the great idea to combine his baseball throw and tee box advance to basically start his long drive from the middle of the fairway. He didn't seem to see a problem with it when the rest of us told him no way.
 
Longest drive is longest drive. If he played from the forward tees, then he shouldn't have won.
 
I'm not a good enough cheater to win anything at a scramble. In other words, don't go there to win - just have fun.
 
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