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Ever play a course that was easier from back tees than up tees ?

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Mystery Meat

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Really like how these threads are going on here . Super fun to read and participate in . Anyway , have any of you ever play a course from multiple tee locations ? And after multiple plays come to the conclusion that the back tees were the easiest ?

We have one local course that the farther up tees have all the hazards in play and narrower landing areas . Even the par 3 holes have different teeing areas that bring water and sand hazards with forced carries . Where the back tee locations have many wide open par 3 approaches , hazards only come into play with a real bad one . It is about 500 yards longer from the back; However , The back tee locations are oddly more forgiving here

anyone else run into this situation ?
 
Yeah...my home club has two courses. The one that was built later is longer and considered as the players course. For me it is easier from the back since most of the hazards are out of my reach. There's water almost on every hole, but from the back tee I really need to hit it perfect to be in trouble :)

But...it does get pretty long, and I need to play my A game to be able to score, actually A game is required regardless from which tee's I play on that course.
 
I forget which course it was, I only played it twice, but I remember thinking this same thing. From the back tees most of the hazards were not reachable off the tee and the landing areas were wider in most cases. It did add a bit of length, but if you were the safe spots it wasn't too bad.
 
Not really, but our old superintendent was a long knocker who played from the very front tees one day and wasn't sure what to do. He normally plays from the very back and can hit a 4 iron 270 (I've seen him do it), so he was out of his element from the very front.
 
Yep. Hazelmere G+C here is a local course. From the White Tees almost every single hole has a lateral hazard in the landing area for driver/3 wood/4 iron...it's tiring. From the Blues or Blacks you can bombs away with little fear.
 
Good thread topic...going to have to think this one over
 
No. Give me a shorter course where I can hit a bunch of irons off the tee on par 4's and I won't make many bogies.
 
Smallville said:
Not really, but our old superintendent was a long knocker who played from the very front tees one day and wasn't sure what to do. He normally plays from the very back and can hit a 4 iron 270 (I've seen him do it), so he was out of his element from the very front.
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This happens to me at a local 9 hole course. If I play up any at all from the whites, I'm at a loss. It brings a ton of trouble into play. I like around 6000 yards the best.
 
The way I understand it is courses are designed from the tips so any trouble that isn't in play from the tips comes into play as you move up tees. I have played bad from different tees at a course. I don't recall a course playing easier from the tips.
 
Only a handful of times. The only reason I played better was because I couldn't reach the hazards, and I was hitting my longer clubs well enough to still hit the green in regulation or at least the green complex.

Had I been hitting mid irons and higher poorly that day, it would have been a round in the high 80's or low 90's for sure.
 
Easier? probably not but it's definitely fun on occasion when playing with my son. 5 woods in to par 4's are just not my bag lol.
 
Isn't this the whole point of the golf course and lead you to the conclusion that you are probably playing the incorrect tees.
 
Yup. Still, it depends upon what you mean by "easier." I can move back and avoid the hazards (e.g., fairway bunkers), so that might make the course seem "easier." But I'd probably shoot a higher score because of the distance... or my lack of it.

Mystery Meat said:
...the farther up tees have all the hazards in play and narrower landing areas....
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I've never had an issue moving up tee boxes. Some talk about it being too short and 'hitting through' or whatever, but I think most of those people aren't of the 'club down when appropriate' mindset.

Give me a 300 yard par four with trouble in front and I'll hit an iron off the tee nine times out of ten in order to have a full shot into the green. Those who struggle often have a half wedge from the same tee box.
 
Only course I can think of is Westridge in La Habra CA. It's a hilly course and not very long to begin with. If you move up tee boxes you can reach water hazards or just land in bad uphill lies. I scored worse from the white tees than the blue tees and that's with me putting up the driver on most holes even a few par 5s
 
My home course is like this. The farther back you play the wider the fairway. Alot of the fairways are 20 yards wide unless you keep it short of the 150.
 
Definitely have experienced this as the tee's I should be playing will often bring trouble into play while the longer tee's will keep me short of the trouble. The problem is that I still have to traverse a Walmart to get to the green!
 
Just because you *can* reach a hazard from the shorter tees doesn't mean you have to. Put the driver back in the bag, hit the right club to land the same spot you'd land from the further tee box, and carry on.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
Just because you *can* reach a hazard from the shorter tees doesn't mean you have to. Put the driver back in the bag, hit the right club to land the same spot you'd land from the further tee box, and carry on.
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Wouldn't that be the same as playing further back with the driver? (assuming your driver game is on point and your long iron / hybrid game is not so much)
 
Walden on Lake Houston is such a course. From the white tees, I only hit driver 3 times. There are water features and moguls that will direct your ball into trouble if you try to take the course on with driver. From the back tees, you can hit driver more often.

I guess that only makes it easier if you are better hitting driver from the tee than hybrids and long irons...
 
sudseh said:
Wouldn't that be the same as playing further back with the driver? (assuming your driver game is on point and your long iron / hybrid game is not so much)
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Not always. Short hitters like me get penalized for moving back--I simply can't reach some things from the back tees, or make some forced carries unless I lay up to the ladies tee or something. Long hitters can always club down, short hitters can only club up so far.
 
I have not. If more trouble comes into play, I hit shorter clubs off the tee
 
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Heh. No.
 
Nope, never!
 
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