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Question about what tee box to play from.

franzy

franzy

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Hi all,

I'm currently a 17 handicap. Whenever I play with my friends we always play from the white tees. It makes the game more enjoyable and moves the pace of play along. I joined a 9 hole league this year. My biggest complaint is that regardless of your handicap, everyone plays from the blue tees. I feel that someone that has a 9 handicap has a huge advantage over me from the blue teebox. The reason that I was given is that everyone has to play from the same tees because of the skins (gross and net).

It's just not that fun for me playing par 3's that are over 200 yards (all but one) and par 4's that are over 400 yards. I was watching the golf on TV today and saw the pros playing one par three that was 163 yards and the other was 101 yards (the second one was a shortened par 4 that was flooded). I understand the whole birdies sell tickets concept, but for a pro to play a 163 yard par 3 and I have to play one that is over 200 just seems strange.

I'm winning my matches, but I really don't care about that. To me golf should be played at the correct set of tees based on your handicap so you have fun and also so it's challenging.

Thoughts...
 
This is a great question, and I will be the first to throw some info/thought into it. I do have one question... How much do you know about handicaps? The reason I ask is that trying to do a match with handicap fro different tees is very difficult to do. It is common and recommended to have everyone play from the same tees and use the hcp calculator for the slope and rating of that particular tee box set to determine strokes.

A note on the pros, they play par 3s that are over 220... Just depends on the course. Your course that you play I presume has tips... Black or farther back tee boxes??? If the pros were to have a tourney there it would be those tees or new ones farther back that they would play, not blues or whites..

Just some thoughts...

I have ran a few golf leagues at work, and HCP is the biggest challenge to keep it fair, fun, and competitive.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
It's a league, so you gotta play by the league rules. Did you not know beforehand?

We had some grumblings about letting the seniors play from the senior tees in our Wednesday Men's League. That got turned down real quick. We have a Senior league that plays from the senior tees.

Funny thing is 5 of the 7 over 65 are in "A" flight and hit the ball over 250. They were just looking at making it unfair for them.

Rules are rules. Look for another league.
 
And as far as professionals not playing long par three's. Think again. They play some doozies.
 
If your league plays from the blues, you have to play from the blues. They do that because of a competition. Your score goes against the higher rating and slope for the course on the blues. If you're winning your matches they do not have an advantage over you.

I'm all for teeing forward, but in league you have to do what they do. It doesn't mean you have to play from blues all the time, now. Play from whites casually if that's what you want to do.

Okay, I'll just mention from the men's tee at one local course, and not the pro's tee, it's a par 3, 238 yds. Have fun. For us women it's a par 4. If you think because I can drive 235 when I get hold of it that it's a picnic. It's a 115 yd forced carry over thick rough to reach the fairway, and if you miss the fairway the rough isn't fun.
 
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Smallville said:
It's a league, so you gotta play by the league rules. Did you not know beforehand?

We had some grumblings about letting the seniors play from the senior tees in our Wednesday Men's League. That got turned down real quick. We have a Senior league that plays from the senior tees.

Funny thing is 5 of the 7 over 65 are in "A" flight and hit the ball over 250. They were just looking at making it unfair for them.

Rules are rules. Look for another league.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. We had the same issue in our men's league. Have to play from the same tee's. That is what the handicap system is for, and why there is different leagues for different gender's and age groups.
 
I always tee it forward and hate when people who are terrible play from the tips. Also the pros play ridiculously log par 3's and 4's so you can't really make that comparison.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Agree 100%. We had the same issue in our men's league. Have to play from the same tee's. That is what the handicap system is for, and why there is different leagues for different gender's and age groups.
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We don't have handicaps in the Men's League, but the first five to nine rounds is what you get flighted on. Four flights. Most of the seniors (and all of them who were complaining) are in the best players flight.
 
ASN21 said:
I always tee it forward and hate when people who are terrible play from the tips. Also the pros play ridiculously log par 3's and 4's so you can't really make that comparison.
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First of all it is a league. You play from where the league plays from or you don't play.

Second I didn't make that comparison. The OP said they don't play from long par threes. I disagreed.
 
Ya, I get the whole rules and that everyone plays from the same set of tees. I also understand that the pros play from par 3's that are like 248 sometimes....I get it. I'm just realizing that the whole league thing probably isn't for me. It's supposed to be fun, but playing from the blue tees at over 6600 yards isn't that fun. That's all I'm saying. Now a scratch golf or single digit playing from the blues when he should be at the tips is probably a lot of fun for him.
 
I agree rules of the league are the rules. And you're winning your matches, so sounds like the tees are fine. And long par 3's +200 yards have been part of the game for over 100 years, when guys were hitting balatas with sticks.
 
franzy said:
Ya, I get the whole rules and that everyone plays from the same set of tees. I also understand that the pros play from par 3's that are like 248 sometimes....I get it. I'm just realizing that the whole league thing probably isn't for me. It's supposed to be fun, but playing from the blue tees at over 6600 yards isn't that fun. That's all I'm saying. Now a scratch golf or single digit playing from the blues when he should be at the tips is probably a lot of fun for him.
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I think you have to play for what you see is fun. That being said, I would not say that blues are mor fun for lower HCP. I am a high HCP and play blues consistently Dan stay on pace or better... If I am out on my own I can tag out 18 holes in 150 min. I also know single digit folks who would croak at 6600 yards.. It's more about your game and what you can do in that regard. I am a long hitter, so if it is under 430 par 4 I am hitting 3w or 3h.. Under 400 is 3h-5i. My driver since I struggle with it, is only when I need to put something out there over 250. Just a thought to consider.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
If your not having fun I would stop playing in the league.
 
franzy said:
Ya, I get the whole rules and that everyone plays from the same set of tees. I also understand that the pros play from par 3's that are like 248 sometimes....I get it. I'm just realizing that the whole league thing probably isn't for me. It's supposed to be fun, but playing from the blue tees at over 6600 yards isn't that fun. That's all I'm saying. Now a scratch golf or single digit playing from the blues when he should be at the tips is probably a lot of fun for him.
Click to expand...

You should recommend to your league that they go non-handicap, flighted. So players are flighted according to their handicap, but all scores are gross scores. Then the A and B flights can play from the tips and blues, and the C and D flights can play from the whites.
 
Our guys play from the whites, it's a better course from there instead of the next ones back. With those you'd just hit a driver every hole, I prefer a course setup where you have to hit every club in the bag. We have driver holes, 3w tees, hybrid tees, all the way down to 6 iron tees. So much more fun that way, and gives a better idea of who is actually the better golfer. I've played with guys that win because they hit their drives 280 in the fairway, but they couldn't hit a 6 iron to save their life.
 
Smallville said:
It's a league, so you gotta play by the league rules. Did you not know beforehand?

We had some grumblings about letting the seniors play from the senior tees in our Wednesday Men's League. That got turned down real quick. We have a Senior league that plays from the senior tees.

Funny thing is 5 of the 7 over 65 are in "A" flight and hit the ball over 250. They were just looking at making it unfair for them.

Rules are rules. Look for another league.
Click to expand...

Same problem in my league, we have some seniors that do not hit the ball far but most guys hit it just as far as everyone else and they moan about senior tees all the time. It's always a big fight at the meetings cause they want all the men to move back so they could get the advantage. The way it was is they used to do that but to many guys were leaving because it was just pointless since the only people winning were seniors. Then what we did was say that everyone goes to the same tee ( we NEVER moved the seniors back mind you) and their all crying its to far for them. All we did was move up a tee box how is it to long for them now. What I learned with the league is this "guys are never happy unless their getting an advantage"
 
jitzy said:
Same problem in my league, we have some seniors that do not hit the ball far but most guys hit it just as far as everyone else and they moan about senior tees all the time. It's always a big fight at the meetings cause they want all the men to move back so they could get the advantage. The way it was is they used to do that but to many guys were leaving because it was just pointless since the only people winning were seniors. Then what we did was say that everyone goes to the same tee ( we NEVER moved the seniors back mind you) and their all crying its to far for them. All we did was move up a tee box how is it to long for them now. What I learned with the league is this "guys are never happy unless their getting an advantage"
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One of our seniors wanting the rule is the guy who plays on the team that has won the A flight the last three years. And I've played with him. He hits it 50 to 70 yards past me on a bad day.
 
My Sunday League plays mixed tees, you can play from the golds, whites or blues. You can play any tee regardless of your handicap. Skins game played as is, but net handicaps change. If I am a 10 from the whites and guys play from the goldss and I choose whites, I get 5 extra strokes for my net score, making me a 15 handicap that day. Our course is roughly 5500 golds, 6500 whites 6900 blues. Based on ratings you get 5 from the whites and 7 from the blues if guys are playing from the golds it seems to have taken the stroke advantage away from the guys who play the golds and have 80% of their second shots inside of 50 yards. Those guys are complaining about the strokes but won't move tees because they chase skins every week from the golds. Since our skin pool is wide open for everyone regardless of the tee played. I just thought I would give an example of how other leagues may do things. Obviously your not gonna change this league being new but maybe you can find a league with characteristics you like. Ultimately if the league is displeasing, you can always not play in it because it is meant to be fun to you, find what's fun and enjoy.
 
Smallville said:
First of all it is a league. You play from where the league plays from or you don't play.

Second I didn't make that comparison. The OP said they don't play from long par threes. I disagreed.
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I was referring to the OP
 
I have the opposite problem. My home course is 5200 from red, par 72 rated 69.1/112. I shoot an average of 97 on that course. Don't ask. I think it's a hard course for me. The other course to where I want to play next year is 5600 for the ladies. 72.1/121. I shoot an average of 92 there. Everyone I know says it's a much harder course. I say it's easier. I can bomb my drive and hit a 9 iron or in some cases a 56 wedge. I can still be nGIR or GIR. The greens aren't as undulating.

But where I might join because of unlimited golf has a ladies club and I know they'll play from the 4800 yds. and I won't like that because that means 5 and 7 irons for tee shots and long approaches. I'd prefer playing from the second set of tees that are 5600 yds.

The 5600 yd course kills my handicap for the 5200 yd course because of the differential. Essentially I play the 5600 yd course at about a 18 HC and the 5200 yd course at a 25 HC. GHIN kicks my scores on the 5200 yd course - have to play it there 'cause it's my league.
 
My rule of thumb is I don't like to play tees that will give me par 3's longer than 170-180. That's 4-5 iron territory for me and not very fun to hit anything longer due to way poorer accuracy. Unfortunately, most tournaments require everyone play from the same tee.
 
First , never compare your game to a pro's game. It is basically like comparing us playing basketball versus the Spurs for example. It is futile and will just frustrate you how good those guys are. Just be happy and play below the rim

Second, play where they have you slated for. During casual rounds just about all of us would enjoy golf a heck of slot more teeing forward instead of back
 
Our MGA created a new set of tees that is a mix of blue and white. They even had the state golf association rate the course for those tees. Shorter holes play from the normal blues and longer holes play from the normal whites.
 
I think it is best for me and best with those I play with that I play from the whites. For me a 200 yard par 3 is, at best, a bogey hole. Yeah, I might get on the green and two putt but more often than not I won't. Some of the longer par 4s would be a bit better than that if I can hit a good fairway hybrid. I had to play a round from the back tees with a guy who was a 5 hdcp. I was miserable and I'm sure I affected his and the other two in my group negatively as well.
 
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