Please! Stop Playing from the Back Tees!
by Ryan Ballengee on May 6, 2009 11:21 AM EDT
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PrintA big hat tip to Jay Busbee for finding this New York Times piece about golfers who just cannot seem to play golf from anywhere other than the way back tee boxes ground.
You've seen it. I've seen it. (I've done it.) There are people who just cannot help themselves from playing the back tees. I can drive the ball 300 yards with accuracy and get away with it. If you can drive the ball over 270 off of the tee, then you can consider the back tees.
If you are an average duffer who hits the ball 200 yards off of the tee (the male average is 205 yards) and three jacks it from 20 feet, then you can not.
So, what makes men - way more than women - do this? Ego. Peer pressure. Self-deception. Technology? I'm looking at you, Wally Uihlein!
"There’s another factor," said Joe Hallett, the director of the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance in Port St. Lucie, Fla. "New technology does make the ball go farther, and that gets in people’s heads. But if you go to the back tees and try to hit a home run every time up, you’re going to hit some foul balls. Even if you do hit it straight, you’ll probably have a hybrid in your hand every hole. What fun is that?"
Bill Pennington wrote the piece and found some common excuses that people use to play from the tips.
- I want to see the whole course.
- I want my money’s worth.
- Playing from the back is the only way to compare myself to pro golfers.
- It’s the only way to get better.
No, no, no, no! Well, maybe yes to the first because you will surely see more of the forest, rough, and hazards that you may see if you played from the tees appropriate for your skill level.
Here's a good way to measure how far of a course is good for your length:
Multiple how far you hit your 5 iron by 36
For me, that's 200 * 36 = 7200 yards. Nice.
To drive home the point, I've created a T-shirt that clearly explains to people that they need to play from the right tees for their game.
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BWAAAHAHAHA ! I like it – sign me up for one.
Did I miss the reason why the women just play the forward tees ? They are CALLED lady’s tees ? Women like the advantage ?
Here’s a weird scenario – I play where the rest of the group plays – and usually, I play better from further back than I do further up. Some of it has to do with the width of the landing areas being more narrow the further up you go. I have more trouble with more forward tees than further back.
Personally, I don’t care which tees someone plays as long as they play fast. The guys who hit it 225 off the tee then wait for the green to clear on a 550 yard par 5 are the MOST annoying people on the course.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
YES! That is horrible. If you have longer than how far you hit your drive as the length of your approach into the hole, you don’t have to wait for the green to clear. Just hit it.
I tend to play where my playing partners play. It’s just easier that way. And, if I really want the challenge of longer approaches, I just take less club off of the tee.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 6, 2009 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions
one of my favorite muni’s in the county has 2 long par 5’s and they put markers in the fairway in the 280 yard area and back that say “Just Hit It” and “You’re Kidding, Right ?”
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Haha, could you find a pic of that? That would be incredible.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 6, 2009 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Officially they are called the FORWARD tees. Because many women play from them someone decided to call them “ladies” tees. That does a disservice to a whole bunch of people. Consider the older you get the less distance you hit any club. By ingraining in men that the forward tees are only for women, older guys and beginners, who really should be playing forward, won’t.
Depending on the course and who I’m playing with, I’ll play either middle or forward tees. My “sweet spot” is around 5,100 yards.
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
who is the official that decided that ? A lot of clubs stopped calling them “ladies” tees because the “ladies” listened to Oprah and decided it was “sexist”. Some clubs combined them with junior and senior tees and had to pick a different name. And some still call them Ladies tees.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
How far do you hit your 5 iron?
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 6, 2009 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm on to you, dude.
Your only motivation for posting this piece was to have a reason to write the following:
I can drive the ball 300 yards with accuracy and get away with it.
You’re a bastard, RB. :)
"Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into a even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose." - Winston Churchill
Hahaha, ok, I did feel really good typing that.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on May 6, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions
"A Nasty Bit of Rough"
If you haven’t read this David Feherty book, you’re missing a fun read. The men of the Scroughts Wood golf course were overrun by women demanding equal access AND tees of their own. The men obliged and built a set of ladies tees…50 yards behind where the men play, but they were always welcome to join them on the men’s tees. :-D
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
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