Choosing The Correct Tee Box When Golfing!
Ever walked up to a tee box and seen like five different markers to tee off from, and you have no idea which one you should choose? Yeah, me too, so I decided to put a little cheat sheet together for you so that you can bomb it from where you're meant to bomb it from!
Before worrying about your actual swing setup, you need to make sure you are putting yourself in the best position to optimize your score. Conversely, don't cheat! If you are already a pretty good golfer, but looking for an edge, don't move up to a different tee box just to improve your score. We'll help you find those extra strokes without taking the easy route.
As we all know, the golf course is an extremely humbling place and no place for ego. In fact, if you let your ego take over before you have even swung your driver, then you're in for a long, frustrating day. I know at least every group has that one dude who goes all the way back to the blues, so you figure, if he is, I will. Don't, just don't. So, let's set you up for success by explaining which tee box you should actually start from.
Every golf course you visit will likely feature various sets of tee boxes, as indicated by colored markers at the start of each hole at the tee box. For example, you will often see three sets of tees, front tees, middle tees, and back (or championship) tees. Other courses may have five, six, or even seven sets of tees. So, how do you decide which tees to use?
The various tee boxes correspond to various yardages, reflecting the range of your playing ability. The tees at the back of the tee box are the longest, while those in the front are the shortest (yardages can be found by looking at the appropriate lines on the scorecard—blue tees are designated on the scorecard by the "Blue" line, for example). You will notice on the scorecard that the yardages increase from the tees in the back and decrease as you move up in the tee box.
If you have played for a while, you probably have a feel for which tees to use, but knowing which set of tees to utilize will become second nature over time. Move up to an easier (shorter) set of tees if you're having trouble reaching par-3 holes from the tee or par-4 holes in two strokes from one set of tees.
Don't Play from The Tees That Are Too Long for Your Game.
As I mentioned earlier, many amateur golfers (particularly men) attempt to play from too long tees. It's not unusual to see a bunch of guys ripping from the championship tees only to hit poor slices into the woods. Don't be a part of this group. These same guys will overswing and create bad habits in their swing to overcompensate for the extra yardage. If you are serious about breaking 90, you are working on a balanced repeatable golf swing, so don't overswing to impress your buddies. There's no shame in playing from the forward tees if it fits your game.
What Are the Three Different Tee Boxes?
When a course has a choice of only three tee boxes, the choice becomes much easier.
Back Tees -Low-handicapped players
Middle Tees - Middle to high-handicap men, low-handicap or long-hitting women
Front Tees - Middle or high handicap women and seniors, and beginners
What If the Course Has More Than Three Tee Boxes?
Ok, so you arrived at the tee box and your set to tee it up from the middle tees, but hold up, this course has more than three. What the heck do you do now? No problem, we can look at the overall yardage from each tee box to determine where you should start.
On the PGA Tour, the average golf course length these days is around 7,200-7,300 yards, over on the Champions Tour for over-50 pros, the average golf course length is about 6,500 to 6,800 yards, and finally, on the LPGA Tour, the average golf course length is around 6,200 to 6,600 yards. These are the yardages we use to determine where to start. Keep in mind your age and gender as it correlates to the pro tour that best fits you.
High-handicap – Select the tees whose yardage is 1,000 to 1,500 yards less than the pros.
Mid-handicappers - Find the tee box whose yardage is around 500 to 1,000 yards less than the pros.
Low Handicap Women & Seniors – Choose a tee box whose yardage is 250 to 500 yards less than the averages of the LPGA and Champions tours, respectively.
Low-handicap – It should be the same as the Pro Tour and should be the back tees.
If you are a beginner, start from one of the forward tees unless you are confident that you can strike the ball a long distance with some accuracy and consistency. Then, after a few rounds from the front tees, you'll have a fair sense (depending on your score and level of annoyance) if you should return to a longer, more challenging set of tees.
Remember the first rule of thumb: If you can't reach the par-3 hole in one shot (we're talking distance here, not getting your ball on the green), or reach the par-4 in two strokes from the tees you're on; it's a pretty good indication you need to move up to a shorter set of tees.
There is another way to figure it out called the Average 5-Iron Distance, but it takes math, and I don't know about you, but I don't need to be carrying the one to find the correct tee box. So regardless of my obvious disdain for math, I'll share it with you.
Break out the calculator on your phone. Start by taking your average 5-iron distance (be honest!), multiply by 36, and choose the tees that most closely match that yardage. Did I lose you? I'll give you an example: You hit your 5-iron 150 yards, so 150 times 36 equals 5,400 yards, so choose the tees closest to 5,400 yards in length. If you hit your 5-iron 180 yards, look for tees around 6,500 yards (180 times 36 equals 6,480). Bam! Math lesson over for today.
The bottom line is cutting strokes off your current golf game is extremely doable, and with these minor tweaks, we hope to help get you there. Always do what's best for your current game, and the rest will work out!