Question:
You should all play off the same tees – no question there. Why don’t you all play off the blue tees. Although that might be an even bigger advantage to them… 
Jim
Response:
Write a check and mail it to them. They already have you beat. Doesn’t matter which tees you use. You let them get to your head first.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This year I’ve taken up golf after about a 10 year layoff. I’ve fallen into a highly enjoyable weekly game with a couple of retired older anything to these crafty old buggers. They know things are pretty equal as they stand, and are just angling for any possible advantage. I just know that if I agreed to this they’d both be rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation. What should I do?
Response:
PS. If you play Diva T, she should hit from the set of tees behind the ones you play unless your name is Woods or Daly, or alternately, just write her a check on the first tee. Gaines N.
Well, if I can get back to work, and keep up the exercise regimen, I might have to back up another set of tees. Of course, this means I might have to learn to putt better. -Diva T-
Response:
Don’t you hate when people use circular logic?
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I love to go back to the tips or even up to the reds every now and then to whack it around. And, I agree there is a whole lot more than distance when it comes to scoring and that was my point. If you and I are playing without handicaps, why would it not make more sense to equalize the match with distance and then we are more closely deciding the match on skill and not strength or athletic ability? (Fat, middle-aged, balding men of the world UNITE!) One thing I’ve noticed in playing around the different tees is that my score is not drastically different from either extreme. I think it is more of a mental (or honestly lack of mental) thing, but I would almost wager my score wouldn’t vary more than four or five strokes. I rarely "gain" strokes with my driver, even from the red tees. When I lose strokes with the driver, it is very rarely distance or lack of distance that is the problem. Most of the shots I lose to par are within 100 yards of the green, and the flat stick and the wrinkled, round gray matter typically cost me 5 – 6 shots a round. (Cranial flatulence will kill a good score.) There is a club in Atlanta that has an interesting tournament for its members. The first day is the red tees and pins set in the middle of the greens. The second day is played from the "weeds plus two" and the pins are put in the toughest places possible. The difference in the scores is roughly the difference in the number of putts taken plus penalties. Strange, but almost true. Having said all that drivel, you should play tees that match your distances and the course regardless of your age and or gender. For example, my average drive is in the 235 – 250 range, so I use about 240 for an average. The tour average is around 280 or so. They play on 7,000 yard courses, so the 40+ yard advantage equals about 600 yards, so I’m more "equal" playing at about 6,400 yards. If you throw in the extra 10 – 20 yards per club they hit longer on the irons, I’m down to playing at about 6,200 yards to be hitting the same clubs into the greens they would be hitting from 7,000 yards. Since distance is only one variable, you won’t be getting comparable scores anyway. So why is it important to have an adjusted distance? I recommend playing all the tees that are fun to play and don’t slow down the pace of the game. If you score higher from the tips than from the fogies’ tees, that’s good practice in learning to get your head into the course instead of your score. Switch tees and your course management changes, and your expectations change. This is good. Certainly if the carry to the fairway is 220 yards from the tips, then you need to be comfortable carrying 220 yards. But there are some courses where slicers shouldn’t play even from the front tees!!!
Response:
Having said all that drivel, you should play tees that match your distances and the course regardless of your age and or gender. For example, my average drive is in the 235 – 250 range, so I use about 240 for an average. The tour average is around 280 or so. They play on 7,000 yard courses, so the 40+ yard advantage equals about 600 yards, so I’m more "equal" playing at about 6,400 yards. If you throw in the extra 10 – 20 yards per club they hit longer on the irons, I’m down to playing at about 6,200 yards to be hitting the same clubs into the greens they would be hitting from 7,000 yards.
Since distance is only one variable, you won’t be getting comparable scores anyway. So why is it important to have an adjusted distance? I recommend playing all the tees that are fun to play and don’t slow down the pace of the game. If you score higher from the tips than from the fogies’ tees, that’s good practice in learning to get your head into the course instead of your score. Switch tees and your course management changes, and your expectations change. This is good. Certainly if the carry to the fairway is 220 yards from the tips, then you need to be comfortable carrying 220 yards. But there are some courses where slicers shouldn’t play even from the front tees!!!
Response:
I love to go back to the tips or even up to the reds every now and then to whack it around. And, I agree there is a whole lot more than distance when it comes to scoring and that was my point. If you and I are playing without handicaps, why would it not make more sense to equalize the match with distance and then we are more closely deciding the match on skill and not strength or athletic ability? (Fat, middle-aged, balding men of the world UNITE!) One thing I’ve noticed in playing around the different tees is that my score is not drastically different from either extreme. I think it is more of a mental (or honestly lack of mental) thing, but I would almost wager my score wouldn’t vary more than four or five strokes. I rarely "gain" strokes with my driver, even from the red tees. When I lose strokes with the driver, it is very rarely distance or lack of distance that is the problem. Most of the shots I lose to par are within 100 yards of the green, and the flat stick and the wrinkled, round gray matter typically cost me 5 – 6 shots a round. (Cranial flatulence will kill a good score.) There is a club in Atlanta that has an interesting tournament for its members. The first day is the red tees and pins set in the middle of the greens. The second day is played from the "weeds plus two" and the pins are put in the toughest places possible. The difference in the scores is roughly the difference in the number of putts taken plus penalties. Strange, but almost true.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Having said all that drivel, you should play tees that match your distances and the course regardless of your age and or gender. For example, my average drive is in the 235 – 250 range, so I use about 240 for an average. The tour average is around 280 or so. They play on 7,000 yard courses, so the 40+ yard advantage equals about 600 yards, so I’m more "equal" playing at about 6,400 yards. If you throw in the extra 10 – 20 yards per club they hit longer on the irons, I’m down to playing at about 6,200 yards to be hitting the same clubs into the greens they would be hitting from 7,000 yards. Since distance is only one variable, you won’t be getting comparable scores anyway. So why is it important to have an adjusted distance? I recommend playing all the tees that are fun to play and don’t slow down the pace of the game. If you score higher from the tips than from the fogies’ tees, that’s good practice in learning to get your head into the course instead of your score. Switch tees and your course management changes, and your expectations change. This is good. Certainly if the carry to the fairway is 220 yards from the tips, then you need to be comfortable carrying 220 yards. But there are some courses where slicers shouldn’t play even from the front tees!!!
Response:
Hahaha, sounds to me like the "old pharts" have it all figured out…most games are won or lost on the first tee.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – says… What you should do is bring cash because if you let those old codgers talk you into playing from the blues, you won’t stand a chance. They know that and they are just try to shame you into a hopeless situation so they can pick your pocket. Actually, it sounds like you’re going to have your hands full no matter what tees you use. Stick to your guns. Kenny — Kenny Stultz – Troll and SPAM intolerant RSG Rollcall: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=stultzk "Golf is the only sport where a precise knowledge of the Rules can earn one a reputation for poor sportsmanship"
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This year I’ve taken up golf after about a 10 year layoff. I’ve fallen into a highly enjoyable weekly game with a couple of retired older fellows and one other younger guy like myself. I continue to be amazed at how good these older guys are at scoring. The shorter of the two can’t reach any of the longer par4’s in regulation, and yet he still manages to shoot in the low 80’s – due mostly to fantastic putting. The other retiree doesn’t putt quite as well, but he gets 225 or so out of his driver and his overall game is quite good. The other young player hasn’t been playing all that long but he has an effortless, beautiful swing and routinely hits 300yd drives (I know everyone on r.s.g. hits 300yd drives, but these I’ve actually witnessed on a weekly basis). My game is somewhere in between. I don’t hit it as solid as our young phenom, and have a shakier short game than the olde pharts 
. At any rate, we are remarkably close in overall ability and anyone can win on any given day. So here’s the question: every week we pair up into teams, usually a younger and older player on each one, and play combined stroke, match, best ball, whatever. No gimmees, no mulligans, play it as it lies. But next week we’re going to play youth against age for the first time. Now, in our previous matches we’ve always played off the same tees out of deference to the shorter hitters. From the whites, 3 of the par5’s are reachable, as are two of the par4’s. Even so, the older guys clean our clocks in stroke play about half the time, so my argument is that due to overall short-game suckage we need the distance advantage to equalize the odds. The old guys are insisting that we play off the blues, which mostly puts the doglegs out of reach and therefore makes the course play a couple of shots tougher. Should we play from the blues, even though we’re likely to get our clocks cleaned by the olde pharts? Or should we continue to play off the same tees (certainly the older gents are welcome to JOIN us on the blues…), since history has shown that we’re all remarkably close that way? We argued about this for more than an hour last time, and while I can see the other side’s point I’m reluctant to concede anything to these crafty old buggers. They know things are pretty equal as they stand, and are just angling for any possible advantage. I just know that if I agreed to this they’d both be rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation. What should I do?
Sounds fair to me. Young bucks, big drives, par5’s in 2 and par4’s in 2, blues… Old farts, not so big drives, most par4’s are done in 3… I’ll take the old farts to win Couse, I’d take the old farts even if you were playing off the whites. My advice, you’d better find some self-control and a short game fasttttttttt. Have a great game.
Response:
Hahaha, sounds to me like the "old pharts" have it all figured out…most games are won or lost on the first tee.
I haven’t noticed this. Why do you think it is so?
Response:
My argument would run along the lines that weekly competitions are conducted with everyone playing the same tees, why should things be different, unless they want to gain an advantage and simply take your money? If they admit to wanting the advantage, just give them your money and play for fun, you’d get clocked otherwise.
It’s another way of doing handicaps. If you use handicaps, different tees shouldn’t matter unless there are holes that the smaller hitters simply can’t play from the back tees (200 yard carry over water).
Response:
Because P.T. Barnum was right. There really is one born every minute and most of them play golf.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hahaha, sounds to me like the "old pharts" have it all figured out…most games are won or lost on the first tee. I haven’t noticed this. Why do you think it is so?
Response:
Most of the good golf course designers have a landing area to catch the majority of tee shots and most greens are designed to catch shots from a certain distance. Built into each of those is normally a risk-reward factor and on well designed courses the penalty for a poor shot increases in proportion to the risk. Having said all that drivel, you should play tees that match your distances and the course regardless of your age and or gender. For example, my average drive is in the 235 – 250 range, so I use about 240 for an average. The tour average is around 280 or so. They play on 7,000 yard courses, so the 40+ yard advantage equals about 600 yards, so I’m more "equal" playing at about 6,400 yards. If you throw in the extra 10 – 20 yards per club they hit longer on the irons, I’m down to playing at about 6,200 yards to be hitting the same clubs into the greens they would be hitting from 7,000 yards. PS. If you play Diva T, she should hit from the set of tees behind the ones you play unless your name is Woods or Daly, or alternately, just write her a check on the first tee. Gaines N.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This year I’ve taken up golf after about a 10 year layoff. I’ve fallen into a highly enjoyable weekly game with a couple of retired older fellows and one other younger guy like myself. I continue to be amazed at how good these older guys are at scoring. The shorter of the two can’t reach any of the longer par4’s in regulation, and yet he still manages to shoot in the low 80’s – due mostly to fantastic putting. The other retiree doesn’t putt quite as well, but he gets 225 or so out of his driver and his overall game is quite good. The other young player hasn’t been playing all that long but he has an effortless, beautiful swing and routinely hits 300yd drives (I know everyone on r.s.g. hits 300yd drives, but these I’ve actually witnessed on a weekly basis). My game is somewhere in between. I don’t hit it as solid as our young phenom, and have a shakier short game than the olde pharts . At any rate, we are remarkably close in overall ability and anyone can win on any given day. So here’s the question: every week we pair up into teams, usually a younger and older player on each one, and play combined stroke, match, best ball, whatever. No gimmees, no mulligans, play it as it lies. But next week we’re going to play youth against age for the first time. Now, in our previous matches we’ve always played off the same tees out of deference to the shorter hitters. From the whites, 3 of the par5’s are reachable, as are two of the par4’s. Even so, the older guys clean our clocks in stroke play about half the time, so my argument is that due to overall short-game suckage we need the distance advantage to equalize the odds. The old guys are insisting that we play off the blues, which mostly puts the doglegs out of reach and therefore makes the course play a couple of shots tougher. Should we play from the blues, even though we’re likely to get our clocks cleaned by the olde pharts? Or should we continue to play off the same tees (certainly the older gents are welcome to JOIN us on the blues…), since history has shown that we’re all remarkably close that way? We argued about this for more than an hour last time, and while I can see the other side’s point I’m reluctant to concede anything to these crafty old buggers. They know things are pretty equal as they stand, and are just angling for any possible advantage. I just know that if I agreed to this they’d both be rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation. What should I do?
Response:
This year I’ve taken up golf after about a 10 year layoff. I’ve fallen into a highly enjoyable weekly game with a couple of retired older fellows and one other younger guy like myself. I continue to be amazed at how good these older guys are at scoring. The shorter of the two can’t reach any of the longer par4’s in regulation, and yet he still manages to shoot in the low 80’s – due mostly to fantastic putting. The other retiree doesn’t putt quite as well, but he gets 225 or so out of his driver and his overall game is quite good. The other young player hasn’t been playing all that long but he has an effortless, beautiful swing and routinely hits 300yd drives (I know everyone on r.s.g. hits 300yd drives, but these I’ve actually witnessed on a weekly basis). My game is somewhere in between. I don’t hit it as solid as our young phenom, and have a shakier short game than the olde pharts . At any rate, we are remarkably close in overall ability and anyone can win on any given day. So here’s the question: every week we pair up into teams, usually a younger and older player on each one, and play combined stroke, match, best ball, whatever. No gimmees, no mulligans, play it as it lies. But next week we’re going to play youth against age for the first time. Now, in our previous matches we’ve always played off the same tees out of deference to the shorter hitters. From the whites, 3 of the par5’s are reachable, as are two of the par4’s. Even so, the older guys clean our clocks in stroke play about half the time, so my argument is that due to overall short-game suckage we need the distance advantage to equalize the odds. The old guys are insisting that we play off the blues, which mostly puts the doglegs out of reach and therefore makes the course play a couple of shots tougher. Should we play from the blues, even though we’re likely to get our clocks cleaned by the olde pharts? Or should we continue to play off the same tees (certainly the older gents are welcome to JOIN us on the blues…), since history has shown that we’re all remarkably close that way? We argued about this for more than an hour last time, and while I can see the other side’s point I’m reluctant to concede anything to these crafty old buggers. They know things are pretty equal as they stand, and are just angling for any possible advantage. I just know that if I agreed to this they’d both be rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation. What should I do?
Response:
says… What you should do is bring cash because if you let those old codgers talk you into playing from the blues, you won’t stand a chance. They know that and they are just try to shame you into a hopeless situation so they can pick your pocket. Actually, it sounds like you’re going to have your hands full no matter what tees you use. Stick to your guns. Kenny — Kenny Stultz – Troll and SPAM intolerant RSG Rollcall: http://rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=stultzk "Golf is the only sport where a precise knowledge of the Rules can earn one a reputation for poor sportsmanship"
Response:
This is a daily thing at our course. We have as few as 6 and as many as 20 golfers show up unpredictable on various days. Over 50 goes off the senior tees, under 50 plays mid tees. If there were, let’s say 8 players on each team, we would play the total to par score of the best five and six balls. Each nine has an unknown press hole that is drawn from a box at the end of 18 holes. It’s fun, entertaining, and competitive. But over time, no group has gained the upper hand. Enjoy playing with your peers. And if one is a family member and stomps you all the time, let them know it’s up to you to pick their nursing home.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This year I’ve taken up golf after about a 10 year layoff. I’ve fallen into a highly enjoyable weekly game with a couple of retired older fellows and one other younger guy like myself. I continue to be amazed at how good these older guys are at scoring. The shorter of the two can’t reach any of the longer par4’s in regulation, and yet he still manages to shoot in the low 80’s – due mostly to fantastic putting. The other retiree doesn’t putt quite as well, but he gets 225 or so out of his driver and his overall game is quite good. The other young player hasn’t been playing all that long but he has an effortless, beautiful swing and routinely hits 300yd drives (I know everyone on r.s.g. hits 300yd drives, but these I’ve actually witnessed on a weekly basis). My game is somewhere in between. I don’t hit it as solid as our young phenom, and have a shakier short game than the olde pharts . At any rate, we are remarkably close in overall ability and anyone can win on any given day. So here’s the question: every week we pair up into teams, usually a younger and older player on each one, and play combined stroke, match, best ball, whatever. No gimmees, no mulligans, play it as it lies. But next week we’re going to play youth against age for the first time. Now, in our previous matches we’ve always played off the same tees out of deference to the shorter hitters. From the whites, 3 of the par5’s are reachable, as are two of the par4’s. Even so, the older guys clean our clocks in stroke play about half the time, so my argument is that due to overall short-game suckage we need the distance advantage to equalize the odds. The old guys are insisting that we play off the blues, which mostly puts the doglegs out of reach and therefore makes the course play a couple of shots tougher. Should we play from the blues, even though we’re likely to get our clocks cleaned by the olde pharts? Or should we continue to play off the same tees (certainly the older gents are welcome to JOIN us on the blues…), since history has shown that we’re all remarkably close that way? We argued about this for more than an hour last time, and while I can see the other side’s point I’m reluctant to concede anything to these crafty old buggers. They know things are pretty equal as they stand, and are just angling for any possible advantage. I just know that if I agreed to this they’d both be rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation. What should I do?