Tee Box

You would be surprised by how much better your scores would be by playing from the correct tee markers. Most golfers are not playing from the correct distances… why is that? Pride? Lazy? Ignorance? Well, no matter which answer is your’s I will explain why and which tee’s you should be playing from.

Let’s start with the Handicap to Distance ratio. A lot of golfers base which tees to play solely on their handicap. Seems like everyone who can shoot around 80 thinks they should be playing from the Tips or furthest tee markers back. This is the most common myth when it comes to playing from the incorrect tees.

Instead, golfers should take into consideration their handicap as well as how far they hit the ball. No, not how far you hit your Driver. It’s much easier to hit a driver further, the shaft and hollow head technology help in these instances. You should measure how far you can hit a 7 iron and use this distance to gauge where you should play from.

If and only if you swing a 7 iron 80% and hit the ball an average of 170 yds with a handicap no more than 9 should you play the golf course from the back tees.
If you hit a 7 iron 80% 160 yds with a handicap between 10-16, you should be playing from one tee marker forward.
If you hit your 7 iron any less 160 yds swing 80% you should play two boxes forward every round.
Ladies, for the most part, should remain on the most forward tees, unless you are able to swing 80% and hit driver about 250 yds. Then and only then should you move one tee box backward.

There are many benefits when you use this method to choose which tee box you play from. For one, you will improve much faster.  You will have an opportunity to practice the most important aspects of the game. The number two reason benefit is, the pace of play, this can be a huge issue when you are playing from the incorrect tees. The number three reason is that it will improve the quality of enjoyment 10x’s, I guarantee you will have much more fun making birdies from the correct tee box than making triple bogeys from the tips.

The next time you go out with a group of buddies to play a round of golf, keep these key points in mind and play from YOUR correct tee box. Everyone doesn’t have to play for the same box, I promise you can still socialize playing from different tee boxes. The pace of play will still improve even though you may have to make 2-3 different stops at tee boxes because you will all be playing much better golf.