Sobering launch monitor session....

Oh and the senior tees are on the same box just about 8 or 10 yards shorter.

Precision over distance is what makes golf difficult though, right? Shorter is definitely easier. 4 degrees of miss on a 170yd approach is a lot more punishing than that same miss from 110.

In the end I can't imagine giving a crap where anyone plays from. I think the 5i measure is pretty good and will give a player the appropriate shots into the greens assuming an adequate drive. Otherwise you end up with driver/wedge all day if you're playing decent golf.

I hit it far. If I play whites or a short blue I'll almost never hit driver. I don't think driver/chip is the intent on a 390yd par 4. I'll go hybrid/full-wedge or 4i/9i most of the time. I'm a risk-averse insurance underwriter.

Play reds and have fun, or play blues and know you'll be hitting longer shots and not score as well - can still be fun!

Last Sun. I played a course at 5500+. Shot 75, no birdies. Week before, same course, but played the 6100+ tees. Shot 76, again no birdies. Had a couple drives that were the longest, on a couple of particular holes, I've ever hit on those holes(10+ yrs. at this course). My swingspeed? Who the hell knows. Better yet, just who the hell cares? Certainly not me.

Swingspeed is much too much talked about. For any age. Going to a launch monitor?......the figures to come home with are the ones that show distances for every club. Not how fast or high you hit. Few are going to walk away from those monitors and improve speed/distance.

Gee, maybe I could shoot 65.

ZWExton I wish I had your personal control. I’m too damn intent on hitting driver, show me a short par 4, I want to drive the green... I know if I want to score, I’d hit hybrid off the tee most holes, but that’s NOT fun.

Simulators are fun. If I'm killing time and go to one of the local stores, I know if it is "off". Anyone who is trying to seriously find out if they should buy a club based off of them needs to bring their current clubs in for comparision. Hit them both on the sim and then decide.

We have sims here where I work. We don't sell clubs but the sims are accurate, as are our GC2's. With the Sims you can boost or cut back distances... just do it under a different name on the screen, put in your own settings.

I went into Golfsmith and set up the sim under my name and boosted a bunch of settings for laughs. When I go in there and hit they think I'm a Superbeast.

rsvman

There are times at my club when I would really enjoy playing a blended tee box that puts the overall distance a couple hundred yards shorter than the usual tees I play. Especially in the spring, when the ground is still soft and the temps are still somewhat cool despite the course finally being open.

We go from 5800 yards (which is too short for me currently) to 6500 yards at the next tee section (which is a beast when there is no notable rollout). Throw in some wind and some back hole locations on those longer holes - it's incredibly difficult to manage some days.

I proposed the idea a few years ago, but the head pro at the time refused to consider it. We have a new head pro and a new GM now (just hired this season) who both seem to be more in-tune with making the membership experience more enjoyable, so I might float the idea to them and see what happens.

It would require them to get the course re-rated, but quite frankly I would almost be willing to front that expense if they'd consider it.

I think it would give a lot of our members a bit more of an enjoyable-yet-fairer challenge.

PA-PLAYA - The Lexington (KY) Country Club has created a 'blended' course using the blue tees and white tees and it is wildly popular. The score card is unique by using shading on the individual holes to indicate which tee to use on the hole. And, they paid for the USGA to determine this blended course's slope and rating and I do not know if it required an on-site survey.

I've saved a scorecard and I could scan and email it to you if it would give you a 'visual' to take to your management.

mikeintopeka

Thanks for the offer. If needed, I will definitely be in touch with you to provide a sample for them to consider.

I remain hopeful that they'll take my suggestion into consideration. Given the 700 yard disparity between the senior tees (5800) and the regular mens tees (6500) - it just stands to reason that a blended tee box option would be something that many of our members would prefer.

Our par5's aren't easy from the regular member's tees, because of the design. Two of our four par3's average between 185-195 yards. Throw in a handful of par4's that measure 400+ yards - there are a lot of players, like myself, who would enjoy the layout a bit more if a few of those holes were shortened with moving to the next tee box forward.

There just seems to be too much disparity between 5800 and 6500 yards imo.

Hopefully I can convince the new head pro and GM to at least consider the idea. I've run the numbers, 6300 yards is achievable. And the kicker is that it reduces the approach shots considerably on a couple of the longer holes, but at the same time keeping the fairway bunkers (or other hazards) in play, even from the forward tees. So although the distance on those holes overall might be shorter - there's still a premium on an accurate tee shot for those specific holes.

We'll see how it goes.

I'm in a similar situation to several previous posters, in that my driver swing speed is low-90s at best (with 230 being a good drive and playing 7-iron from 130-135), but I don't mind playing a course (or set of tees) that's a bit longer than may be recommended purely based on the distance I hit the ball, as I'm comfortable hitting approach shots with longer clubs, or playing for pitch-and-putt pars on holes that I can't reach in regulation. It seems to me that, when choosing the right tee to play from, distance should be the main driver, but you also need to take into account the skill level that you play at - the aim should be to end up playing a course that gives you the right level of challenge for the day.

(For what it's worth, most UK courses don't offer players a choice of tee (in my experience) - the usual set-up is to have 'everyday', ladies and competition-only sets of tees.)

Regarding making up a 'combo' set of tees to play, some guys in my group have done that and still post scores. I'll have to verify the math they used, but they adjust the slope before posting scores. I believe they worked with the club to do this, so perhaps they used information in addition to what is available on the scorecard. I'll follow up.

My vote is for whatever gives you the most joy. Being a low to mid 80's scorer, I know for me to threaten breaking 80 regularly, playing from the whites would be my best bet, but playing from the whites for me is generally no fun as its either driver/wedge all day or less driver off the tee due to trouble in the 250+ yard areas. I love playing the tips as i get to use my entire bag and driver off the tee. Hitting driver is more enjoyable for me than potentially scoring a few strokes better playing a short course.