Changing the Way you Play: No More Ladies Tees

For as long as I can remember every time I’ve stepped on the first tee I do a couple of things. First, I introduce myself to my playing partners and second, I/we choose which tees (ladies tees, white, blue or black) we’re going to be playing from. A seemingly innocuous decision that every amateur golfer makes before venturing out onto the course in front of them.

For my friends and I the choice is usually between the white and the blue tees. Never the ladies tees. Usually blue or “the tips” is chosen for machismo reasons, and the next 18 holes are played from the same tees.

Why do we limit ourselves to hitting from the same tee boxes on every hole when options exists on every single hole? The answer is quite simple for many, so we can enter our scores in for our handicap.

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But is the game of golf really just about a number? Is that really the most important part?

At the end of the day golf is a game and the goal should be to have as much fun as possible. Pure and simple.

I implore my fellow golfers to stop referring to tees as the “Senior” and “Ladies” tees but instead refer to them as “Optional” tees.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of playing Pinehurst #2, a classic Donald Ross course that has challenged some of the greats this game has ever seen.

When the open returns to Pinehurst in 2024 the tees won’t be the tips on every hole, every day. Far from it, as the USGA officials will make long par 3’s into short par 3’s, normal par 4’s into drivable ones and beastly par 5’s into reachable par 5’s (and vice-versa)..

So when my wonderful caddie Dale mentioned to me and my playing partners that the third hole played as a drivable par-4 one day during the last US Open, we didn’t hesitate and moved up to the optional tees.

Sure our scores aren’t perfect by GHIN standards; but we had fun and experienced a golf course from different lengths and angles. The way the game is meant to be played.

No place exemplifies this more perfectly than the Tom Doak designed Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club in Holyoke, CO where there are no tee markers, just tee boxes and suggestions. The caddie points you to areas and you’re free to tee it up to wherever suits your mood.

So the next time you go out with your buddies, try some optional tees. Maybe a long par 3 would be fun from 105 yards, or that unreachable par-5 can be played from 495 yards so that you can give it a go. And just to be clear I’m not preaching tee it forward. Just as much as you should be moving up, challenge yourself and try the back tees out.

For the golfer that plays the same course day in and day out, he or she will find areas of the golf course they previously have never seen and enjoy the course that much more.

Next. Tiger Woods makes brutal quad on No. 17 at THE PLAYERS. dark

So the next time you’re on the first tee, don’t decide the next 18 holes in advance, allow yourself the flexibility for options at the ladies tees and maybe drive a par-4 for once.

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