Choosing the right tee box will lower your scores

Every golfer wants to find the right clubs to improve their game. But taking a few steps up to the next tee box can help lower your scores even faster.

Are you playing from the right tee box? If you think about choosing the right tee box as playing the course as the architect intended, you might be able to get over your ego. You also might enjoy your round more.

Like so many of you, I have a yearly golf outing with friends. We often travel to golf destinations none of us have played. The inevitable conversation ensues – which tees do we play? My group has handicap indexes from 6 to 20. That’s a big spread. Basically, the low guy can shoot in the mid-70s and the low guys can shoot … well, let’s just say triple digits have been recorded.

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Of course, the GHIN handicap system is designed to let us all competitively play against each other. But you and I know that isn’t always enough. Somehow, the low handicapper wins every year. It may have a lot to do with the tees you play.

If you are a mid-handicapper playing from tee boxes that consistently serve up 400-yard plus par-4s, you are in for a long day. In 2017, Golf Digest collected data from hundreds of golfers across all age groups and handicap levels. Their findings were instructive and eye-opening.

The average driving distance for a 10-19 handicap index golfer is 216 yards. That’s not a typo. For comparison, a 0-5 handicap index golfer averages 250 yards. Remember, this takes into account the wormburners, pop-ups, smothered hooks, and dropkicks we all hit.

In short, we are all shorter than we think.

We’re all used to seeing PGA pros hit it well past 300 yards, so we often assume, “I bet I hit it about 260.” No, you don’t. You might uncork one that long every once in a while, but it’s an outlier. Remember that the handicap system is built to ignore and moderate outlier scores. You should consider this approach when thinking about your average driving distance.

If you are honest with yourself, you’ll realize playing from the tips – or any set of back tees – is a recipe for frustration. Look at it this way. If you are playing from tees that present you with a bunch of 400-yard-plus par-4s, at best – AT BEST – you’ll average a minimum of 175-yards on every approach shot.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a boatload of double-bogeys to me. Now consider that you just dropped $150 or more to play this famous course. Was your intention to pay a dollar a stroke? Are you excited to tell your buddies you just played Whistling Straits … and shot a 104?

The truth is, good courses are designed with landing zones off the tee and green complexes intended to accept approach shots from manageable distances. If you consistently hit well short of fairway bunkers and find yourself hitting hybrids or fairway woods into greens, you might be playing the wrong tees.

Next time you go to your home course, try playing from the tee box ahead of your normal choice. You will likely experience the course in a new way. It will probably be more rewarding and your score will probably be better. Remember that you aren’t killing your handicap either, each tee box is rated differently to reflect the yardage and slope. A score of 85 from the back tees will be adjusted lower than an 85 from the shorter tee box.

You also might find that you enjoyed yourself more. You will hit more greens in regulation, making an extra par or two. Your round will take less time. You’ll lose fewer balls. Who knows, you might even card a birdie.

Sounds pretty good, huh?

So put your ego next to the Alien wedge in your garage and play up for a day. See for yourself. I’d bet everyone, low handicappers and high alike, will have a more rewarding round.