How to choose the right tee box for you
Anyone that knows me, knows that I have no time for ego on the golf course, and especially if it contributes to slow play.
Personally, I believe slow play is one of the biggest challenges of the game right now, but that’s another blog post all together!
I am very straight off the tee and I hit my drives around 210 yds. No matter the course, I choose the tee box around or under 5,800 yards. I confess, I find it very irritating that, on many courses, the “lady” tees are an afterthought and often only play around 5,200 with the next tee box being over 6,000 yards. I have been known to create my own golf course and play the 5,200 yard tee boxes for 6 holes a side and play from the next tee boxes for the easiest 3 holes per side.
I see so many people select a tee box to play from without thought. I truly don’t understand why people select by colour or label (lady, senior, men, pro) rather than consciously choose their tee box to fit their skill level. Isn’t golf supposed to be fun?
As a First Lady of Golf, I support independent thought and choice. We are not sheep!
I play with men a lot, and whether I know them or not, they often try to bully me into playing from a tee box that I’m not comfortable playing. And when I assert myself, the platitudes like “gee, sure would be nice to get such an advantage by playing the girl tees”. I truly feel like throttling them and their egos. LOL
But the truth is, trying to stuff everyone in a foursome (regardless of sex) onto one box is ludicrous. I know I certainly don’t fit into a one size fits all mold and neither do you! I want to go out and play golf!
Definition of PLAY (plā/)
verb
- 1. engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.
| synonyms: | amuse oneself, entertain oneself, enjoy oneself, have fun; |
I have read so many articles that talk about golf being a competitive and prideful game and that players look cool playing from the back tees, when the fact of the matter is, most players try to play from longer tee boxes than their ability dictates. They end up slowing down everyone else on the golf course, not to mention hurting their own score as well.
To choose the best tee box for you, pretend you hit the perfect drive, and then hit the perfect approach shot. If it is unreasonable to you to be able to have a chance to reach the greens in regulation with your perfect shots, you are playing from the wrong tee box.
One way to calculate the perfect yardage for you or your playing partners is to use the Driver X 28 Computation Method. This method take your average driver distance x 28 for the ideal course length.
Using my average drives of 210 yards x 28 = 5,880 yards, voila! Spot on where I actually enjoy playing from!
Another way to choose the right tee box is to use the Tee it Forward method. This method uses the average distance you hit your driver.
| Driver Distance | Recommended Tee Box Yardages |
| 300 yards | 7,150 – 7,400 yards |
| 275 yards | 6,700 – 6,900 yards |
| 250 yards | 6,200 – 6,400 yards |
| 200 yards | 5,200 – 5,400 yards |
| 175 yards & under | 4,600 yards & under |
Like I said, often there’s a big discrepancy between the forward tees and the next set of tees, so there might not be a tee box for your ideal yardage, but pick one that is close, within 5% if possible. And, unless you are keeping an official handicap, there is nothing wrong with making up your own course by adding or subtracting some length of several holes.
Some players feel the need for the entire group to play from the same tee box and will try to bully you from your decision, please hold your ground. This is your game, for your enjoyment, you know what is best for you!
See you on the golf course you gorgeous golfing fashionista!
Shelley West
President & First Lady of Golf
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