I’m not a golfer, but I have played a few times in my life.
When I went out once or twice years ago, there were two sets of tees: Ladies’ Tees and Men’s Tees. The few times I played at the office golf day, there were three sets of tees: Ladies’, Men’s, and Professional.
But the golf course tees that I see during my daily commute (I pass by a few courses) consist of four sets of tees. What would the fourth set be? Did they add one behind for–oh, I don’t know–Superpros? Or one in front for Children?
And if I was to go out to play golf (not likely, but possible this summer), which set of tees would I play from? I used to play from the Men’s tees, but I don’t even know if they’re called that any more, or which they would be.
So my questions are the following:
Who is the fourth set of tees for?
Which set would I play from? Second from the front, or third from the front?
The different tees are called different things at different courses. The options include championship, men’s, medal (generally British), women’s, senior, youth, and no doubt one or two more. Many courses, especially resort and your higher-quality courses, have five sets of tees. The back set may be off-limits to most players.
Generally, play from the tees your comfortable with. Most courses I play have championship (usually black), two sets of men’s (blue and white) and women’s (red). We usually play from the blue–if I’m playing with my father, we play from the white. Of course, if your comfortable being called a wuss for playing from the women’s tees, by all means…
At some courses the fourth set is actually between the ladies and mens tees. These are usually referred to as something goofy like “executive” tees. They’re basically for male hackers who would be too embarrassed to tee off from the ladies tees.
To help alleviate the “embarrassment” of playing forward tees (and to speed up play due to the bullheads who feel they must play from the back tees) many golf courses now have tees based on handicap. The back tees indicate for handicaps of 5 or less, the next forward tees are for 6 to 14, the next set 15 to 25, and the forward-most tees 26 and above.
Another variation on the main theme is a set of women’s “championship” tees (often the yellow tees).
The only important things to consider when deciding which set to use are 1) is the set rated for your sex so that you can use the score to help establish/maintain your handicap, and 2) for the course in question, which set will provide you with the most fun.
Not that you ever see me play anything short of the blacks…
Most of the places I play at have 4-5 sets of tees. The womans up front, next the seniors, then TWO sets of mens tees, one is closed to let the grass regrow, and the last are the “pro” tees. I really can’t remember seeing too many nice courses that dont have two sets of tees for men since it’s mostly men who play so they do more damage to the tees.
