Tee It Forward

The United States Golf Association and the PGA of America have recently partnered in the launch of a new initiative called TEE IT FORWARD. The idea is to encourage golfers to play from the set of tee markers (at any given course) best suited to their driving distance.

Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf, is credited with the inspiration that led to TEE IT FORWARD. Adams reasons that by playing from the appropriate tees, all golfers have the chance to play a course at the

same relative distance. In effect, playing each hole at a length properly aligned with a golfer’s driving distance capabilities allows every player to enjoy the course the way the architect intended.

“The passion that golfers have for our game has the potential to be enhanced by the TEE IT FORWARD initiative,”recent words from USGA president Jim Hyler. Jim went on to say that playing from the correct set of tee markers will make golf a more enjoyable endeavor for players of all levels.

All well and good, but when I grew up as a golfer there were the ‘men’s tees’ and the ‘ladies tees’; it didn’t take much thinking to determine which set of tees were for you.

Courses today, especially those designed/built in recent years, have multiple tee marker options… How does a golfer determine which set are best suited to his/her game?

At your home course my suggestion is trial and error. Try playing alternate rounds from different tee markers, then compare the two experiences. Make sure that you don’t limit your comparison to score, think about the clubs you used on approach shots, the number of greens hit in regulation figures and the number of sand traps you hit.

Of course, trial and error might work nicely when selecting tee marker options at your home course, but certainly not when you travel to a new location. When so doing, I think it best to seek guidance from the PGA staff at that facility. And, make sure you don’t inflate your driving distance when asking advice from that golf professional. Remember, whether you’re playing your home course or a course you are seeing for the first time: golf is supposed to be fun!

To put things in perspective: For a golfer, whose average drive is 225 yards, playing a 6,600 yard course is proportionately equivalent to a PGA Tour player competing on a course measuring 8,100 yards. That’s almost 700 yards longer than the typical PGA Tour layout!

Home or new course, don’t set yourself up to fail before you put that tee in the ground on #1. Be aware that most casual golfers are currently playing too much golf course. And, do not become intimidated… today’s tee markers are not gender or age bias. Don’t be afraid to TEE IT FORWARD.

Well, TEE IT FORWARD sure makes sense to me, and to all of us at Candia Woods and The Oaks; we whole heartedly embrace the concept.

In fact, to provide more distance options for our members and guests, we recently installed a new set of tees (white markers) at both of our courses. And, during the the planning for this additional set of markers, we became most enlightened.

As is always our practice, when considering any course design changes, we brought in golf course architect Brad Booth. Brad was the designer at The Oaks with whom we have maintained a close professional relationship; his insights are always helpful.

On a glorious golf day we (course superintendent Steve Malloy, director of golf Shaun Bishop and me) set out with Brad on a hole to hole journey at The Oaks. Each set of tee boxes was mapped with front/back location for the gold, green, new white, blue and black tee markers.

On the very first hole it became blatantly obvious why the TEE IT FORWARD concept should be embraced by all golf facilities and all golfers alike.

As we stood on the tee Brad began to talk about the hole, “this green calls for an approach shot of no more than 145 yards; to get your ball to hold this green requires a lofted shot”.

The group about to start their round was hitting from the blue markers; #1 plays at 349 yards from the blues. The first golfer in the group hit a beautiful drive, dead center, but about ten yards short of the 150 marker.

“There you go,” said Brad “a good drive and he’s left with a shot that is far too difficult for the design of this green; that golfer would be far better served playing from the new whites or possibly the green tees”.

As we moved through the course we observed golfer after golfer who would benefit by moving up one or even two sets of tee markers. Hitting woods and hybrids into greens designed to accept short irons just makes the game far too hard. Again, golf is meant to be fun!

Well… the work is done and we now have five distance options at Candia Woods and five at The Oaks. Golfers can now select, when playing either of our courses, from five sets of tee markers.

Take a look at the scorecards below, and remember: our professional staff is there to help you select the tee markers that will be most closely matched to your driving distance.

TEE IT FORWARD is a great concept… embrace it and you’ll increase your enjoyment of this great game.

*Although our Candia Woods crew headed by Ted Bishop, Craig McLaughlin and Matt Evans were quick to adopt the TEE IT FORWARD concept (including adding of a set of new white tee markers), The Oaks was a bit slow to move.My sincere thanks to CandiaOaks members Frank Collopy and Art Kennerson… you provided the inspiration to get the job done at The Oaks.

When playing The Oaks or Candia Woods you can now select from five sets of tees…
find the set that best fits your driving distance.