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Senior Tees - what age

JW Smoove

JW Smoove

Waffles, always waffles
Albatross 2024 Club
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I was going to do a poll here, but I am interested in seeing what age people think they are ready to move to the senior tees. Sometimes I want to give it a go, but I still feel that about 6k yards is right. It makes about 4? par 4 or 5 holes difficult to par and maybe 1 or 2 par 3s difficult to hit (needing a wood or hybrid). The problem I have is that many courses don't have mixed or blended tees, and the jump from regular to senior is substantial. Next I play I may take a gander at the senior tees just to see what the end number is. The reason (or, a reason) I hesitate is watching my daughter, she plays the ladies/forward tees and can (and often does) come just short - 10-30 yards of driving greens. Frankly, she should be playing the senior tees!

So, yes, I get it, we move when we want to move - that is not at issue, rather, do I make the say 13 or 14 holes easier than I need them to be, in order to make the 4-6 tough ones reasonable or not?

I have (I think) parred every hole on the course, but some were lucky breaks or lucky long putts. I can't mix the tees and use the score for handicap purposes.

Thanks!
 
For me, I don't think it's going to be an age thing. When I regularly have to use a 6i or above for my approach shot, I'm moving up. I can't, definitively, say what age that's going to be.
 
When Par 4's are more than a 6i in to the green after my drive, relatively speaking, then it's time to move up.
 
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I get that, fellows, the 6i is my goto club right now. and my 4fli hi is getting a lot of love too, oh and the 3HL. I used to rarely hit or need to hit teh 3 wood, that said, I hit it pretty well now. And, to some extent, this is why I chose no poll, internet says 55 - I think that's far too early.
 
I moved up when I turned 65, and I was also loosing distance with all clubs.
 
Just turned 64. On two of my leagues I am still in the top 5 for driving distance even against the 20-40 somethings. Not that I am that long anymore (261 average this year). They are just that short. I'll change tees when I can't compete. I am sure the door will be slamming shut soon. My average has dropped 44 yards in 20 years.
30 of those in the last 10.
 
Really shouldn't be any "Naming" of Tees, like "Ladies", "Senior", "Men's", etc... anymore. Most newer courses have several sets with just Colors denoting which ones. If they have 4 sets of tees, they may also have 7 sets total by blending the various colors on different holes. then you pick which blended set you like based on yardage numbers.

If they don't specifically have blended tees on the scorecard, when a hole is a 'bit' too much, then move up on that hole.

Oh- I recently turned 63 and will play from (depending on the courses) 5900 to 6300, give or take. IF the course is one of those target style with narrow fairways and lots of trees, we move up, if it's more open with firm fairways and not too much trouble, then we move back.
 
Im not in favor of age, but more so in favor of playing the appropriate tees. If someone is in their late 50s and their distance is just not there, move up a set, and if that means to the Senior Tees, then do it.

With my oldest getting in to golf earlier this year, I made he and his buddies play the Senior Tees for a few months, it eliminated some tough tee shots, and allowed them to get the feel of the flow of the game vs having to retee on every other tee box.
 
robrandalgz said:
For me, I don't think it's going to be an age thing. When I regularly have to use a 6i or above for my approach shot, I'm moving up. I can't, definitively, say what age that's going to be.
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what if someone's already getting 6i+ approaches from the "senior" tees? asking to ask.
 
70 is the age in my golf group. We have about eight 70+ year old guys that play with us and a majority of them still play from the same tees as us and still whip our behinds.
 
It will depend on the distance of my approach shots on par 4s and ability to reach longer par 3s. Hopefully not for some time but play the tees that make it most enjoyable for you and your game.
 
chile said:
what if someone's already getting 6i+ approaches from the "senior" tees? asking to ask.
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Move up again.....?

I mean the senior tees are the second closest tees, correct? They are on my course, at least. 🤷‍♂️
 
It's not an age thing for me. I'll be 53 this month. I've recently begun playing from the forward tees. Or at least the senior tees. Why? My girl @dutchie is a beginner and before her lessons, she didn't have the distance. So I moved up to the forward tees to give her some confidence and a better chance at decent shots if she dropped where my ball landed. And I shaved 10 strokes off my game, shot under 100 3 times in a row and had actual chances at birdie on par 3's and some par 4's. I don't get that from the regular men's tees.

Then at Dormie I played from the forward tees. I just didn't have the distance to make some of the forced carries there. I played Tobacco Road prior to the Morgan Cup and I did the same thing there. I've lost distance so I'm playing the tees that are at my level.

I felt fine doing that and can testify that no one made a joke, laughed at me, or threw an insult at me because of the tees I was playing from. Truth be told I was concerned about that at first, but knowing my game and my lack of distance, unless I was just going to drop in the fairway, I went from the senior tees. And I had a hell of a fun time at each course because it was slightly easier for me. <---- That's the most important thing. The FUN!

If you want to try the senior tees, do it. There's no one that's going to make light of your choice. It's your choice of course.

When we tee it up, @dutchie and I will be at the forward tees. You're welcome to join us. :) (y) (y)
 
chile said:
what if someone's already getting 6i+ approaches from the "senior" tees? asking to ask.
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If that's the case, then I think they should move up to the most forward tee. If they're seeing 6i shots from there then they need to move up and pick a spot in the fairway to drop at and hit from there.
 
robrandalgz said:
Move up again.....?

I mean the senior tees are the second closest tees, correct? They are on my course, at least. 🤷‍♂️
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i've honestly never paid attention...i did, however, play with an older gentleman yesterday and he played from the blue tees with me. not sure what his club selection was on his approaches but he was a good distance behind me off the tee (as i would hope) but in the fairway. so yeah, age ain't the "determiner" imo...btw, in jan, i expect to be allowed to play from the senior tees against you animals.
 
Move up to where you can use scoring clubs into the green.
Then move back as your game straightens out. Or when you can score below 80 more than you score above 80.
 
Age is irrelevant. It's about needing to play at a yardage that allows a reasonable chance to make the greens in regulation.
 
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Whenever I have to long irons/hybrids/fairway woods into par 4s for the approach, would be when I would move up. Whatever age that might be.
 
I doubt I would entertain moving up until I reach 65, which is just a little over 6 years from now.
 
At my course, the age is casually mentioned as 60.
 
To me tees have nothing to do with age/gender etc. With the way indexes are calculated for each tee box, play whatever set suits your fancy. We have a tournament this weekend where day 1 is from the tips and day 2 is from the reds. Everyone has a lot more fun from the red tees even the plus handicaps.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I agree it's not an age thing, and I also try to not call them by names (like senior), but that is hard to do in a verbal thread.

Anyway, my last 2 rounds at my home course 86 and 88 - 42 on the tougher back nine each time, I guess I was warmed up.

I am very much like what @chile described here "...not sure what his club selection was on his approaches but he was a good distance behind me off the tee (as i would hope) but in the fairway."

I need a lot more club on my second shot than I used to need, but I am most often in the fairway or just a few yards off. Par 5, rare for me to be chipping on with my 3rd shot, I am usually needing a decent scoring shot from the fairway - which is ok and part of the game. But 390ish plus par 4s and 185+ par threes can be taxing - and the aforementioned par 5s depending on where the hazards are my lay up second shot may be very short or need to max out that 3 wood to get a shot at the green.

I am perfectly ok as said earlier with about 13-15 holes each round, but I wonder....sometimes. I don't want to go all second tee (how's that!?), and make the game silly - so to speak, and I can't do a mixed tee for handicap reasons.

Edit: 63, dead right knee, artificial left hip. Arthritic hands. I guess given those ailments mid to high 80s from 6k yards is decent!
 
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I played the navy and white tees this year. I still hit it well enough (knock on wood) that it's going to be a while before I move up the @Mmaynard11 blue tee box.
 
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