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Titles of Current Entries In Our Weblog / Blog
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Tee Placement
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As of August 27, 2009 there was one additional comment for this item.
To see all comments on the above - or, to add your comment, go to:
Tee Placement
Weblog / Blog entry.
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Tees at North Ridge
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As of May 22, 2010 there were no comments for this item.
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Tees at North Ridge
Weblog / Blog entry.
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Mixed-tee Competition and Handicap Stroke Adjustment
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Should Age or Gender Be Part of a Decision Regarding What Tee To Play From?
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What About This "Stroke Adjustment" When Playing Mixed Tees?
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What Makes a Great Golf Hole?
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What is Your Favorite Golf Hole - and: Why is it the Favorite?
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What are the Top Five-or-So Factors (Matters) that Make Golf Enjoyable at your Golf Club?
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To comment on anything about the above just:
send mail to: Webmaster@NRCCSeniorMensGolf.org
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Specifics -of- Current Entries In Our Weblog / Blog
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Tee Placement
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I asked the USGA, by eMail, the following. I place the following, here, in case any of you want to comment-back.
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Tee Placement
I browsed the USGA Website for the purpose of investigating if there are any "official" guidelines for tee placement. I apologize if this comment does not make sense! Let me try to explain: Over the past couple of years, the club that I belong to here in Raleigh NC has spent a lot of time/effort on placing tees.
As our club membership changes (for example: age, gender, player ability) the club "struggles" (in my opinion) with "where tees should be" to maintain enjoyment / competitiveness and other matters.
I am wondering if the USGA has ever published something that could be used by golfers/committees in this matter.
Personally, I don't "care" what tee my fellow competitor(s) or playing partner(s) play from. Courtesy, etiquette, acceptance of other golfer's ability rate higher-up in my rating-of-the-golf-day's experience.
However, a simple matter of "Tee Placement" often seems to dominate in some situations -- and, if there was something "USGA" published: Wonderful. It would save me and, I assume others: Some time/effort.
Thank you for a comeback at your convenience!
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Any comments?
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As of August 27, 2009 there was one comment for this item. To add your comment, go to:
Tee Placement
Weblog / Blog entry.
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Tees at North Ridge
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I am curious how/why the "new" repositioned tees at North Ridge came about.
The "new" Red tees, I assume, came about because some players who played the "old" Red tees felt the Red tee locations were too far back -- and, the "old" Black (forward) tees were too far forward. The solution from whoever made the change affected the "old" Black tee player -- by simply removing the Black tees and moving nearly all the Red tees to be where the Black was! I assume, now, the players who (basically) play the "old" Black tees can now tell their friends they still play the Red tees? It makes little sense, to me.
The affect to the players who used to play the "old" Black tees (Forward Tees) is that five of the eight par 5s on the two courses are no longer reachable in regulation for the "old Black" tee players. Seems kind of a shame, to take the joy out of playing five holes. Those par 5s were very nice/fun par 5s for forward-tee players.
Perhaps someone puts those five tees up forward again and invents a "new" set of tees -- that end up being the old Black tees -- again, giving the persons playing the "Red" and "old Black" tees an option. As it is now, they removed the option for a forward tee player.
Then, the next move was to come up with a "new" Black tee -- and, again (in my opinion) take the fun out of some of the par 5s. The tee locations (in my opinion) for the new Black tee should be re-thought, trying to place the Black tee in places that players who play from the tees can reach the green in regulation with good shots on ten of the fourteen non-par 3s. In my opinion, the tees have been set out coming up with some over-all distance in someone's opinion -- and, has not taken into consideration the joy of the game. A shame, in my view.
Update on May 22, 2010: .... Comments: Well..... Someone changed the Ladies Tees at North Ridge once again. In my opinion, removing four fun holes -- by moving the tees back to where they were before they moved them forward. A shame. Making the golf course less fun for many of the ladies.... but, if they are happy and I am wrong -- Ok, by me. I think, though, that having only one tee for the ladies should be re-thought. The ladies who complained the course was too short could have played the two shorter Men's tees (in my opinion) - the "new" Black tees and the White (Senior) tees. I would think such movement-of-tees continually would be something the club members should have a chance to comment on.
Lastly, we have talked about on this discussion board -- and, the SGA committee in 2008 agreed -- that age has nothing to do with what tee we play. Why did I see that age is being put back into the equation? It makes no sense to me.
In my view: Play from whatever tee you enjoy. In my case (I know, I repeat myself... but, I do not get feedback from others on this) I enjoy a tee set that allows me to reach the green in regulation on 10-of-14 (or so) non-par 3s. That is the criteria that I use.
Any comments?
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As of May 22, 2010 there were no comments for this item. To add your comment, go to:
Tees at North Ridge
Weblog / Blog entry.
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What Tee Should I Play From?
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This is a question that comes up, to me, quite often. Both from my own play -- and, as I discuss the topic with others. My view is: Play from the tee that you are most comfortable with. That means, play from the course's tees that afford an opportunity to achieve some satisfaction during the round. Period. Don't mind what tee others are using within your group! You and they will be meeting at the green if not somewhere along the way.
In my view, I feel that if I can reach ten of the non-par-3 greens in "regulation" with quite nice shots: That is the tee that I play from most of the time and would recommend to others.
The topic is NOT (affected by) a matter of "stroke adjustment" for mixed-tee competitions.
The topic is NOT (affected by) a matter of age.
The topic is NOT (affected by) a matter of gender.
The decision as to what tee a player plays is strictly up to the player and the player's enjoyment.
Period.
Give some thought to what are your criteria and comment-back. I am interested in your view on this.
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As of Aug. 16, 2008 there was one comment for this item. To see all comments on the above - or, to add your comment, go to:
What Tee Should I Play From?
Weblog / Blog entry.
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Mixed-tee Competition and Handicap Stroke Adjustment
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I wonder why, quite often, when tournaments are held that involve mixed-tees (for example, Back, Middle and Forward) the rules sheet does not point out what the stroke adjustment should be. For example, if the course rating difference for the Middle and Back is two strokes, sometimes the rules sheet just says "Adjust your handicap accordingly" or something to that affect.
I bet that sometimes the Forward tee player subtracts (in this example) two strokes from his/her handicap at the forward tee -- and, a Back tee player adds two strokes to his/her handicap. If this happens, the forward tee player is at a distinct disadvantage.
Or, sometimes a few players adjust their handicap for the competition -- and, some other players from the same tee forget to do so.....
Have you had this happen in a competition that you are involved with?
By the way: I happen to agree with adjustments when mixed tees are used. Is the "formula / technique used" correct? Debatable.... but, as long as everyone does the adjustment the same way, things average out.
Thank you, in advance, for any comment on this.
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Should Age or Gender Be Part of a Decision Regarding What Tee To Play From?
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No!
I sometimes see, for example, very-junior players, playing with a parent from a "front" tee but, there happen to be two more tees that he/she could play from further front and (in my view) enjoy the game more.
Same (for me, increasingly so!) for us older-age players.
As I mention in the main entry for this type of discussion: I am of the view that a player should play from a tee that affords the player a chance to hit ten-or-so non-par 3s in regulation. That's sufficient criteria for me.
Any comments from your side on this?
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What About This "Stroke Adjustment" When Playing Mixed Tees?
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In another entry in this Weblog, there is a discussion about "Mixed-tee Competition and Handicap Stroke Adjustment". I think the topic of "Stroke Adjustment" might deserve its own entry -- so, I add this one. I may not explain the process exactly -- but, here goes:
A few years ago, the concept of adjusting handicaps for players as key part of any net play competition. Note that I say: Net play. There is not need to adjust when playing a "normal" round of golf; the USGA Handicap approach takes care of things for you when you enter your score into a USGA-Handicap application.
So - We are talking here about Net play competitions. Not Stableford (played mostly outside North America), not Stroke play, not "anything" your foursome may play. Each competition has a "Tournament Committee" (perhaps a single player in a foursome who is negotiating the day's play for the group!). What stroke adjustment non-Net play competitions make is outside of this discussion.
I am going to comment, below, as if I "fully understand" the USGA recommendation that came about. Naturally, for a better explanation, visit the USGA Website.
Here goes -
First: Yes -- Adjust! It makes the competition "more fair" for all competitors.
Secondly: The topic is only appropriate if players in the competition (any age, gender, ability) are playing from different tees. If all are playing from the same tee: No need to adjust.
Thirdly: Yes -- Adjust off-of the current handicap from the tee you are playing on during the day of the Net play competition. This means: If you are playing today from the "White" tee, use your White tee handicap to adjust. If you are playing from the "Forward" tee, use your Forward tee handicap to adjust. If you are playing from the "Back" tee, use your Back tee handicap to adjust. Except........... See the next comment:
Fourthly: Naturally, every tee's handicap cannot be adjusted.... There needs to be some "base" tee that is used for adjustment. Let's say that the tournament committee uses the "Blue" tee as the base: Then the Blue tee players do NOT adjust.
What is the adjustment? Normally, the committee follows the USGA recommendation to adjust as per the difference in the course ratings for the various tees (again: One of the tees is chosen as a base value -- and, players from that tee do NOT adjust).
For example: Let's say that Blue Tee is the "base" for the day's competition and the course ratings are as follows:
Gold 73.8
Blue 71.2 (Men) 78.0 (Ladies)
White 69.2 (Men) 75.8 (Ladies)
Red 65.8 (Men) 71.2 (Ladies)
Black 63.1 (Men) 68.1 (Ladies)
Juniors? The committee will decide.
To adjust your handicap for the day's competition, just adjust off of the above Blue values for your gender. For example, for Men, if you are playing from the White tee, the difference is 71.2-69.2 = 2.0 That means, you take two strokes off of your White tee handicap and the Blue tee player does NOT adjust.
Why, off of your White tee handicap and not off of your Blue tee handicap? The easiest way for me to explain is: On any given day the Blue player, if he/she moved up, would (probably) score "better" from the White tee than simply the difference of the course rating. In my own example, for instance, when I play from the Blue I typically score 80-to-82. However, if I move "up" to the White I would expect to score better than simply two strokes. That's why I am asked to take the difference off of my White tee handicap and not my Blue.
So - if you have a discussion with "Why should you not adjust off the Blue": Ask yourself what score you would expect on a given day to score from a particular tee... and I suspect you will find out the adjustment is "fair".
After doing this for a few years, now: I agree with the process!
Your thoughts? Thanks, in advance.
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What Makes a Great Golf Hole?
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This is a near-impossible-to-answer- question without a number of qualifications. However, let me try to get the discussion started:
For me, a great golf hole should:
- Have a short distance between green-to-tee (at both ends of the golf hole). This seems strange to list first -- but, I am a golf "walker", and this is important to me.
- The player should be able to see "the entire hole" for any given shot. Although this may seem to shut-out from the discussion a number of great dogleg holes that I have played; I put this as, in my opinion, a major criteria for a GREAT golf hole.
- Fair hazards. Whether water, bunker, "natural area" or whatever: The hazard or hazards need to be manageable with a good shot. Perhaps, even, require a "perfect" shot if the other factors for a great golf hole are in-place.
- Bail-out area if the hole/hazards require a perfect shot. Golf should not be a "punishing" game.
- A fair green. Naturally, this (being fair) is a discussion on its own. However, if the green is not two-puttable for a majority of pin placements: The hole is not "great" in my view.
- Beauty. Again, a personal issue. What I see as beauty may not please others.
Examples, for me, that fit the above include (in time-order that I have played them in my lifetime): Hazeltine 16th, Pebble Beach 8th, any hole inwards at St. Andrews during a clear/late-in-the-day round with a view of the town as you play "home", any hole you can see from Royal Dornoch's 2nd or 5th tee, Gullane #2 Course 13th, any raised-tee hole at Cruden Bay, North Ridge Lakes Course 12th, and North Ridge Oaks Course 11th (since the half-way house gives a break here, the tee-to-green criteria is not important!).
I will add an entry to our Weblog for "Favorite" golf holes, so you need not mention your favorites here (except if you wish to do so). However, I mentioned the above holes to give you a feeling for the type of golf hole that I feel is GREAT.
Any comments? Thanks, in advance.
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What is Your Favorite Golf Hole - and: Why is it the Favorite?
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I decided to bypass a discussion of "Favorite Golf Courses" and go directly to a question about Favorite Golf Hole.
Note that I would like it if someone could say, specifically, what golf hole is their favorite -- and, why!
Possibly, from that, we could eventually move to favorite golf courses.... however, I have a feeling that trying to identify a favorite golf course would vary too much as a player's experience (with various golf courses) changes. For example, my favorite courses when I was in my 20s are different than those I find wonderful as I play during my latter 60s.
However, we all may have ONE favorite golf hole. Some hole, somewhere, in our lifetime that has meant a lot to us and that we would love to / hope to play once again.
Perhaps, regularly, if that hole is on our "home" course! Perhaps, yearly, if we regularly vacation at some golfing area. Perhaps, "one more time" if we remember a golf hole/experience-with-a-golf-hole that we would like to repeat.
Any comments? Thank you, in advance!
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What are the Top Five-or-So Factors (Matters) that Make Golf Enjoyable at your Golf Club?
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This question may apply to your own (home) club if you belong to a private or semi-private golf club, or it may be that you are a golfer who plays a number of courses. I am curious, though, what are a few factors that make your golfing experience enjoyable.
Thank you, in advance, for any comebacks.
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To comment on anything about the above just:
send mail to: Webmaster@NRCCSeniorMensGolf.org
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