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I read an article in golf digest 5-6 months ago and connected teebox selection to handicap and slope rating. (for example: 0-5 hc should play the tee box with a 135-145 slope; a 6-10 hc should play a 130-135 etc. Has anyone else read this article and can you either provide the actual numbers or let me know which issue of golf digest I can find it. Thanks

My rule of thumb is that if one drives it 200-250, he should hit from middle tee. It's to do with the course design, that approach shot should be played sometimes with short iron, sometimes with mid iron and sometimes with long irons. If one finds that he always hit long irons or woods to greens, or on the other extreme a bomb and a wedge that means they're playing from the wrong tees.

It's to do with the challenge that one should get from playing the course, the butterfly you get when hitting middle irons to greens with water on three sides. It's about giving yourself reasonable goals to shoot, instead of getting frustrated having to lay up all the times, or losing balls in water all the time.

I hit 260-270, with occassional bombs and occasinal duffs, and I play from middle tee. I like making pars and occassional birdies, and at most bogeys. But two of my friends however, hit slightly shorter, but they feel they needed the challenge from back tees, and shoot in the 90s, and sometimes 100s. So I tell them, dude, we (and by we, I meant you two) have no business hitting from back tees. And I creamed them everytime they "forced" me to hit from back tees.

It's also out of considerations for people behind you, if you play out of your supposed tees, you hold up people behind you.

Of course, one may hit short, but hit it like laser to the green, and make pars from all over the place, in that case, they should probably play from back tees. Jim Furyk is a short hitter, but obviously he plays from championship tees.

In my opinion, if you think you played a pretty good round of golf, hit it at least 250, and shot about 10-15 over, you are playing tees.

Huh?

Shade

There can be no set formula. I've seen courses where the "middle" tees were over 6700 yards, and ones where they were under 6200. You have to take length and general difficulty into consideration.

Often a course that you don't know will be more difficult than one you are familiar with, even if the slope and rating make it sound fairly easy. I usually approach a new course fairly conservatively. I think I get more fun out of a golf trip that way, and then if I play it a second time and feel that I want more of a challenge, I may move back one tee.

I don't play golf to torture myself, especially on an all too rare golf vacation. I'd rather have fun, and sometimes that means playing either the middle or senior tees and ignoring my ego.