Editor’s Note: Although we focus on the driving range and practice areas here at Golf Range Magazine, transitioning skills from the range to the course is often a difficult task for golfers. PGA of America Golf Professionals like Kim Falcone are aiding in that endeavor, and ideas like the one she highlights here are changing the game for many of her golfers, increasing on-course play, as well as time spent on the range. - VM
Creating a short course within your golf course can be a game changer, especially for your female customers. According to the National Golf Foundation, women and girls have accounted for 60 percent of growth in on-course participation since 2019. Unfortunately, many, if not most, golf courses do not provide a set of tees that will help these players shoot lower scores, improve pace of play and enhance enjoyment.
Although the PGA of America and USGA’s “Tee it Forward” initiative was successful in getting men to play more appropriate tees, the option to move forward simply hasn’t existed for the majority of women. In reality, most courses were designed for men, by men. Now that women make up 28 percent of the golfers, it is time to revolutionize how we view their tees.
In 2024, we realized that our club had not provided the same opportunity to tee it forward to the women as we had for the men. Including combo tees, the men at LJCC have 10 tee options, while the women only have two choices, 5,100 or 5,700 yards.
In creating a shorter course within our course, we used the PGA’s “Setting Up Golf Courses For Success” as a guide in determining the best layout, which ultimately measured 3,869 yards. We wanted to implement this new course immediately without waiting years for a course construction project, so we purchased markers that are flat and flush to the ground. This allows us to have many of the forward tees in the fairways without affecting the aesthetic of our beautiful golf course.
Change is hard, and we anticipated some resistance, but having a female professional introduce the concept was key to its success. As women, we have been conditioned to believe that our tee options were equitable, when in fact, they were not. To demonstrate this, a stroke was added to par for any hole that could not typically be reached in regulation by the average lady golfer. Our former forward tees would have effectively been, at best, a par 83!
The inequity was further outlined by comparing the men’s and women’s course ratings and slopes. Since all of our tees are rated for both genders, this was pretty eye opening.
Finally, we discussed the three reasons that make players hesitant to move to a forward tee — conformity, convenience and ego. Overall, the concept was very well received, and including our ladies in the discussion resulted in strong support by the membership.
The new short course has had a positive impact on both male and female players at LJCC. Although only one percent of the men are playing all the way up, the former forward tee has become the 4th most popular, probably because it is no longer the considered the “ladies’ tee.”
In the past year and a half, women’s play from the old forward tee has gone from 97 percent to 59 percent, while 39 percent of the ladies are now playing the new tees. These golfers are getting better, playing faster and, most importantly, having more fun!
Kimberly Falcone, the 2012 Southern California PGA Section Assistant Golf Professional of the Year, 2020 Section Bill Strausbaugh Award winner and 2025 Section Golf Professional of the Year, is the PGA of America Assistant Head Golf Professional and Golf Operations Manager at La Jolla (CA) Country Club.