Those who have been around the game for a while will likely remember the nationwide call to “Tee It Forward.” A joint venture between the PGA of America and the USGA, the Tee It Forward initiative was launched in 2011 with the goal to encourage golfers to play from appropriate yardages for better enjoyment and faster pace. The campaign was inspired by Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf and a member of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, who contended many golfers were playing from tees that were too long given how far they hit the ball.
The program’s basic guidelines on selecting which tees to play were based on a golfer’s average driving distance. For those who hit driver around 250 yards, for example, the chart recommended playing an 18-hole course length between 6,200-6,400 yards.
Over the years, there have been other attempts to create systems designed to help golfers choose a tee that fits their hitting distance, most notably the “Longleaf Tee System,” a collaboration between the American Society of Golf Course Architects and U.S. Kids Golf, and the PGA of America’s expanded “Setting Up Golf Courses for Success.”
As part of its ongoing research on the golfer experience, and after analyzing the Course Rating™ database and millions of scores posted through the World Handicap System™, the USGA concluded that despite these admirable efforts, a significant opportunity for improvement still existed in the subject area of golfer tee selection.
Playing from a set of tees that is a good fit for your ability is an essential part of enjoying a round of golf – the difference between “that sure was fun” versus “glad that’s over” – but figuring out the best option is not always easy.
To help simplify the process, the USGA worked with a range of golf organizations and industry partners to develop a new tee recommendation system called “Best Tees” that is based on extensive golfer performance data and golfers’ stated preferences for approach shot distances.
As the USGA studied how to improve golfer decision-making when it comes to tee selection, it needed to define what constituted a good fit between a golfer’s hitting distance and a teeing option. Working with its golf industry partners, the USGA arrived at the following criteria: “A set of tees is a good fit for a golfer’s ability when it allows them to comfortably reach the fairway on par 4s and par 5s, reach the vicinity of most greens in regulation, and allows them to hit a variety of clubs on their approach shots.”
What the USGA survey data also showed is that golfers prefer hole lengths that are proportional to their personal hitting distance and generally want to hit approach shots that are within their capabilities – even if they don’t always play from a tee that helps them achieve that goal.
Developing the “Best Tees” system
The USGA combined its definition of tees that are a good fit for a golfer’s ability with golfers’ stated preferences for approach shot distances to develop a system that can recommend course length based off a single reference club. A 7-iron was chosen because golfers had an accurate estimate of their hitting distance with this club in USGA golfer performance research and golf professionals often use this club as a point of reference during lessons.
Going with a 7-iron might seem an odd choice at first, but it actually makes a great deal of sense. If you ask a player how far they hit a driver, they might exaggerate or they might give a wide range of distances (230 to 260 yards, for instance). But almost every player – from elite amateurs to recreational golfers – knows how far they hit a 7-iron.
The USGA’s “Best Tees” system and the table below shows the recommended par-72 course lengths for the average male and female golfer based on the average 7-iron distance for those players. The model course in this case is made up of four par 3s, ten par 4s and four par 5s. Based on hitting distance data collected from a range of sources, including the USGA’s own field testing, the average 7-iron hitting distance for female golfers is 100 yards and the average 7-iron distance for male golfers is 138 yards. According to the “Best Tees” system, the average female golfer should play a tee about 4,400 yards and the average male golfer should play a set of tees about 6,100 yards.
However, it is understood that there are a wide range of golfers and courses out there, so the average is just a starting point. The USGA wanted to go further in its goal of developing an improved system for tee selection based off hitting distance and golfer preferences that would be fully customizable to any golfer.
The end product is the Best Course Length Calculator, a data-driven tool that makes figuring out the best course length for any golfer a simple process. A golfer only needs to select a gender, enter total 7-iron hitting distance, and then provide a course configuration by entering the number of par 3, par 4 and par 5 holes on the course to be played. The result after submitting the information is a recommended course length that is specific to the data entered. The next time a golfer plays, they should select a tee that most closely matches their ideal playing length.
Give the Best Course Length Calculator a try for yourself and find out what the best fit course length is for you. There’s a good chance you’ll discover like most golfers (over 80%) did in the USGA survey that you’ve been playing too far back. So next time you head out for a round, move up a tee box (or two) and play from your recommended yardage, because it’s a great way to play faster, score better, and have more fun.
Some information and sections used in this article are from “Helping Golfers Choose Their ‘Best Tees’”, by David Pierce, director of research, USGA Green Section
