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tee. They must also plan where to land
their tee shots so as to give themselves
the best approach into the green.
Is the name ‘scoring tees’ important?
Yes, because the label ‘scoring tees’
is all-inclusive. There are many golf
courses that already have a set of
formal tees between 4,000 and 4,400
yards, but they’re titled ‘speed tees,’
‘fast tees,’ ‘forward tees,’ ‘short tees,’
‘ladies’ tees,’ ‘fun tees,’ etc. All those
labels tend to exclude certain golfers. If
somebody says ‘let’s play the fast tees,’
you might feel that you must play fast.
That puts a lot of pressure on a short
hitter or less skilled player.
Colored tee markers are a traditional
feature of most golf courses, but this can
present difficulties, too. Twenty years
ago I did a presentation for the USGA
about the stigma of the red tees or short
tees for women, and the stigma still
exists. Some clubs have moved away
from using colored tee markers and use
unique names for their teeing grounds
based on topographic features or
different
kinds of trees
or historical names
associated with the golf course.
At Pelican’s Nest there are seven
different sets of tee markers. Roman
numerals are used. The Scoring Tees
have their own designation, the ‘S’ tee,
with their own scorecard and ratings
for men and women. The fact that the
club honors the Scoring Course with its
own name and scorecard emphasizes
that this is an official ‘course within a
course,’ that it provides an alternative
challenge, and that it is age-, gender- and
skill-neutral. By creating these formal
teeing grounds, the club proclaims ‘we
want you here’ whether you are a junior,
super-senior or scratch player.
How would clubs go about
introducing scoring tees on
their course?
Every golf course is different—in the
past year, I’ve played eight courses in
Ireland, four in England and a variety of
courses in the U.S. All but one course
had forward tees of 5,100 to 5,800
yards—those long courses are not fun
for players who have slow clubhead
speeds, whether juniors, novice adults
or distance-challenged experienced
golfers. So the first thing I would do is
to look at the scorecard and see if the
total yardage from the forward tees
is more than 5,000 yards. If it is, it is
too long for ‘scoring tees.’ The ideal
scorecard for the shorter hitter will
be somewhere between 4,000 and
4,400 yards. If more than 50 percent
of the female golfers at your club have
handicaps over 25, the length of the
course they commonly play is too long.
It’s also important to put yourself in the
shoes of shorter hitters and observe how
The scoring tee on the ninth hole of the Hurricane
course at Pelican’s Nest sits behind a fairway
bunker, 230 yards from the center of the green.
The hole plays 443 yards from the tips