Some golfers look at playing from the senior tees as a benefit, and others are sad to have come to this point in their golf career.
Playing from the senior tees is not a bad thing.
This is a time in your life when you have earned this move forward, and you should take advantage of it.
Some golfers have one set of senior tees, and others will have several different tee options.
We have put together a guide to help golfers know what age they should play from the senior tees.
At What Age Do Golfers Play from the Senior Tees?
A senior can be defined in a lot of different ways.
For the PGA Tour, a Senior is over fifty years old.
In golf, there is no set age for when a person must move up to the senior tees.
Most of the time, this switch happens around the age of seventy.
In years past, golfers would try and delay this move to the senior tees for as long as possible.
At this point in the game, people have realized that playing up a few yards is what makes the game fair.
Most golfers start to notice a decrease in their distance around that 55–60-year mark.
The difference may only be a few yards, so it is not quite as noticeable.
By the time players get to seventy, the distance is quite extensive.
When you are now hitting the driver 20–30 yards less, it is only fair to move up to the senior golf tees.
Do All Golf Courses Have Senior Tees?
Most golf courses will have senior tees, but they won’t always call them senior tees.
Sometimes tee boxes will have colors, and other times, they will be referred to as front, middle, and back tees.
The senior golf tees are usually one back from the front tees, which are designed for the lady golfers.
One interesting thing we have seen done is the combination of tees.
With combination tees, you may see some of the golf holes being played from the middle tees, and some will be played from the front.
These combination tees are great for accommodating the golfer who is not entirely ready to move to the front tees but struggles from the middle.
Many private country clubs will have five or six sets of tee boxes.
This is an excellent feature because, as people age, they can continue to move up and play from an appropriate spot.
It is also nice for a golfer to be able to say they play from the white or black tees as opposed to calling them the senior tees.
Why Is Tee it Forward Encouraged In Golf?
Tee it Forward is a program that was created by the USGA and the PGA of America.
The program is designed to help players hit from a set of tees that matches their driving distance.
Professionals were seeing that golfers were continuing to struggle with the golf course they were playing because the tees were so far back.
Some golf courses have added more tee boxes that are closer to the hole.
Adding these extra tee boxes has made the game of golf more fun for some players.
It has also brought knowledge and awareness to this issue and made golfers feel more confident about moving up a tee box.
If you can’t hit the ball 250 yards, you should not have to play from a 500-yard set of tees.
This is too long, and you will not be able to compete or lower your handicap.
Another huge reason this program was developed was to help with the pace of play.
When golfers play too far back, they are going to take many more shots.
Usually, they will end up with two to three extra fairway shots, and this takes up lots of time.
Golf has got to speed up if it wants to remain a popular sport among young people and continue to grow.
There are some interesting facts the USGA published about the Tee it Forward initiative.
About 56 percent of people played faster when moving up a set of tees, and 85 percent said they had more fun.
Why are golfers torturing themselves about playing from tees that are too far back?
The USGA Handicap system will help take care of the handicapping when playing from alternate locations.
Golfers should play from where they can succeed.
What Can Senior Golfers Do to Hit the Ball Further?
Even though senior golfers can move up a set of tees, they are also going to want to hit the ball further.
Senior golfers should look into senior-shafted golf clubs.
Senior-shafted golf clubs are going to be more lightweight and easier to swing faster.
These clubs will help if players have lost some of their clubhead speed as they’ve aged.
Another thing senior golfers should consider is a low compression golf ball.
Lower compression golf balls are easier to hit far even when your swing speed slows down.
Switching to a lower compression golf ball can give you instant increases in distance and provide much more roll coming off the driver.
Lower compression golf balls don’t always have as much spin around the greens.
Choose something soft so the feel on the greens is not as significantly impacted.
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