Competition is supposed to be fair. I think we can all agree on that. So why are so many golfers still being asked to play club comps from tees that are clearly too long or not appropriate for them?
The new World Handicap System (WHS) has copped its fair share of criticism. But, one of the biggest changes it has made is the ability for golfers to play from different tee sets in the same competition while still being handicapped correctly.
Yet many golf clubs are still running competitions exactly as they always have.
Take the men’s events for example. They are still being played, almost exclusively, from the whites regardless of the conditions or the ability of golfers who are actually teeing it up. In some cases, that remains true even through the winter months.
Speaking on The NCG Golf Podcast Steve Carroll pointed out that this a ‘nonsense’ and that golf’s culture within these types of competitions is to blame.
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He questioned why clubs are ignoring such an advantage.
“There’s this idea, I think, in club committees that a golf course is only a proper test if you’re as far back as you can possibly be, which is a nonsense,” he said.
“I am of the opinion that you should play, and in competitions, you should play off whatever tees suit you on that day, according to your ability. And the handicap system, if you trust it, which I know a lot of people don’t, I know a lot of critics don’t, the handicap system will look after itself.”
That flexibility is already built into WHS through Course Rating and Slope Ratings, which adjust handicaps depending on the tees being played.
In theory, it means golfers can choose a tee set that matches their distance or ability while still competing on a level playing field.
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“So, when we did a multi-tier competition at York that I played, I used to go off reds (tees) deliberately,” he noted.
“Now I would lose, in inverted commas, three shots compared to if I played off the whites. But I just felt a much better chance playing off a course that was much more within my remit, in terms of short irons in and that sort of thing.
“The handicap system does provide that. It provides the opportunity for that to happen, but I think golf culture in competitions doesn’t allow for that, because it says ‘we must make this the hardest it possibly is’, else we can’t.”
Do we really play golf for it to challenge us to the point that it becomes more of a slog than an enjoyable round? Surely playing from the back tees isn’t the only way to provide legitimacy to a competition?
Carroll pointed out that: “They’re always going to be imbalances of form and how people play, and so on.
“But I think the problem, to cut a long chat short, is we need to recognise the ability of WHS to allow us to play off different tee sets and still compete in the same competition.”
NOW HAVE YOUR SAY
Do you think it is silly that the World Handicap System allows us to play off multiple tees in competitions, yet golf clubs don’t utilise it? Should golfers play of differing sets of tees based on ability? If you could play off any, which tees would you play off in your next club competition? Let us know in the comments below, or drop us a line on X.
