We’ve all seen golfers on a course who were obviously playing from too far back or too far forward. In fact, we might be guilty of it ourselves sometimes. There have been attempts by individuals and several golf associations to address this issue by creating systems designed to help golfers choose a tee that fits their hitting distance. Examples include the “Longleaf Tee System” popularized by the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) and U.S. Kids Golf, “Tee It Forward” popularized by the USGA and PGA of America, and “Setting Up Golf Courses for Success” popularized by the PGA of America. In spite of these efforts, a significant opportunity for improvement still exists in the area of golfer tee selection.

So what are the best tees for a golfer’s ability?

The USGA dug in to explore how to improve golfer decision-making when it comes to tee selection and had to define what constituted a good fit between a golfer’s hitting distance and a teeing option. Working with their golf industry partners, they 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.” Nearly all of the PGAand LPGA professionals that they surveyed agreed with this definition. USGA survey data showed that golfers prefer hole lengths that are proportional to their personal hitting distance. In simple terms, long hitters prefer longer holes and shorter hitters prefer shorter holes. Through the survey, golfers indicated when holes felt “too short”, “too long” and “reasonable” for par-3, par-4 and par-5 holes. The results were translated into the following desired approach club preferences:

Par 3s feel too short when the tee shot is less than a gap wedge, too long when it requires more than a fairway wood, and they are about right at a 6-iron distance.
Par 4s feel too short when they are less than a driver-gap wedge. They are too long when they exceed a driver-fairway wood and they are about right when they are driver-6 iron. Par 5s feel too short when they require a driver-fairway wood-medium pitch shot. They are too long when they exceed driver-fairway wood-6 iron and they are about right when they are driver-fairway wood-9 iron.

These preferences refer to holes in general. Clearly, many golfers enjoy the occasional drivable par-4 or drop-shot par-3. Indeed, some of the most famous holes in the world fall outside these average preferences. What this data shows is that golfers 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!