Choosing the Right Tee Box

After getting some practice in and taking a few lessons from a professional golfing instructor, you’ll likely want to invite your friends to join you on the golf course to witness your new skills in motion.  Something that may feel very tempting is to tee off from one of the more challenging tees.  The Eagle Point Golf Club features six sets of tees to make the game fun and challenging for all players no matter what their skill level.  Yet, choosing the right tee box is better for you and all the other players on the course.

Why is it important to choose the right tee box?

Playing from the right tee box means selecting the correct starting point for your skill level.  While picking a more challenging one may make you feel like you’re better at the game, doing so will make the game more difficult for you in the long run.  Golfers who do this tend to have less accurate shots.  Overall, they are setting themselves up for a worse score, which can hurt their confidence and long-term enjoyment of the game.

Another aspect of choosing the wrong tee box is that you’ll hold up players behind you.  When there are many players on the course, it’s important to keep the game moving along swiftly.  If you select tees that are more difficult, you’ll end up taking more shots on every hole, which means the game will back up behind you.

How do you pick the right tee box?

There’s a simple rule of thumb for picking the right tee box.  If you hit your driver under 200 yards on average, you should play from the closest tee.  If your swing is 200-225 yards, go for the next farthest tee.  For every 25 yards, you could go one more tee back.

The USGA began a “Tee it Forward” program a few years ago to encourage golfers to choose the right tee box.  The association believes that golfers who choose the right tee box play faster, are likely to play golf more often, and of course, have more fun with the sport.  Their guidelines are as follows:

Average Driver Distance	Recommended Course Yardage Tees
300 Yards	7,150 – 7,400 yards
275 Yards	6,700 – 6,900 yards
250 Yards	6,200 – 6,400 yards
225 Yards	5,800 – 6,000 yards
200 Yards	5,200 – 5,400 yards
175 Yards	4,400 – 4,600 yards
150 Yards	3,500 – 3,700 yards

For more golf driving tips, contact our Eagle Point Golf Club Academy.

We encourage our members and guests at the Eagle Point Golf Club to take advantage of personalized tune-up sessions.  These mini-lessons are designed to help golfers warm up and fine-tune a handful of skills before hitting the greens.  During a session, we’ll start by introducing you to some easy warm-up exercises designed to achieve balance and alignment on the course.  

Next, one of our professional trainers will observe your swing in a few different scenarios.  We’ll pinpoint specific issues getting in the way of your game, such as aligning the perfect swing on the chipping green.  Next, we’ll introduce a few simple exercises for you to practice to perfect your short game.  By targeting just a couple of critical items, you’ll be headed to your game in no time with a manageable number of techniques to put into practice.

If you’re ready to take your game to the next level, call the Eagle Point Golf Club at 541-826-8225 to inquire about golf lessons.  We’re excited to see your game improve!