FWhile not a new concept, the idea of playing golf from forward tees and moving back when hitting certain milestones has recently come up in my golf circles. Mike from Chasing Scratch made his first attempt public on their podcast recently. It was recommended to him by my friend and golf coach Jayson Nickol. I like the idea overall, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered about the utility of such an endeavor. I am not convinced that breaking par from the forward tees builds comfort for rounds from the regular tees, but I do think it can have value.
Golf is a balance of mental and physical. I have recently improved my scoring average while hitting the ball worse than I normally do. I chalk that improvement up directly to my mental approach. That said, I still have some low hanging fruit to clean up in my golf game. Penalties off the tee and putts under 10 feet are the two biggest opportunities on the physical side of the game. In other words, my mental game has improved, and my physical game needs some attention.
In fall of 2021, my course had to shut down the majority of tee boxes for repairs. The course played at 5400 yards vs the normal 6700 yards. With no other option, I played multiple rounds from the forward tees. My first round out, I managed to birdie my last hole and shoot a 71. The differential ended up being a 4.9, so it was not far below my handicap at the time.
I would like to say I learned how to score that day, but in reality, I made 5 birdies that covered up 4 mediocre bogeys. My biggest mistake of the day was an aggressive line on a par 5. I made a bogey on a hole that I average par on from my regular tees. Other than that, the shorter course kept me out of trouble. There was far less pressure on my driver, and any hole with trouble in play, I could club down. I had a lot of wedges into greens, and made a lot of 2 putt pars. (I hit 14 greens and had 32 putts, per my stats). I did not play better, the course was just easier.
The next few rounds from the forward tees were mediocre. One of the interesting results of writing here is I have become more analytical of my rounds. At that time, I mostly was just trying to drive greens (I hit one) and did not use the experience as an opportunity for personal growth. Now, I wish I had been a little more contemplative. Not just of my overall strategy, but of the opportunity I was giving myself by playing an easier golf course.
Fundamentally, golf is easier when the course is shorter. So the question becomes was my scoring in line with how much easier the course was? Other than my first day, I’d say no. My other rounds were in the high 70s with my last round being an 80. My average score from the White tees is around 82, so I clearly was not taking advantage of the shorter course. My lowest differential round of 2021 was a 1.7, so the 4.7 from the front tees wasn’t even competitive on that front.
I did not think much of it at the time, but looking back, clearly there was a flaw in my mental approach. It might be as simple as having gotten overly aggressive trying to hit greens off the tee (which is fun!) instead of focusing on making easy pars, and avoiding big mistakes.
I am planning to revisit the forward tee challenge this year. My goal will not only be to break par and move back a set of tees, it will also be to focus on the opportunities the forward tees give me, and avoiding big mistakes. Par 5s become holes where par or better is a must, as they should all be reachable in 2. Par 4s the focus will be on getting the ball in play, and wedge in hand. Par 3s will continue to be hitting to the middle of the green. Basically, the same goals as from the regular tees, but the challenge level is lower. Lots of easy pars, some bogeys in recovery, and hopefully a few birdies drop along the way.
Instead of trying to get used to breaking par, I want to build the feeling of smart golf. Ideally, playing the forward tees gives me lots of opportunities for easy pars, and less opportunities to compound mistakes. The goal isn’t to get used to being under par, though that might be a side benefit. I want to practice a balanced mental approach. Find the ways to score well when given the opportunity, but also make sure I am removing double bogeys from the equation when I am out of position. I am hopeful playing from the forward tees will be training wheels for smart golf, and hopefully I will find strategies that can carry over to longer courses.i
I'm 75 and my distance is way down. Up until a few years ago I had the goal of breaking 80 and got close occasionally. Now my goal is breaking 90 from the whites. What's consistent is my best chance of reaching my goal is still the short game.