What tee box should I play from?
Emily Sparks
Published Jan 12, 2026
A general rule of thumb to determine which tee box is right for you is if you hit your driver under 200 yards, play from the closest tee. If you hit from 200-225 the next farthest tee, and so on. When you are hitting 275+ accurately you should be playing the farthest tees back.
What tee box should I play from based on handicap?
Three Tee Boxes = Easy Choice
The middle tees are for middle to high handicap men, low-handicap or long-hitting women, and low-handicap or long-hitting senior men. The forward tees are for middle or high handicap women and seniors, and beginners of all stripes.
What color tee should I play from?
Red Tees: Women's tees, farthest forward with shortest distance to the hole, and least challenging. Gold Tees: Senior's tees, not quite the shortest distance to the hole but second in line, meant to help the elderly who still play have a better chance at shooting their old hay day scores.
What tees do high school golfers play from?
High school golfers typically play from the men's tees on the golf course, the average middle handicapper tees. These tees are considered the “white” tees at many courses. For an 18-hole golf course, the total distance from the first tee to the 18th hole is typically just under 6,000 yards.
What are the gold tees in golf?
Gold tees can have two purposes. If placed near the tee they are meant for senior players. If a gold tee is the farthest tee then it is only used for championship play. Silver tees are for use by senior female players.
27 related questions foundIs a 250 yard drive good?
The average driving distance for a golfer with a 5 handicap or less is 250 yards. You might think that's kind of low for a good golfer but it's pretty realistic for someone who isn't a professional. If you hit the ball the average distance you're really not that far away from the average distance of a scratch golfer.
What tees should a 12 handicap play from?
Member/ Middle tees are for middle to higher handicapped male golfers, low-handicap or long hitting ladies, and low-handicap or long-hitting senior men. Forward tees are for middle or high handicap ladies and seniors, and beginner golfers of all types!
What color tees do seniors play from?
Green tee markers often have shorter yardage than even the red tee markers, and usually indicate where juniors and beginners hit from. Sometimes they are between the white (men's) and red (women's) tee markers and are used as the "senior" tees.
At what age are you considered a senior golfer?
A senior golfer in the world of professional golf is any player over the age of fifty. Once players hit that fifty-year age mark, they are eligible to play golf on the Senior PGA Tour. Some players look at this as an advantage, and others dread the fact that they are now considered a senior.
What age can you play from senior tees?
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.
How far does the average golfer drive the ball?
How far does the average golfer drive the ball? According to the USGA and R&A insights report, the average distance for amateur male golfers was around 216 yards in 2019. Lower handicap players, however, precisely those with 21+ handicaps, showed an average driving distance of 177.
What length tees should I use?
A general tip for picking the right tee size for your driver is making sure the golf balled, when teed up, is at least half of a ball length over the top of the head of your club when it is sitting flush to the ground. The most common tee sizes are 2.75, 3.25, and 4 inches.
What percentage of golfers can drive 300 yards?
Distribution Of Driving Distances
Only 4% of golfers drive the ball over 300 yards. The second highest percentage of golfers drive the ball between 225 and 249 on average.
How far should you hit a 7 iron?
A standard amateur golfer can hit a 7 iron from 128 yards to 158 yards. The lower range will be for women and senior golfers. To hit the ball over 150 yards in total distance with a 7 iron club, an amateur golfer will have to have a good swing and be physically fit.
How fast do you have to swing to hit a golf ball 250 yards?
Here are the basic factors that hold most golfers back from driving a ball this far: You'll need a minimum clubhead speed of around 89 mph just to hit a perfect ball 250. It's more like that you will need 92-94 if you are to live consistently around the 250 mark.
What percentage of golfers can break 80?
Only about 2 percent of all golfers ever break 80, which generally is considered the Holy Grail of scoring. To legitimately break 80 — no improved lies; no 3-foot gimmes; no free drop from out of bounds — is to breathe the rarefied air of good, if not great golf.
How far do average golfers actually hit it?
Driving distance figures from the R&A and USGA's most recent Distance Report show that the average hit by an amateur male club golfer is 215 yards. Five handicaps and below average 240 yards, 6-12 handicaps average 220 yards, 13-20 handicaps average 204 yards and 21 and overs average 187 yards.
How fast do you have to swing to hit a golf ball 350 yards?
Rice conducts lots of studies using launch data, which you can read on his website, and tells golfers that if they want to hit the ball over 300 yards, they need to swing their driver about 108 mph. But simply swinging the club 108 mph isn't enough in itself, Rice is quick to note.
Does tee height matter?
Yes, tee height matters especially the consistency of the height you tee each club at. Tee height can have a profound effect on the spin rate of the ball during the shot. You can even gain significant yardage by getting the tee height correct with the driver.
Does tee height affect driving distance?
Getting the right driver tee height can potentially add serious distance to your drives. It sounds like a gimmick, but it's not. Many golfers go to extremes with their tee height, and either go too low or too high.
What is the best tee height?
So what's the right height? From a poll of GOLF's Top 100 Teachers, the ideal tee height is about 1.5 inches for driver. A good checkpoint is that half the ball “peeks” above the crown after you sole the club at address. For a 3-wood, peg it about half an inch and just a quarter inch with an iron.
How far should a 60 year old man hit a golf ball?
50-59: 215.4 yards. 60-69: 204.5 yards.
How far does the average 70 year old hit a golf ball?
A 70-year-old man should be hitting a driver anywhere from 180 to 190 yards. This number has grown a bit in the last few years with the introduction of improved driver and shaft technology. At 70 years old, some golfers are having no trouble getting the ball to fly 200 yards or more.
How far should a 65 year old man hit a golf ball?
The ranges are very wide, as you'd expect, with 25-year-old scratch players averaging 271 yards and 65-year-old 30 handicappers averaging 180. Check out the fascinating data in this video and below...
How Old Is Tiger Woods now?
Tiger Woods is 46 years old. His birthday is on Dec. 30, 1975, so that means he will be 46 years, three months and 11 days old when the Masters wraps up on April 10, 2022.