even a little reluctant to believe the comparison. As a former junior and college golfer—and still a single-digit handicapper—I simply couldn’t relate to those numbers. But I am not the average woman golfer. As a junior golfer, I practiced and played from the “men’s” tees at my club, which measured around 6,200 yards. In col- lege, we generally played tournaments on courses that averaged 6,000 yards. These days, I’m comfortable playing from tees around 5,800 yards. What I’ve always found frustrating
is the lack of choices at the majority of courses. Oftentimes I am only given one option, whereas men have three or sometimes four. I usually end up creating a composite course from two sets of tees. It works, but it also gets irksome calculating my new course rating/slope for handicap purposes. Other times I’ll fi nd the right tee for me, but it won’t be rated for women. But perhaps a more annoying
problem is playing from tees that appear to be an inconvenient after- thought. As a woman, how many times have you felt like you were play- ing from tees that completely altered
SWING SPEED (mph)
AVERAGE SWING SPEED FEMALE GOLFER
AVERAGE SWING SPEED MALE GOLFER
65 75 85 90 95
105
AVERAGE DRIVE (yards)
140 165 190
202.5 215 240
the integrity and idea behind the hole? Or from tees awkwardly slapped down beside a cart path next to some shrubs? It happens so often that you probably don’t even notice it anymore. “It’s important to have an op-
tion for women to experience the golf course the same way,” said Paige Mackenzie, an LPGA pro and Golf Channel analyst. “I want to play the golf course the way it’s meant to play. I want to enter the green where I’m supposed to hit into. I want to drive it to the areas I’m supposed to—in the wider part of the fairway. That’s where traditional course design has failed the shorter hitters—and by defi nition women.”
YARDAGE RANGE
4,000 – 4,200 4,800 – 5,000 5,600 – 5,800 6,000 – 6,100 6,200 – 6,400 6,800 – 7,000
MID POINT PERCENTAGE
65% 78% 90% 96%
100% base 110%
Little’s philosophy solves these
concerns. He maintains that a key factor in attracting and retaining women is providing a course that is set up to accommodate a wide spectrum of swing speeds—starting at 65 mph, and increasing by 10 mph increments all the way to 105 mph. That range of options gives golfers of all levels the opportunity to score well, and most importantly, have fun. “Basically what you’re doing is
you’re taking mathematical and physics data and applying it to the way tees are set up on the golf course,” said Little. “People who are playing should be able to fi nd a set of tees where they can hit almost all the greens in regulation.” The numbers from Little’s studies
translate to offering up to six sets of tees that avoid gender labels, rang- ing from 4,000 to 7,000 yards. The color-coded tees should all be rated for both men and women. And once women have more
choices, then so do seniors, juniors and beginning golfers. If it were up to Little, he would implement a measuring device on the fi rst tee of every course that easily cal- culated a golfer’s swing speed. Golfers would be encouraged to play from a set of tees that equated and suited their swing speed. Asked if he considered this to be
a realistic possibility, he laughed and said, “Not in my lifetime.” Another adaptation of this idea is
The average woman has a swing speed of 65 mph and hits it 140 yards.
a driving rang at Berkshire Hills in Chesterland, Ohio. Owner Milan Kapel created practice targets that correspond to the tee colors at his course. Whatever fl ag your drive lands closest to while warming up is what
FALL 2015 /
NCGA.ORG / 41
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