tee you are recommended to play. Berkshire Hills has six fl ags, ranging from 135 yards to 260 yards. “People overestimate their drives by
probably 40 yards, so this is a true test to see how far they actually go,” Kapel said. Little and Leeming owned and managed a golf course called Province Lake in Maine from 1996-2005, and they quickly discovered their tees weren’t suitable for their female and senior customers, as well as families. So they reinvented their course’s tee system, which ultimately included six color-coded sets of tees from 6,336 yards to 1,998 yards. As a result, rounds spiked, with
women making up more than one- third of their clientele. Junior and senior play also grew dramatically. The bonus? Pace of play was reduced by 15-30 minutes per round.
“The whole idea is to widen the spec-
trum of people who can play the game comfortably and for fun,” said Little. Once more forward tees were
built, their senior golfers moved up and played from the tees formerly known as the “ladies tees.” Women with slower swing speeds relished playing from tees where they could hit greens in regulation.
But Little also noted that their
women clientele played from a variety of tees. “We had women who played from the 6,300 yard tees, we had women who played from 6,000 yards, from 4,900 or 4,000,” he said. “We had beginner women and younger players play from under 2,000 yards. “We tried to take away all the labels that have been attached to golf courses. We forbade our staff to call
any of our tees by gender. The effect of that was our women’s play increased from 15% to 35%.” And just like there are men of
varying degrees of skill, the same ap- plies for women, too. “I prefer to not call the forward tee
‘the women’s tee’ because it actually discourages competitive and longer- hitting women from teeing further back,” said Mackenzie. “You should have multiple options for women’s tees, and not just the forward-most tee.” You don’t have to go to Maine to
How Long is your Drive? See What Flag Your Drive Lands Closest To
260 ORANGE
175 PURPLE
220 BLUE
150 BROWN
190 GREEN
135 YELLOW
Each Flag Represents a Tee Box. Choose a Tee depending on your Drive distance.
BERKSHIRE HILLS PRACTICE RANGE SIGN The range sign at Berkshire Hills in Chesterland, Ohio
42 /
NCGA.ORG / FALL 2015
see the fi ndings of Little and Leem- ing in play. The couple took their thesis to Bandon Dunes owner Mike Kesier after playing his three courses in 2007, pointing out that the tees were too long.
Their thoughts struck a chord with Keiser, who ultimately asked them to consult with Old Macdonald co-designer Jim Urbina on the fourth course at Bandon Dunes. Urbina designed an additional option—the Royal Blue tees—that measured 4,258 yards. “I never wanted a tee that seemed
like an after-the-fact,” said Urbina. “You’ll see forward tees generally off to the side or next to a cart path (at other courses). I thought that was not the way you want to approach the (Royal Blue) tee.” Urbina also did his best to ensure
Women should have multiple tees to choose from, just like men. Pictured here is U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Hannah O’Sullivan.
PHOTO: USGA
★
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76