Is it time you made golf more enjoyable?

As if the game of golf isn’t difficult enough, it can be downright daunting when you go to a new course for the first time and check out the yardage on the scorecard before you tee off.

Depending on the tees you play, the course could stretch to well over 7,000 yards. That’s just fine for a Tour-calibre player, but what fun is it for the person who loves to play, but can’t possibly enjoy hitting nothing but fairway woods all day?

I played a course last year at 7,700 yards and it simply was no fun, but when I play Belmont at well under 6,000 yards, I always have fun.

To help golfers have more fun on the course and enhance their overall experience by playing from a set of tees best suited to their abilities, The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association have partnered to support “Tee it forward,” a new national initiative to be proposed for golf facilities in America from July 5 to 17.

 “Simply put, Tee it forward can make golf much more fun for millions of people,” said PGA of America President Allen Wronowski.

“We believe that by moving up to another set of tees, golfers will experience an exciting, new approach to the game that will produce more enjoyment and elevate their desire to come back and play even more”.

The average Tour player very conservatively hits the ball 90 yards further per hole — 70 yards off the tee and 20 yards with the irons — than the average amateur.

Using that logic, for the average amateur, that’s 6,100-6,200 yards, or, about 1,000 yards shorter than from where most men with the male ego tee it up from. It creates a more level playing field. It’s not an advantage.

When you’re up there, you still have to hit good second shots, but at least you’ll have a shot.

Bigger

In the UK the golf courses are mostly this length golf is mostly walking courses are much easier and the back tees are only for official tournaments, golf is more fun and only takes three hours to play.

The biggest complaint about playing golf is that it takes too much time. Well the saying that everything is bigger in America is probably true but not always better.

Tee it forward is no longer an idea, but the start of a movement. But how do you shake the mindset of so many amateur golfers who believe the only way — what they perceive as the, ‘right,’ way — to play a course is from the way back tees? Or, more appropriately, why is it that so many amateurs think they’re supposed to play those back tees?

It’s not about adding several more sets of tees — it simply involves golf courses setting tees where they should be set. It doesn’t make the game easier, it makes it more enjoyable. And, unlike other suggestions to make the game more fun — a larger cup size, using illegal equipment, wider fairways, shorter rough, etc. — tee it forward doesn’t compromise the integrity or the purity of the game.

Perfect

Tee it forward coincides in July with The PGA of America’s Family Golf Month. During Family Golf Month, golf courses will offer a series of programmes for people to learn and play golf as a family — a perfect complement to tee it forward as far as I am concerned.

From a family standpoint, I don’t think there’s a better place for a family to spend time together. I want them to enjoy themselves. With the Family Centre, the PGA of Bermuda organized a fun evening with instruction for kids and the thinking is next year to make it bigger and better and involve the whole family for golf.

Do you want to create the perfect family golf outing but are nervous about where your family can play that will be fun for everyone’s ability?

I hope we can adopt this programme at our courses in Bermuda. I already run these kind of tournaments at Tucker’s Point and they are hugely popular as they are when the Junior Golf Association have them, maybe we should have the courses set up to enable families to play and at a family friendly cost. Ocean View would be an ideal location for this kind of promotion.