Which Tees Should I Play?
Play the tees that fit your game. Enter how far you carry your driver and the tee options on the card, and we’ll point you to the set that matches your distance — the Tee It Forward way.
The right tees make a better round
The single easiest way to enjoy an unfamiliar course more is to play the correct tees. From the right box you hit the clubs the architect intended into each green, you have a real chance at the par-5s, and you keep pace with the groups around you. From too far back, even a great course becomes a long afternoon of layups.
Once the tees fit, check how hard they’ll play with the Course Difficulty tool and time your round with the Round Time & Pace Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 'rule of 28' this uses?
It's the USGA's Tee It Forward rule of thumb: multiply the distance you carry your driver by 28 to get the course length that best fits your game. A 250-yard driver points to about 7,000 yards; a 200-yard driver to about 5,600; a 150-yard driver to about 4,200. It lines up your longest club with the total yardage so the course asks the same questions of you that a tour course asks of a tour player.
Should I enter my carry distance or my total distance?
Use your realistic carry — how far the ball actually flies in the air on a normal swing, not your once-a-year career best and not the roll-out on a firm fairway. Carry is what determines whether you can reach fairways and clear hazards, so it's the honest input. If you only know total distance, knock a bit off to approximate carry.
Why move up a tee — isn't that giving up?
Playing tees that fit your distance is how the course was meant to be experienced: you hit mid and short irons into greens instead of hybrids and woods, you reach par-4s in regulation, and the round is more fun and quicker for everyone. Most amateurs play a tee or two too far back and turn a good course into a grind. Fitting the tees to your game isn't giving up — it's playing the course as designed.
Does my handicap change the recommendation?
Driver distance is the primary input because it maps directly to yardage, but handicap is a useful tie-breaker: if you're between two tees, the higher-handicap player benefits from moving forward, since a steeper course punishes the shorter, less consistent game more. When the tool lands between options it favours the shorter tee for exactly that reason.
An educational guide based on the USGA Tee It Forward rule of thumb, not an official rating or a rule of golf.