Tee Box Inequality: Why Aren't All Tees Rated For Women?

I hit a decent ball off the tee and as a result I often tee off further back than the forward tees. I want to land my ball and see it roll down the fairway. I don’t want to have to opt for a 7-iron off the tee as I often run out of fairway with my driver from forward tees.

In my opinion, many forward tees are simply positioned in the wrong place for a long-hitting woman (and most are in the wrong position for a shorter hitter too, but that’s another story). The long-hitter has little choice but to maintain her handicap on the forward tees, as the back tees just aren’t rated for women at so many courses.

For a long-hitting woman, posting scores on a regular basis from the tee boxes she wants to play from is a challenge. The reason is that many courses are rated for men from all tees including the forward tees, yet for women, only the forward tees are rated. Therefore, longer hitters really have no one to play with unless they play in women’s scratch competitions. Not much of a challenge and maybe even unexciting.

Fair Play

The argument by the club is that it takes a great deal of effort to rate from a set of tees. I agree, this is a lot of expense and effort, but is it fair that clubs often opt to omit the back tees being rated for women? The reason is that there are few that would actually require this rating so it isn’t worth it.

My argument is how does that make a woman feel? Imagine saying to a man in his later years who is still ferociously competitive, “Sorry, you can only play competitive rounds and maintain your handicap from the tees where you can’t reach some of the fairways with your drive.”

How much is that golfer going to enjoy his golf, and how likely is he to continue to play and retain a membership and a handicap?

I’d say that the long-hitting woman actually finds the tee positions from the forward tees extremely uninspiring, and it’s actually easier the further back she goes. She can’t hit her driver off most of the tees as she runs out of fairway or into hazards, so she is punished for brilliant golf shots and she is 100% not enjoying her golf.

The key is playing from the tee that best fits the distance she hits the ball. But the World Handicap System and The R&A have their hands tied if the only data they have is the gender of the player and length of course being played, and not the distance the golfer hits it.

England Golf rates courses for women that are at a maximum of 6,100 yards, unless it’s a special event. Most golf associations are rating tees for women up to 6,000-6,300, but as courses are rated every 5-7 years or so - unless there has been a major renovation - it would take many courses time to rate appropriately.

Understanding Course Ratings

Rating is a complicated science that takes ages, uses volunteers that are difficult to recruit, train and retrain. There is also a long backlog of courses that need rating.

Courses can’t just be 'rated' and the rating used for men and women. The landing areas are totally different for men and women with hazards and carries coming into play for men but not women and vice versa. The same golf course from the back tees plays very differently for men than it does for women. This doesn’t mean women shouldn’t play from the back tees, it just requires the women’s rating to allow for the differences.

The R&A And USGA Advice

Can you simply use the rating from a different set of tees to make your card count? No, but you can adjust. The R&A offers advice similar to the USGA…

Both The R&A and the USGA state: “If the tees you would like to play are between 100 and 300 yards (50-150 yards for 9 holes) longer or shorter than the nearest rated set of tees for your gender, the Handicap Committee at your club must consult with the local Allied Golf Association to utilize the table found in Appendix G of the Rules of Handicapping to provide a temporary Course Rating and Slope Rating..

For differences under 100 yards (50 for 9 holes), no adjustment is necessary and scores can be submitted as usual. If the difference in yardage is greater than 300 (150 for 9 holes), your golf club must contact the Allied Golf Association for assistance. (Appendix G, Rules of Handicapping)

There is also a conversion chart that can be used to convert unrated tees. However, it seems that so much of this information is not easily accessible and there is much confusion surrounding the subject.

Surely it should become standard that all tees are rated for women and men regardless? Some clubs will argue that rating is costly.

Renovate And Rate

In the US a course pays a yearly fee to their state’s USGA association which includes free course measurements. So ultimately it costs nothing to have the course rated. The costs come in as hidden fees such as changes to course signage, scorecard printing and so on.

Any course undergoing changes to the layout, to the logo and therefore signage, this is a golden opportunity to rate every tee for women and attract low handicap female golfers to your club. Suddenly those women wishing to play their competitions from the back tees won’t be few and far between.

A single figure long-hitting friend of mine had a fabulous score around a course in Surrey. When she was told the tee she’d played from wasn’t rated for women she felt somewhat miffed that it wasn’t a box that golf clubs had to have ticked to ensure equality was met. This wasn’t the first time she’d been unable to play from the tees that fit her longer distance and faster swing speed, as she explained.

“Often I am the only woman playing in a group of men who play off the white tees, so I tee it up with them, often hitting the same distance off the tee and scoring a lower gross score than them. Yet I cannot maintain my handicap in the same way that they can as these tees simply aren’t rated,” she explained

England Golf offers guidance and support to all clubs; to assist them in the rating of all tees for both genders and they strongly encourage clubs to do so. This process is reinforced by a network of Club & County Support Officers (CCSO), who are currently supporting clubs to adopt the EDI policy and supporting clubs through an EDI audit tool. BUT the final decision to have tees rated lies with the club.

I’d love to see England Golf make it mandatory (rather than just guidance) that all clubs who wish to gain certain honours within the golfing world, should rate all tees, have gender neutral tees, have forward tees positioned in appropriate places to accommodate shorter hitters, be working hard at grassroots within the community and so on.

Perhaps facilities could begin to be graded on just how inclusive and forward thinking they are. This would showcase the clubs that are striding forward and those will become a destination for golfers seeking a friendly and modern experience. This system would gently leave those clubs unwilling to drag themselves out of the dark ages in the shadows.