Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: Are you making the game too hard?

Published

3 years ago

May 25, 2023

In earlier posts, I’ve put forth the notion that most of us are playing golf courses that are much, much tougher on us than the weekly PGA Tour courses are on those elite players. This game is supposed to be fun and reasonably fair, so please hear me out…it might change the way you think of the “forward tees.”

This topic was stimulated by a conversation our golf committee had this past week regarding the course setup for our fall member-guest tournament, punctuated by the “whining” we heard from the tour players as they challenged a very tough Oak Hill Country Club in the PGA Championship.

The “third nail” was a statistic I saw a day or two ago that in a recent PGA Tour season – for the entire season — Dustin Johnson only hit one approach shot on a par-4 hole with more than a 7-iron! Imagine that — going a whole season (or even nine holes) without hitting more than a 7-iron to a par-4 hole.

Now, back to the conversation in the golf committee meeting about having all players in the member-guest play our regular white tees. These are my tees of choice because at my distance profile, they present a variety of approach shot challenges. For perspective, I’ll share that at 71 years old, I still average about 245-250 off the tee, and a “stock” 7-iron shot is 145-148 (I still play the Hogan blades I designed in 2015, and that is a 33-degree club).

Of our three par-5s, one is an honest three-shot challenge, one is often reachable with a 4-wood or 3-iron if I choose to challenge the water bordering the green on the right, and the other one plays straight into the prevailing wind, so reaching it with a 4-wood is a rare occurrence. The par-3s present me with an 8-iron to wedge, two 6- or 7-iron shots, and a full 3-iron or 4-wood. Of the remaining 11 par four holes, I’ll typically hit four to five wedges, and run through the entire set of irons for the others.

Now, let’s contrast that with many of the guys I play with. From the forward gold tees, some of them are playing what effectively amounts to six to eight par 5s (three shots to get home) and a par 6, and they rarely get an approach shot with less than a 6- or 7-iron. So, respectful to their strength profiles, they are playing a course that is brutally longer than anything the PGA Tour players ever see.

Add to that the fact that most of us do not play courses with fairways anywhere near as consistent and smooth as those on the PGA Tour, so our typical lie is much different from the tour players. Our sand texture varies from hole to hole, as opposed to “PGA Tour sand” that these guys see week in and week out.

So, I’ll give you this thought and challenge about what tees you should play to make the game more interesting and still challenging. Think about the course you play most often and process it hole by hole from the green backward. Which tees should you play to give yourself the following challenges?

At least one reachable par 5, and the others requiring no more than a wedge or 9-iron third shot.
Par-3 approaches with one short iron or wedge, one long iron, hybrid or fairway wood, and two that present you with a 6- to 8-iron approach.
Of the par 4s, an assortment that gives you several wedges and short iron approaches and no more than two that put a longer club than a 5-iron in your hands.

My bet is that almost all of you will find yourselves needing to move up at least one set of tees, if not two, in order to play the course like this. But wouldn’t golf be more fun if you had a reasonable chance to have a birdie putt on most holes if you hit two good shots? And if you weren’t wearing out your fairway woods and hybrids all the way around?

Just food for thought, so share yours…

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Terry Koehler

Terry Koehler is a fourth generation Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. Over his 40-year career in the golf industry, he has created over 100 putter designs and dozens of wedges. In 2014, he put together the team that reintroduced the Ben Hogan brand to the golf equipment industry with his TK 15 wedges and Ft. Worth 15 iron designs. Since receiving a U.S. Patent for his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” in the wedge category. In addition to inspiring multiple companies to emulate this sole technology, the performance of his wedge designs have stimulated all other companies to reposition some mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges. Terry is retired from his role as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf, and remains active in the industry as an independent designer and consultant. But his most compelling work is in the wedge category. Since he first patented his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” reflected in ‘tour design’ wedges. The performance of his wedge designs have stimulated other companies to move slightly more mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges, but none approach the dramatic design of his Edison Forged wedges, which have been robotically proven to significantly raise the bar for wedge performance. Terry serves as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf – check it out at www.EdisonWedges.com.

9 Comments

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André

May 29, 2023 at 9:19 am

Amen! I have been saying this for years. This all comes from old country club conventions and a false conviction from golf courses that longer means premium.

I blame golf courses first, they should set “standard tees” at an easily playable distance. I just came back from a golf trip and the standard tees varied from 5750 to 6300 yards, a 550y difference between courses, that is almost 2 tee boxes of difference. For ego reasons, especially playing with a group, everyone will try to play the same tees.

Make Golf Fun Again.

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Steve D

May 28, 2023 at 8:45 am

I’m torn on this.

On the 1 hand, in my journey from high to single digit handicap, distance has always been a barrier. Big hitters get many more birdie opportunities than I do.

On the other, buying a launch monitor showed I wasn’t maximizing my average male swing speed…which aligns almost perfectly with LPGA averages. LPGA tends to play 6500-6800 yards which is comparable to the middle tees at most courses. So if I’m not playing to LPGA standards thats on me to fix my swing.

I see lots of players blame distance when they hit a spinny, curvy driver that goes 215 yards. That same swing speed would go 250+ if optimized. Ask me how I know…

I honestly think the bigger difference is course familiarity (particularly greens) and conditions.

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iutodd

May 28, 2023 at 8:05 am

I wrote a forum post about this a few years ago!

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1762446-the-“right”-tees-and-what-the-pros-hit/

I looked at 3 guys who finished middle of the pack playing in 3 different events. 78% of the time they had ~160 yards or less into par 4s (27 of 35).

Average PGA TOUR carry distance for an 8 iron is 160 yards.

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Acemandrake

May 26, 2023 at 2:01 pm

Judy Rankin: Play from the set of tees where the majority of your approach shots are 7-iron or less.

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Jon

May 26, 2023 at 9:50 am

This article is meaningless to anyone outside USA who actually play comps with proper handicap rules

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- Dennis
  
  May 28, 2023 at 5:41 am
  
  Please explain this… we have yellow tees for men and red for women, but our course is also rated for men playing from the red tees. The course is 750 meters shorter than, but it changes from a PAR 72 to a PAR 70 and you course HCP drops about 3 strokes.
  
  Reply Report comment
Chuck

May 25, 2023 at 12:31 pm

You have just successfully (and quite persuasively) articulated a case as to why elite golf needs a major ball rollback.

I do understand that it was not your primary intent. And I fully accept your recommendations for recreational and club golfers.

But when you make the comparison to Dustin Johnson almost never needing more than an 8-iron to reach Par 4’s, that is primarily a condemnation of what technology has done for elite golf.

Notwithstanding anything I have written here, this was a very good read.

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Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

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