IS AGE IS JUST A NUMBER?

Part One:

Age is just a number, right? Well, the fact is, it depends on who you ask.

Did you know that "The Champions Tour," known as the "Senior PGA Tour" until 2002, is open to golfers age 50 and over?

Did you know that The "United States Senior Men's Amateur Golf Championship" is a national tournament for amateur golf competitors at least 55 years of age?

Did you know that turning 55 is when many people and businesses consider you a senior citizen?

Did you know that all people age 50 and older are eligible for full membership with AARP?

Did you know that an assault on an elderly person in the third degree happens when one of the above issues occurs, and the victim is a person over the age of 60?

Did you know that you can even start your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62,

With all of that said, did you know that most, if not all golf tournaments, you have to wait until you are 70 years old to move to the “senior tees” or “forward tees”? Hell, the average life expectance for a US male is 78.5.

Do we really believe that your golf game doesn’t fall off until you reach the ripe old age of 70?

From Golfspan.com “In the old days, before the index system (2019), age was the main contributing factor determining the use of the forward tee. What this achieved was to keep aging members from leaving the game completely, mainly out of frustration.

Many golf clubs today still apply an age rule for the use of the forward tees, especially on competition days. 70 years of age was the benchmark for most.

Some senior golf societies have an age entry level of 55 years, and most members play from the forward tee box.”

While it is true that I will be 60 years of age for the 2021 BJG season, I still believe that we need to make better use of the “forward” tee. I don’t think we should wait until you only have an average of 8 years left to live before you can move to the “forward tees”.

In March of 2016, the PGA came out with “Forward Tees, Please (https://www.usga.org/course-care/forethegolfer/forward-tees--please.html)

“Forward tees can provide a challenge commensurate to your abilities.

Forward tees are not intended to make a golf course easy; rather, they are intended to enhance the golf experience by allowing golfers to adjust the length and difficulty of a golf course so that it is compatible with their abilities. Although a few golfers can hit a golf ball extraordinarily far, most golfers hit the ball much shorter distances than the professionals on TV. Often, golfers with slower swing speeds are unable to reach putting greens in regulation not because they lack skill, but simply because they do not hit the ball very far. Properly positioned forward tees can solve this problem by appropriately matching course length with golfer ability.”

Part Two:

As I started to research the subject of forward tees, I came across an article from the Golfers Report that talked about which tees you should play from. https://www.golfersreport.com/tee-it-forward/

The article came up with three “rules” to help you figure out which tees you should be playing from to enhance the enjoyment of the game but to also speed up play and reduce the number of lost balls. These three “rules” are:

1. Rule of 28: The distance you should play is based on how far you hit your drive x 28. So if your drive is 200 yards, then you should play from a tee that is close to 5,600 yards.

2. Rule of 36: The distance you should play is based on how far you hit your 5 iron x 36. So if you hit your 5 iron 160 yards, then you should play from a tee that is close to 5,760 yards.

3. Rule of The PGA: The PGA put together a chart based on driving distance. For example, if you drive the ball 200 yards you should play from a tee that is 5200 – 5400 yards long, and if your drive 175 yards then the course yardage should be 4400 – 4600 yards.

I think that the “Rule of 36” could be the best and easiest to figure out and implement.

So, while I was looking to add a rule concerning “age and tee boxes”, I think I actually found a way to help all of our BJG members find the tee boxes that they should be playing from which will make the game more fun for them and more competitive for us as a group. Here is an example:

So, how far do you hit your 5 iron?

Of course, the BJG Handicap Committee would need to take into consideration which tees you are playing from and make that adjustment. During my research, I found that on average, of the golf course we play, there is only a 2 stroke difference between each set of tees boxes.

With all of this said, I suggest that we:

1. Enact an age of between 50 and 60 years of age to move to the “forward tee boxes”.

2. Enact a “Rule of 36” as the standard to determine which tee boxes each member should play.

Happy birthday to me, hopefully I am heading to the forward tee boxes in 2021.

I know of at least one person that wished I had written this blog 2 years ago.

Respectfully,

Broken Joe

Commissioner