Call to Action: A Global Forward Tee Design and Installation Campaign

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What is in a Name?? Everyone has heard of offset tees, but what are they really???Offset is a term associated with a tee that has been moved off to the side of the primary golf hole centerline.??Offset tees are almost always forward tees and are/were often installed in-house by clubs as a post-design afterthought in order to shorten a golf hole for slower swing speed players. In most cases an architect is/was not consulted.??

If an architect were consulted, many of the forward tees that we have today would never have been installed in the locations that they were.??Rarely has a golf hole been architecturally designed with the back tee at the bottom of a valley, or in a position such that the player had no chance to reach a proper landing area because of an improper angle or a distance too far. It is also rare to have back tees with poor turf health, lacking sunlight or irrigation, or where tree branches and understory encroach on the flight path.?So why would forward tees be designed this way? The answer is that they surely were not designed.

Forward tees, rather than being installed with consideration of a better hole strategy for women (and seniors who also have slower swing speeds,) were often installed in an offset position by non-architects at minimal cost to simply shorten the hole, provide better cart path access, maintain aesthetic beauty of a golf hole (not?from the forward tees, but rather as viewed from the back tees), or to provide a safer waiting place for women who have gone ahead to save time to hit from a forward tee.??These offset “adjustments” have often come at the cost of diminished beauty and playability of the golf hole for?women, compromised strategic integrity of the golf hole for?women, and ultimately reduced enjoyment and playability of the game from the forward tees.? In the end, this practice comes with a huge price tag in terms of social capital among women golfers.

To be clear, an offset tee can be a good thing if it is done with professional architectural thought put into playability of the entire golf hole and consideration of the player for whom it is designed.?

But....because forward tees have often been offset by non-architects for reasons other than strategic golf hole design, forward tee offsetting has frequently been a point of discontent for many women golfers.??The reasons for discontent are usually justified and at a minimum involve both real and perceived marginalization of women golfers, maintenance neglect issues, and playability issues.??Even the term “offset” implies a marginalization.??Unfortunately, the wonderful women's tee concept that was intended by Alice Dye to improve playability of the golf course for women has been sullied by how it was implemented by many.???

When installation of forward tees is called for by women or senior members at clubs, a frequent rebuttal is that a club cannot afford to invest in architectural services for these tees, however, this author proposes that the club cannot afford not to invest in architectural services.??

“If a club says they cannot afford to invest in the services of a golf course architect to design forward tees, I would say that they cannot afford?not?to hire an architect."???- Kari Haug

The lack of monetary investment in professional golf course design services to lay out forward tees and centerlines for women golfers and other slower swing speed players has led to damage that may take decades to repair - and it will take some money to repair it.??

Not only have golf courses sustained physical damage to infrastructure, but the golf industry’s cultural relationship with women as golf patrons has also sustained damage. The damage to the relationship with women golfers has surely already cost the industry hundreds of millions in this multi-billion dollar industry, and may cost even greater amounts if the generational pipeline of new golfers is not repaired. Repair of the damaged relationship with women golfers can only begin when the practice of marginalization and devaluation of them as customers stops.??Pushing out investment, delaying projects, discounting playability concerns -- the day of reckoning has come, and the time is now.

The lack of investment in women's golf is not only limited to flawed forward tee installations, but it also is a condition of the equipment and clothing manufacturing industries that push out substandard golf playing equipment, golf shoes, and golfwear.??Nevertheless, we can start with course design.?

The lack of investment in women’s golf products and course design has sent the non-verbal message to women that they are not valued as consumers and fostered a false belief that women are not a target market in which the golf industry is interested.??In reality, women control much of a household’s discretionary spending and direct many of a family’s leisure time activities.??They are a market to be recognized. Furthermore, because women have played ill-fit golf courses for decades, a false perception has been fostered that the sport is very difficult for women.

It’s true.??The game is, in fact, more difficult for women than men because the course and playing equipment has not been designed to fit the woman’s game.??The industry needs to invest in development of products and a golf course that fits the female golfer’s game.

We can start to repair golf courses and re-build social capital with women golfers if we work to specifically improve playability as Alice Dye intended when she first developed the Two-tee System for Women. If women and men who are industry leaders develop an understanding about Dye’s original intention(s) for design of forward tees, they may be able to guide real change when hiring architects.??Further, if the players playing forward tees were educated to understand that a forward tees are designed by architects to provide a better angle or distance to the landing areas, a PlayablePathwayTM, and a more exciting and playable golf hole strategy, then there might be better compliance with using forward tees by?all?golfers who should use them.??

This author believes that one key to reversing and repairing the damage done by thoughtless offsetting of forward tees is to create a massive campaign calling for architecturally designed forward tee installations on existing 18- and 9-hole golf courses - a Global Campaign for the Professional Design and Installation of Forward Tees - led by all governing bodies in the golf industry and the large club management companies, and funded in the name of equal access.??

This would be a very visible move by the golf industry to welcome the patronage of women golfers and other slow swing speed players. Accompanying the installations would be communications related to the strategic intent of an offset tee and a Playable PathwayTM?and efforts to educate slower swing speed players about fitting the course to their game.??The outcome of this might be a more robust movement for all slower swing speed players to play the tees that match their playing abilities.??

One way to communicate the strategic intent of new tees would be the production of yardage books that specifically illustrate the pathway for play and strategy for the slow swing speed player rather than just summarizing the strategy from the back tee.??Also, accurately measured hole monument markers adjacent to the forward tees that correspond with scorecard distances. Accurate distance markers would convey the equal type of distance information to the slow swing speed player as is provided to golfers playing from the back tees.??This is being done more commonly and the best practice would be as follows:

As part of any new design delivered or a renovation design, the architect should produce an inclusive yardage book.??Yardage books often give architect's tips for playing the golf hole, but the tip is almost always formulated as if the golfer were playing the hole from the back tees.??One only has to stand on the back tees to assess hole strategy and then go stand on the front tees to see that the golf hole strategy often is vastly different.??Providing tips in the yardage book for the forward tees is a recommended best practice.

Another critical step in repairing the damage done by the physical layout of non-architect installed forward tee complexes is to budget and invest adequately in professional golf course architecture services and course infrastructure when making changes to the golf course that will affect the playability of the golf course for slower swing speed players.??The practice of contracting professional services will not only ensure a properly designed golf product, but will also send a message to women golfers that their patronage is valued and is worthy of investment.

Contract the services of a golf course architect for forward tee design and design of a golf hole strategy for slower swing speed players.?More specifically, do not delegate the design or location assignment of the forward tees to non-architects whether this be the women’s club, superintendents, pros, or greens committees.

Layout of a teeing complex is the work of a golf course architect. Women should not discount their own value by taking on the job themselves or hosting a bake sale to fund it. In pursuit of equal access, clubs, associations, and the industry at large should be actively pursuing and funding forward tee architectural design and installations, particularly on publicly-owned and publicly-funded municipal golf courses.

In summary and to be clear, an offset tee can be a good thing if it is done with professional architectural thought put into playability of the entire golf hole and consideration of the player for whom it is designed.??Communication, education, and professional architectural consultation and product production are necessary best practices.

About the Author: Kari Haug is a golf course architect and licensed landscape architect in Minnesota. She was educated in Scotland and is a member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (www.EIGCA.org) where she serves on the Council and is the Equality and Inclusion Chairperson. [email protected]