ARE ‘ENJOYMENT TEES’ THE FUTURE?

Wychwood Park is the latest golf club to scrap gender-specific tees – and your local course might be next

Traditionally, your gender (and ego) would dictate which tees you play from, but an increasing number of golf clubs are now breaking away from tradition in an effort to become more accessible and inclusive.

In Cheshire, players at Hartford GC are being invited to select from five tee boxes based on their ability and personal preference, while Wychwood Park has dispensed with colour tees altogether, replacing them with the slope of the golf course.

Ian Orrell, Golf Operations Manager at Wychwood Park, told us: “When making recommendations to groups to play the red tees and eliminate long carries, we got the same answer: ‘We can’t play from the women’s tees’. The language used had to be altered to remove the stigma that was associated to playing from the forward tees.”

By providing a tee recommendation board, based on a golfer’s handicap index and average driver distance, Orrell claims more and more of their members, particularly men, now choose to play from forward tees to improve their playing experience– and they’re not alone.

England Golf told us that 330 golf clubs have had a red tee rated for men in the last three years, taking the total to more than 500. “We’re seeing an increase in shorter, more playable courses for men, but it also goes the other way with lengthening courses for women,” says Gemma Hunter, Head of Handicapping and Course Rating. “I think over the next few years this will become more prevalent as clubs and golfers realise there’s no such thing as men’s or women’s tees.”