Dick Jones, our Handicap Chairman, is a master at analyzing data. He just completed his annual analysis of money winnings by Forward / Back Tee Position for 2018.
The results again tell us that our handicap system does a great job of keeping the selection of Forward or Back tees fair and consistent as measured by money winnings.
In 2015 we opened tee selection for Forward or Back to all members (A-D flights). Since then the % of players moving to Forward tees has increased (as we get older?). Is more money won by Forward players? NOPE!
The data for 2015 through 2018 shows almost an identical match of % Forward Players with Money Winnings by Forward Players. This covers 8400 to almost 10,000 rounds of golf each year.
| Summary Data from “Move Up Analysis” | |||
| by Dick Jones 11-2018 | |||
| Year | Total Member Rounds Played | Members Playing Forward | Money Won by Forward Players |
| 2015 | 8404 | 36.0% | 39.7% |
| 2016 | 8561 | 53.8% | 49.9% |
| 2017 | 9871 | 56.0% | 53.7% |
| 2018 | 9716 | 64.6% | 62.4% |
The full data includes all flights in all divisions and all courses for all these years. His database goes back to 2013.
The details for division by year show essentially the same range of %Forward, % Money Forward. As the samples get smaller the variation increases. But the trends and relationship is still very strong.
What does this mean???
You can pick Forward or Back without trying to game the system. As long as you follow the rules and report your scores correctly, your Handicap Guide will calculate a fair and virtually equivalent handicap between either of the Forward or Back tees.
Perhaps issues like weather, course conditions, and how you feel may come into play. On a cold or wet day, the ball won’t go as far; Play forward for more fun. If you have a cold, Play Forward. Just remember, your competition will be doing the same, so it is still fair.
In past posts we covered tee selection from other perspectives.
USGA and PGA Tee It Forward program recommends tee selections by course yardage depending on your AVERAGE driving distance. Note this is not the best drive you ever made, but what you typically see on the course.
Here is a link to the PGA / USGA article. CLICK HERE
Here is some information from 2016
FYI – If you want to see ALL the data, we will be happy to share the data spreadsheet. If you like this kind of stuff, perhaps you could volunteer to analyze some of our burning questions. With 10,000 rounds each year we have a huge data base.