I have to laugh at all the big yardages, 6500-7000, so many say they play. Many must be scratch handicap players!

At the tender age of 80 I still play 4x a week and prefer to play courses around 5500 yards.

Depends on where in North America I am playing. In the fall and winter in Canada with little carry and role 6000 to 6200 yards works well. In Southern states or Cabo can move back to 6400 to 6500.

6,200 yards is my sweet spot. Longer than 6,500 and it's a long day of driver & then hybrid/long iron into the par 4s. tough to score doing that. Play whatever tees you want and let the handicaps work out the money game. Just try to have fun

Dependent upon specificity of course, holes, pace of play, etc.

I'm 75 years old. After I discovered the SENIOR tees my enjoyment of the game increased dramatically. I believe you should play from the tees that let you get to most greens in regulation without having to hit long irons.

I’ll mostly play one down from the backs but sometimes I’ll play it from the tips just for fun it’s amazing how different a course can look from different tees.
But at the end of the day it’s just about what ever makes the game fun for you

In 2011, the PGA of American and the USGA came out with the Tee-It Forward initiative. It provides total 18 hole yardage guideline recommendations for golfers based on their total driver distance. Golfers will improve their scores and enjoy the game more if they followed these guidelines. See pdf.pgalinks.com/.../Tee_It_Forward_Guidelines.pdf

I currently hit my driver about 240 and my 7 iron about 150. I am most comfortable playing at a maximum distance of around 6100 — any longer and I’m overextended.

My average drive used to be 270 and I played it closer to 6700. Back then I played a few courses at 7000 and I had to swing out of my shoes on every shot. Those were strained rounds and on some of those courses the forced carries were staggering, with lots of fairway woods and long irons into the greens.

I have a low handicap and some courses identify tee box based on HCP index, which would push me to the back tees — which in many cases would be a painful round for me. I choose my tee boxes based on longest par 4s (max = 440) and longest par 3s (max = 200) on the card — and about 6100 total distance.

On some days I’ll choose an even shorter distance, and when I play with partners who hit it shorter than I do I’ll play their shorter distance tees, which is not always easier since I have to play a very different game. It’s an excellent test of my short game skills. I’m using mid- and short-irons into the greens instead of fwy woods and long irons which is fun.

I wish more people would be honest about their skill level and distance. It would make for better rounds in both quality and reduced time per round. However, it would be great if courses identified an individuals 5 or 7 iron distance before teeing off and somehow combine that with HCP to identify best tee box. Since longer distance does not necessarily imply that an individual with a high HCP should be playing from the back tees.

At 60, still able to play 6300-6800 yards and still have a 7 iron or less in.

Typically 5700-6200 yards. Depending which group I'm playing with younger guys or the retirees.

I've always heard a good rule of thumb was your 5 iron distance X 36. For me that is 6300 yards.

Generally speaking, at my regular courses, I typically play the tees in the 6300-6550 range. The slope rating at my two main courses is 134 and 138 from those tees (considered the men's tees). Obviously, distance is only half the battle.

Just to add to the equation, I'm 68. My driver swing speed is about 95-96 mph average. My handicap is still probably mid-single digit. But, I was out due to injury most of the year, so few scores were added to change it much.

Based on the 7 iron solution Chuck shared, I typically play from where I should be I guess. Thanks for sharing that, I had not heard that 'rule of thumb' before but it makes sense I suppose.

I seem to fit in with most of the commenters. My course has a combo middle/senior tee at 6215 yds, which is where I have played from for the last two years. At 77 I no longer felt the need to salve my ego any further.

I try to stay in the 5800 to 6000 yr range

Depends on group Im with... Playing up can have difficulties as can playing the tips... I like playing various tee because it takes or put certain clubs in your hands!

Well, judging by the previous responses, there's some pretty good sticks in this group. Well, unfortunately I'm not one of them. I play the forward tees, not more than 5200. I don't hit the ball far and want to get the most enjoyment out of the game that I can. That's one of the reasons that I stopped playing in the organized groups. I didn't want to hear the "How come he gets to play forward tees" BS any more. Now I just sign up for a time and whoever is with me is fine.

The 7 iron chart is pretty accurate for me. 7 Iron goes about 155-160 so 6600 is about my max. Home course is 6300 so I am comfortable in my regular Sunday group.

At the young age of 79, I'm comfortable playing up to 6200 yards. My three main courses are 6168, 6162, and 6069 yards from the tees I play most of the time. When I play in a senior association at two of those, we play 5624 and 5396 yards. I so far have been able to keep from moving up at the third course, which would play at 5355. As a high single digit, moving up to those tees severely reduces my differentials, so I try to limit the roads played from those tees. Maybe next year, I'll finally accept that it's time to move up completely. My yardages are in keeping with both the USGA and the PGA methods mentioned above.

Forward or forward/middle tees for me.