There’s nothing stopping you from playing any set of tees.

All you need to know is how to post your scores!

The OGA issues USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating for the most commonly played sets of tees, but often it's the golf courses that decides which tees are rated for each gender.  While its not uncommon to find the most forward tees are only rated for women, and the tees furthest back only rated for Men, there's really no such thing as Women's tees or Men's tees.

So just because the tees you want to play don't have a permanent USGA Course and Slope Rating (for your gender), it should not stop you from playing from that set of tees.  In fact, every golfer should ideally play from the set of tees that best suits their ability.  There should be no reason for a senior or beginning man to be uncomfortable playing from forward tees, just as there is no reason for a long-ball scratch-level female hitter such as Michelle Wie to be restricted from playing from the tips.   It could be a fun, spur-of-the-moment game, too!

The key is that under both scenarious, you are still obligated to post your score for handicapping purposes (Rule 5-2g). Fortunately, the USGA Handicap System contemplates this and provides conversion charts to help you calculate (on a temporary basis) a course and slope rating when the tees you choose to play have not been rated.  If you don't then you are subject to the possible penalty scores or adjustments by your handicap committee (Rule 8-4).

Here's just one example. A senior man plays 9-holes from forward tees which had not been permanently rated for men. The yardage for these tees is 195-yards shorter than the yardage from the middle tees which have a 34.8/117 rating and slope for Men.  In looking at the conversion chart provided by the USGA Handicap System, we are able to determine that he should post his score using a 33.9/113 course/slope rating.

Click Here for the conversion table:  

Here's the process: 

• Locate the nearest set of rated tees for the appropriate gender;

• Determine the yardage difference between the set of tees being played and the rated set of tees.
   
- add if yardage is longer, subtracting if shorter. 
- For a 9-hole adjustment use the actual yardage difference for the Course Rating, and double the yardage to find the appropriate Slope Rating adjustment.
- If the yardage difference is more than 1,250 yards for women or 802 yards for men, use one-half of the yardage difference to find a value on the table and multiple the adjustment by two.

This procedure is not a substitute for a formal USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating.  If this set of tees is ever considered permanent by a club, then the course should request that an official course and slope rating be determined by their governing golf association. 

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