Every good golfer knows there are more important things in the game than length off the tee.
But when you’re playing golf at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, with many a tee shot requiring a mighty strike just to reach the apex of the rolling fairways, shortage off the tee can be a serious handicap.
Granted, Lake Karrinyup has long offered a dedicated short-course option, with its North Course made up exclusively of par threes and fours. But for those shorter hitters wanting to tackle the challenging main layout, it’s historically been a case of grin and bear it.
That was certainly the case for long-time member Alex Cleave. Now in his mid-80s, and still playing off a very respectable 12 handicap, he found himself increasingly disenchanted when playing off the men’s competition tees.
Faced with ever-longer approach shots and constant scrambling to save par, golf was becoming a drag.
Rather than continue with his diminishing returns, Cleave petitioned the club to establish a new set of tees to trim the overall layout by more than 600 metres and reduce its scratch rating from 72 to 69.
His bid was successful and Cleave says the new ‘short course’ — as it is now known — has given his golf game a new lease of life.
“A lot of people drop out of golf as they get older because they can’t play how they used to and they just watch their handicaps going out,” Cleave told GolfWA.
“That was happening to me. I wasn’t enjoying my golf because I couldn’t hit the ball far enough.
“My short game’s probably better than it’s ever been, because I rely on it so much now, but I reckon I’m losing 10 metres a year off the ground. At this rate, I’ll soon be hitting them backwards!”
For Cleave (pictured below), one of the key benefits of playing off the men’s yellow tees is how it brings a lot of Lake Karrinyup’s fierce defences back into play.
“Golf is inherently more interesting when hazards are in play,” he continued.
“The bunkers here are very punishing, so a golfer who’s scared of them probably wouldn’t want to bring them back into play, but I got sick of having to hit driver, three-wood, wedge to try to salvage par. That’s a very boring way to play.”
The front and back men’s tees at Lake Karrinyup’s famous par-three 8th clearly show the different challenges on offer
Despite the reinvigorating effect the shorter layout has had on his game, Cleave admits there’s still a stigma attached to it for a proportion of his fellow male members.
“It’s changing, but there’s absolutely a stigma around it with some men concerned that they’re ‘almost playing off the ladies’ tee’,” he said.
“I’ve even had people say to me that playing off the short tees is below their dignity! But why should that be the case any more than using a broomstick putter, or using a golf cart during a round?”
That notwithstanding, more and more players are joining Cleave off the yellow tees during the weekly club comp. And if there are no takers, he’s happy to play off them by himself.
“You can’t force people to do what they don’t want to do, but, personally, the short tees have rejuvenated my interest in the game,” he said.
“Jack Nicklaus has always advocated shorter courses for older golfers to retain their enjoyment. I couldn’t agree more.”
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