Picture this: it’s a beautiful fall day, one of the last days you can enjoy outside, and you’re golfing with friends on your favorite course. You’re having the best round of your life- you’re shooting well under par, playing an amazing short game and your friends are wildly impressed. Best of all, no one is around and you’re going to make your dinner reservations down the street. Suddenly, the game comes to a screeching halt on the thirteenth hole. There’s a foursome ahead and they’re all searching for their balls in the rough. Now you’re stuck, getting bored and going to miss dinner. What was supposed to be a relaxing day with friends turns into a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam on the greens leaving both parties irritated.
The PGA and USGA have teamed up to provide a solution to the situation above called “Tee it Forward”. While some active adult communities are now taking steps to enable their players to “Tee it Forward,” residents of Tellico Village in Loudon, Tenn. have been at the leading edge of this trend, and today many are playing the best golf of their lives.
“We started pushing Tee it Forward at Tellico Village in 2005 and initially a lot of golfers were reluctant to play shorter yardages, but once players started moving forward on the tees, they began hitting shorter clubs into the greens and shooting lower scores,” said James West, PGA and Tellico Village Golf Professional. “It’s been life changing for players at Tellico Village and has put the fun back into golf.”
Nestled in the gorgeous foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Tellico Village offers three championship 18-hole golf courses and every hole on every course is equipped with up to six sets of tee boxes at various distances giving players the option to play from their desired level of difficulty. The clubhouse has professional staff on hand that can help each golfer determine which set of tees to play from, ultimately giving golfers a more fun and enjoyable experience.
“It is wonderful for women to now have the option to move forward and play a shorter course like men have traditionally been able to do,” said Nancy McDaniel, Tellico Village resident and golfer. “The Tee it Forward initiative at Tellico Village has helped my game and made me much happier to play golf again.”
About Tellico Village
Tellico Village is a planned, active adult community established in 1986 and located in Loudon County and Monroe County, Tennessee. It encompasses nearly 5,000 acres along Tellico Lake with the community continuing to grow because of the variety of recreational amenities available and the friendliness of the 7,000 residents.