As golfers age, they start to lose distance on every shot. That's just how aging works. The muscles aren't as strong, and the body just does not work the way it did in the younger years.
The good news is that golfers have an opportunity to play golf courses at a length that best fits their physical capabilities. For many golfers, that means confronting when to move up to what are often called the "senior tees."
When should golfers move to the senior tees?
First, let's dispel a myth. There is no such thing as "senior" tees or "ladies" tees. They're just tees. Anyone can use any set of tees. In fact, I would suggest that until a golfer shoots 54 from any set of tees, they can play every set of tees.
The decision, then, for a golfer isn't to go to the "senior" tees. Rather, the decision is to move up to a more forward tee box.
As for when a golfer should move up to a more forward tee box, that's entirely up to the player. Everyone ages differently, and everyone has different skills that may degrade differently over time. There are some older golfers who still hit the golf ball quite far. There are some older golfers that still score very well from their current tee box. Why would those golfers want to move up?
Really, a golfer's decision to move up is based on a combination of factors, including how far they hit the ball, how well they're scoring and, frankly, their ego.
If a golfer's friends haven't moved up a box, do they want to be the first?
If a golfer likes to play tournament golf from a certain tee box, they may be apprehensive to move up in recreational play as it might mess up how they play in competitions.
If a golfer is still scoring well, they may want to keep trying to score well from that tee box.
What is common, however, is that golfers take too long to decide to move up. Perhaps the best approach for a golfer is sampling moving up a tee box. Trying it for a few rounds and compare it to their standard tee box, a golfer can get a sense of the changes in both score and shot length differences between the boxes. A golfer can see what they like more and go with that.
And remember, a golfer can always go back.
