A Sense of Huber: Fit to a tee?

At the club where I play my golf, there are five sets of tee markers-and a sixth where no one, no sane man or woman, ever begins, back in the woods a firm 8-iron from the next nearest set.

The Tips, they're called, a hallowed collection of near-impossible areas that stretch the course to 7,600 yards and change. Ornamental, for the most part, used only by the occasional visiting professionals and in the odd major championship every decade or so.

We ignore them, shuddering at the very thought of such a ridiculous challenge.

We instead choose between the blues and whites, playing somewhere between 6,500 and 6,250 or so, the choice depending on mood, weather, level of courage and how many of us have early dinner plans.

In front of those lie the green tees, or as most of us gingerly describe them "the senior tees", just shy of the women's reds.

I bring this all up today because I am at the U.S.Open, run by the United States Golf Association, and the rumble and screech we hear this week involves change and a heavy foot on the brake. There is a hue and cry here to invite more golfers to move on up, play a set of tees that makes the game quicker and more enjoyable. In other words, if you would rather play the greens because you're having trouble reaching the fairway or want to avoid the heavy bunkering or would like to finish in 3 hours or so, do it.

It is the PGA of America's program entitled "Tee it Forward" and it makes the best of sense.

There is a whole series of problems with this, however, all of which are being addressed by the powers-that-be here and by those of us who only have the power of the pen.

The most important is the handicap system. To move up to the greens, at least at my club, you have to give up three strokes off your handicap. If you are a 14, in other words, you play off 11. There are many golfers in my club who would dearly love to move up but refuse to leave their comfort zone, will not give up that many strokes before they ever begin.

The second is simply the stigma attached. Right now, if you make the decision to move up to the greens, you are telling the rest of us that you are old and feeble and playing on your last golfing legs. Face it, that's the way we all look at those who make that decision.

We look at those who venture back into the woods to play from the tips as a different animal, too, waiting to see their first swing. If they don't reach the short stuff, our attitude toward them is no different than to those playing the green. Why in the world….?

If we are going to truly grow this game, change must come in attitude as well as practice. The handicap system must be the first step; the stigma will take some time. But we have reached a point, long past due in fact.

I'm not suggesting we adopt the idea used at many clubs both in America and overseas of giving the power to the starter. You're a 14, you play from the white tees, sir. You're scratch, you will enjoy playing from the blues. That's nice but I firmly believe the choice should be ours.

Let me know what you think. You can reach me at our Facebook page, e-mail (askjimhuber@turner.com) or on my Twitter page (@jamesrhuber) or simply leave a comment below. We'll hash this out and maybe help push the game ahead a yard or two.