On a mentor round of golf, which tee you choose matters more than you think. Short answer: play from the front or second-front tee that your club directs beginners to, usually the red or yellow markers depending on the course. The purpose of the round is not to test how far you can hit, but to learn how to move around the course - and a shorter course means you actually reach the green and get to experience the whole hole.
A mentor is a more experienced player from the club who comes out with you, shows how everything works in practice and helps you interpret rules and etiquette where they actually come up. Choosing the teeing ground is the first practical decision you make together, and it sets the tone for the rest of the round.
Which tee you should play from on a mentor round
The tee markers come in different colours along the teeing ground, and each colour corresponds to its own hole length. The further back you tee up, the longer the course becomes and the greater the demands placed on your distance and accuracy. On a mentor round it is about choosing a length that matches your actual level, not the one you hope to reach in a couple of seasons.
As a beginner you would do well to play from the front tees. On many Swedish courses that means the red tee, which is often the shortest, or the yellow tee if the club recommends it for beginners. The point is that you should be able to keep up. If you tee off from a long back tee and your shots travel 120 metres, you will have an unreasonably long way left to the green on every hole, the round drags on and the joy of playing disappears. Always ask your mentor before you head out - they know the course and know exactly which marker suits a first-time player.
Understanding the spot you hit from also helps. The rules for where you may tee up within the markers, and how you use the tee peg, are simpler than they look, and we go through them in the guide on teeing ground golf. If you want to read more about the tee peg itself and how high you should tee up, the details are in the text on what is a tee in golf.
Why the colour of the marker determines the course length
The tee colours are not arbitrary. Each set of markers is linked to its own course length, its own course rating and its own slope. That means the same hole can be a comfortable par 4 from the red tee and a really taxing par 4 from the back tee that the longest hitters use.
For a beginner the practical difference is enormous. From a shorter tee you get the chance to reach the green region in a reasonable number of shots, which lets you learn putting, the short game and how a green behaves. From a tee that is too long you spend the entire round in the deep rough without ever getting close to the hole. How the colours relate to handicap and course difficulty is explained in our walkthrough of the slope table golf, and the calculation itself is described step by step in the article on how the slope table works.
How you and your mentor choose the right tee together
A mentor round is not a test, but a guided introduction. Your mentor is there so that you feel secure, and the choice of tee is a good first opportunity to draw on their experience. Be honest about how far you usually hit and how many times you have been out on a real course. Based on that, the mentor will suggest a marker.
A simple benchmark is to choose the tee where you have a realistic chance of reaching the green on par 4 holes within the hole's par plus a few shots. If the course still feels too long, it is perfectly fine to ask whether you can start even further forward. There is no honour in struggling from a tee that is too long - the best mentor rounds are the ones where you have time to finish each hole at a calm pace. You will find more about how the round is structured and what you can expect in our guide on mentor round golf.
The rules and etiquette that make the tee choice easier
Once you are standing on the teeing ground, there are a few simple things that make the round run smoothly. You may tee up the ball anywhere between the markers and up to two club lengths back, but never in front of them. Play at your own pace but keep an eye out for the group behind, and pick up the ball and move on if a hole becomes too difficult - on a mentor round that is allowed and often the wisest choice.
The basics of how to behave on the course, from where you stand when someone else hits to how you care for the green, we go through in the article on golf etiquette. The most common rules a beginner needs to know are gathered in our guide to golf rules for beginners. If the mentor round is a step on the way to your green card, you can read more about the whole process in the text on how to get a green card in golf.
Dress right so that the tee choice is the only thing on your mind
A mentor round often takes several hours, and Swedish weather can shift from sun to cold in the same afternoon. Clothes that fit well and breathe let you focus on the game instead of on what you are wearing, and most clubs have a dress code that a simple polo and a pair of golf trousers meet without any problem.
A tech polo - dark navy is made from a technical material that wicks away moisture as the swing warms you up, which keeps you dry throughout the round. A pair of tech pants - navy works well with it, since they have enough freedom of movement at the hip for you to rotate freely in the swing without the fabric pulling tight.
A grip that slips against the hand is one of the most common causes of uncertain shots for beginners, and here a glove makes a difference. The LR Players Glove LH is worn on the left hand by those who are right-handed and gives a steady grip even when your hands get sweaty. A baseball cap - navy also shields against low-standing sun so that you can actually see where the ball goes from the tee.
If you are completely new to the course and want a broader introduction to your first season, our guide on starting to play golf is a good starting point. When you then want to kit yourself out for the mentor round, you can see the entire range at Local Rule, where garments built for the Swedish climate and long days on the course let you devote all your attention to what counts - enjoying your first real round.
