What tee interval should a golf club use?
The right tee interval is the shortest spacing the course can handle without building up congestion. Many clubs use 8–12 minutes. If the interval is too tight relative to how long the first holes actually take to play, the delay carries backward and slows down every round – often without increasing capacity.
Why tighter is not always better
A course's capacity is set by its slowest hole, not by how often groups are sent off the first tee. If the club sends out more groups than the course can absorb, they pile up at the bottleneck. The result is longer rounds, a worse experience, and rarely more completed rounds.
How a club finds the right interval
- Measure actual time per hole on a normal, busy day.
- Identify the hole that takes the longest – it sets the pace for the whole course.
- Compare the first-tee interval with the time groups actually spend on the opening holes.
- Adjust the interval in small steps, and re-measure before drawing conclusions.
- Look at tee waiting times: a lot of waiting means the interval is too tight for the course's capacity.
Test changes with data
If a club changes its interval without measuring, the result is guesswork. GolfAppen measures time per hole, waiting time on the tee, and total round times – so you can see in black and white whether a change actually improved flow.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a typical tee interval?
- Many clubs use between 8 and 12 minutes. The right interval depends on the course length, the difficulty of the first hole, and how busy it is.
- Do tighter start times mean more rounds played?
- Not necessarily. If tee-off spacing exceeds the course's capacity, congestion builds and every round takes longer – often without more groups getting through.
- Should the interval be the same all day?
- Not necessarily. Some clubs use a slightly longer interval during the busiest hours to prevent congestion from building up.