To Tee or Not to Tee?

[paul6057]

If I'm on a tee box, I will put everything on a tee. Some of them might be teed down so low they're basically on the ground, but why give up the advantage of a cleaner connection?

[Hedgehog]

Everything, but no logic to why. I do have a tendency for a big pull with irons off the tee and wonder if it is the tee issue or lack of concentration. When I say big I’m talking 30 yards on 150 holes

[gingerbeast87]

I castle tee for everything, stubby greens for my irons, red/blue for my 3-wood depending on the shot/obstacles, and orange for my driver.  Gives me a consistency that I wouldn't get otherwise.

[4theDogs]

OK, I want to know the 75% of the people surveyed that do not use a tee with a driver.

1. What clubs do you put on a tee?

Driver?   25.14%    44

 

[Golf2Much]

I can't remember ever not using a tee.   I use them for all tee shots and all clubs.  I carry two with me:  3.25 and 1.5 inch tees for my driver and everything else respectively. 

Why?  Most likely because it's become a habit after 50 years.  

[jolter1]

When I first started playing many years ago, I was fortunate enough to be friends with a person who was scratch and participated in many amatuer events. He not only used a tee for every club on the teeing ground but told me why not take advantage of a perfectly placed ball to hit. I have followed his advise all these years and even with a perfectly teed up ball I still can it horrible shots at times haha.

[Mike10487]

I tee up Driver, 3-5 wood and 4 iron. I never practice hitting 5 iron and up off a tee at the range, so I do not tee them. I simply find a high spot of grass on the tee and get the perfect lie. 

[hoppman]

I hit all my clubs off the box on a tee, regular tee for driver, short stubby Martini tee for everything else. I do play courses with short par 3s where I might hit 50-58deg wedge and I find I can spin them really well offa tee. 

The short stubby Martini tee feels like a perfect lie for every club on the tee box. 

[darrellthompson]

Only my Driver and Fairways get teed up. 

 

I get way better results without teeing up my irons/wedges. 

[golffun]

I've always found that putting a ball on a tee, especially for beginners allows them to concentrate on the swing mechanics and not have the frustration of trying to get the ball airborne, then lower the tee until you remove it for at least the irons.   For myself..  on par 3's, I always use a tee regardless of club selection.     thanks  

[BobBC78]

I use a tee for every club, but the heights are quite different. Driver is teed up quite high, fairway woods and hybrids slightly above the ground and irons at ground level (the "perfect lie" idea). 

[Franc38]

I tee everything "up" on the tee box (hey, it's called tee box for a reason, isn't it?)

Now, when I tee the ball for a 58° wedge or even a 7iron, the tee peg is barely emerging from the ground (1 or 2mm, I'd say).

Long irons or woods/hybrids, that'd be 5mm or something like that.

Driver "obviously" I do tee up way more, given that even with high tees I struggle to have an upward impact...

 

The benefits of having a tee are, in my opinion, multiple. First, you guarantee yourself a good lie, not in a dip, with not too much grass behind the ball (no flyers) etc. Second, you have to pick the place you're teeing a bit more carefully. and that's an important one (tee on the side where the trouble is to hit away from it, adjust that on your intended trajectory, etc. ) Third, the tee in the ground is a great reference point for your strike patterns and to judge what you've done. Is the divot clearly starting one inch in front of the tee? Great, is it starting right at the tee... humm, could be better. Is it starting before? yeah, you fatted it, but how much? On top of that you can judge (particularly if your irons are not very "responsive" -think blade) where was it on the toe to heel line where you hit it. You can then proceed to adjust a tad if you see a pattern appearing!

Now, teeing anything but the driver more than 4mm is counterproductive as it will promote an upward blow, which will then transfer to poor contacts on the fairway...

[Q22Golf]

Driver and fairway woods only. I used to tee up irons but I began hitting them too high. Occasionally I will tee up an iron when I need to take off some distance. 

[Kevin W]

Yeah, tee for me always as well. I've simply always done it this way.

[tdc1]

The only time I don't put the ball on a tee is if I want to take a little distance off when using short irons/wedges.  Then I just look for fluffy spot or the edge of an old divot -- just a tiny raised spot.

[Rygolf32]

I only tee up my driver and if it's really windy out, I'll even play that off the deck to keep it lower.

 

It's 100% a mental/visual thing but I just feel like I have more control and feel hitting off the grass with everything.

[Placasse61]

I use a tee for all my clubs on the tee box. Fairway woods 1/2" all others at the turf level.

[rjacobs4]

Every club from the tee box.  My irons and wedges are basically at ground level but if gives me an assured good lie.  Hybrids and fairway woods are about a 1/4 inch up.  Driver I tee so that hat about 1/3 of the ball us above the club face.

[CaptStang]

When I was growing up Arnold Palmer was my golf hero. Mr. Palmer was asked this same question for one of the golf magazines. He replied, "I tee up every shot I can and never even think about it."

 

That was good enough for me and I have always done the same.

[mrmatt2you]

I tee up everything.   For irons and wedges, just enough to give a little gap between the ground.   JUST in case I hit it a little thin.  

[Dal]

ALL!  To paraphrase Sam Snead,  There has not been a golfer yet who is so good that he can give up any possible advantage.

[BMart519]

I've got comments on course about how high I tee the ball up with driver. So take this feedback with a grain of salt... I also found last season if I teed up wedges, I had a greater likelihood of pulling or hooking them and started hitting them off the turf with no tee. But seem to have corrected that swing flaw this year. 

This season I am firmly in the camp of tee up everything (I am a picker and do not aim to take divots at really anytime). Irons and hybrids are about 1/4" above ground which is the lowest I go. The last time I decided to "tee it down a bit" with driving iron, I proceeded to skull it about 70 yards. 

I watched a 4 index tee all irons and wedges up the same way (1/4" above turf), so different strokes for different folks... In my mind it eliminates all possibility of a fat shot, adds a bit of distance vs hitting off ground (lower spin), and as a picker - minimizes thin shots. 

[justsay937]

I tee most clubs up depending on the tee box condition. Some clubs have the tee boxes in great condition allowing hybrid and irons to be played without a tee.

[Beakbryce]

Tee them all. It's all about a consistent lie. We have varying grass height where I play depending on time of year, overseed, etc. I have to put up with it in the fairway, why would I do it on the tee? At this time of year we get flyers out of the tee area! C'mon man.

[Muckinfiddle]

I tee everything up unless I want to take spin off the ball on some par 3's. Teeing up 8 on down gets too spinny sometimes.

[bassman]

Arguably the GOAT, paraphrasing Jack Nicklaus, "You get 18 opportunities per round for a perfect lie, why in the world would you ever put the ball on the turf for a tee shot?"  Contrarily, I remember Ken Venturi's approval of John Cook putting the ball on the turf on par 3's when Cook won the 1996 St. Jude Classic, rationalizing, "You hit every other iron during a round of golf from the turf, why use a tee on the other 4?"  No disrespect for Ken Venturi, but Jack's logic with 18 majors vs Venturi's lone one (US Open), makes more sense to me.  Short answer to the topic.  I'm using a tee on every hole.

[Hook DeLoft]

I tee up everything when the rules allow.  Heights range from barely above the ground with wedges to 3 inches with a driver.  Sam Snead told a 14 year old Davis Love III to always tee the ball up when the rules allow.  Good enough for me.

[chisag]

On 10/28/2023 at 1:59 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

As mentioned I essentially only tee up driver, but I am willing to change or try. 

My thought is I don't get to tee up in the fairway and still hit good to great shots there. I can get that same thing on the tee box by not teeing up. Putting the ball on s tee there while not massively does change that and would be the abnormal lie compared to what I play throughout the round. 

It's an interesting topic and maybe I will trying putting on a tee more often. What's the harm?

 

... It would be interesting for you to tee up every shot in the fairway and see if you hit even better approach shots. I always use a tee and with wedges I the it up so it is just barely above the ground and looks just like it does in the fairway from above. Hitting it just a hair heavy that would normally produce a good shot can be an eye opener if you hit a rock, root or a tee still in the ground from a previous player. Sure that's rare but why take the chance of it happening even once when the rules allow you to use a tee? 

[GolfSpy_APH]

11 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... It would be interesting for you to tee up every shot in the fairway and see if you hit even better approach shots. I always use a tee and with wedges I the it up so it is just barely above the ground and looks just like it does in the fairway from above. Hitting it just a hair heavy that would normally produce a good shot can be an eye opener if you hit a rock, root or a tee still in the ground from a previous player. Sure that's rare but why take the chance of it happening even once when the rules allow you to use a tee? 

It's certainly something I may experiment with a little more. 

I know I may loose a bit of difference, but I hit my 3 wood a lot straighter with no tee. That I would be hard pressed to change.

[chisag]

10 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

It's certainly something I may experiment with a little more. 

I know I may loose a bit of difference, but I hit my 3 wood a lot straighter with no tee. That I would be hard pressed to change.

 

... Not disputing your results but maybe try it with the ball imperceptibly on a tee, so virtually the same as having a perfect lie in the fairway. Even a players  like Sergio/Tiger the take pretty big divots with their fairway woods use a tee, but so low it's hard to tell. Of course there is the mental side of the game and if you are hitting a fairway wood really well without teeing it up, I certainly understand why you wouldn't want to change.