Getting the best set of golf equipment is not always very easy, especially for new golfers. One of such equipment is the golf tees and starting with a wrong tee could not only affect your swing but dampen your morale to win.
Golf Tees are one of the most overlooked accessories but smart golfers know the importance of those little pegs and how choosing the best can improve their performance from the start.
While you will want to consider the material – wood or plastic – to get the best from your tee, you also want to consider the designs, the colors, and the extra features to boost your game.
What Are Golf Tees?
Golf Tees are objects pushed into or placed on the ground to rest a ball on top of for an easier shot. They include a variety of plastic, wooden, and specialty tees, fit for the needs of every golfer.
A tee is only used for the first stroke of each hole and when you tee up a ball for a shot, you’re keeping grass from getting between the clubface and the ball, which gives you more control over distance and direction.
Whenever anything gets between the club and the ball at impact, such as blades of grass or even early morning dew, the ball comes off with less backspin, so it doesn’t behave as predictably. This is why a golf tee is as important to your game as any other accessory.
Which Should You Go For – Wooden Tees Or Plastic Tees?
When it comes to selecting the best golf tee to use on the course, it’s a matter of personal preference. You’ll want to go for whichever tee you’re comfortable with and suits your budget.
Whether it’s wooden or plastic you get to choose, let’s highlight some of their features to guide your selection.
Wooden Golf Tees
Most conservative golfers will stick with the wooden golf tees based on their love for them and for some other reasons. Wooden tees come in various colors that include natural to bright fluorescent to make them easier to locate on the grass.
These golf tees are very strong and can be pushed into hard ground without bending. The tees are also relatively inexpensive and disposable when compared to other varieties. So you could stock up on many of them for the entire year.
However, one failing of wooden tees is they can easily break, especially in drier weather.
Plastic Golf Tees
Plastic tees are more durable and reusable, and these are some of the reasons modern golfers prefer them to wooden tees. They last longer during an average day on the golf course and come in the same variety of colors as wooden tees, so they can also be easily spotted on the grass.
Plastic golf tees are also eco-friendly and come with zero frictions. Most of them have prongs at the top to support the golf ball.
Moreover, these golf tees have some drawbacks just like the wooden type. While they are created with durable plastic, these tees can easily bend and lose their strength from wear and tear. They can sometimes be difficult to push into hard grounds, where wooden tees would fare well.
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What Height Should You Tee – Up or Low?
You can either tee up or low or both at intervals depending on what you want to achieve with your swing. The height can have a profound effect on the spin rate of the ball during the shot.
Getting the tee height correct with your driver can give you significant yardage. While some golfers like to tee their ball very low, others prefer it higher. It’s a matter of preference.
Teeing the ball lower can help produce a more “sweeping” swing path which produces low launch and low spin, a perfect wind-beater. Teeing the ball up can help vastly reduce the spin on your drives and so increase distance and improve your accuracy.
As a beginner, you will want to find the tee height that works for you with each club and make sure you are using the same tee height consistently to perfect your swing and improve quickly.
What to Consider In Teeing Up
First, you have to know the basics and it’s about understanding that golf courses tend to have 3 to 5 sets of tee options to choose.
These golf tee options follow a color pattern, gender specification, or some words that relate to the theme of the golf course. The table below better explains this:
| Color | Title | Gender | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | Champion | Mens | Opal |
| Black | Member | Ladies | Diamond |
| White | Senior | Ruby | |
| Red | Forward |
This categorization often determines the golf tee recommended to use on a particular golf course. However, these three factors below are also helpful in choosing the right set of golf tees to use.
Three Tee Boxes
Playing a course with only three tee set options makes this decision much easier. The set could fall within – Black/White/Red; Champion/Member/Forward; etc.
Championship / Back tees are for lower handicapped golfers, which are often men.
Member / Middle tees are for middle to higher handicapped male golfers, low-handicap or long-hitting ladies, and low-handicap or long-hitting senior men.
Forward tees are for middle or high handicap ladies and seniors, and beginner golfers of all types.
Driving Distance x 28
A great method is to take your average driver distance, multiply by 28, to determine a potential tee distance range that could work with your playing style.
This method developed by Chris Mile at Miles of Golf can get a little misleading, as driving distance does not necessarily equate to playing ability but this may be something else for you to consider for your next round.
For example, your average drive is 250 yards.
250 yards x 28 = 7,000 yards potential tee playing range
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5-Iron Distance
An interesting method of determining what set of tees you should play is by factoring the average distance you hit your 5-iron as a metric to gauge where you should play from.
Take your average 5-iron distance, multiply by 36, and choose the tees that most closely match that yardage.
Conclusion
While some golfers would say nothing beats the classic wooden tee for them, others would take delight in the plastic tee. Whether you prefer one to the other, what’s important is to be comfortable with your choice and choose whichever matches the playing style you adopt.
There is something about placing the golf ball on the tee and getting ready to launch the ball, and if the tee makes you feel better, then it is worth it.
