“Tee the ball high. Through the years of experience I have found that air offers less resistance than dirt.” – Jack Nicklaus
By Ian Hardie
When looking at ‘Rule 11 Teeing ground’ in the post ‘Just where exactly is the teeing ground’ a while back
I noted that the rules of golf used the words ‘conforming tee’
Which I’d never really thought about much
Having started playing golf 30 years ago and only ever using wooden golf tees
I had no idea that there even were ‘conforming tees’
So I’ve been doing a bit of digging
And it appears that there is indeed a valid reason for declaring golf tees
Either ‘conforming’ or ‘non-conforming’
It turns out that the simple act of teeing the ball has changed over the years
In the early days of the game
A golfer generally teed his ball from a small mound of sand or an irregularity in the surface of the ground
Because they were the only options available
These days though, there is a vast array of devices available to golfers on which to tee their ball
Due to the inventiveness of golfers around the world
All of whom are looking to find that golfing nirvana - the straight tee shot
In doing so they have created some pretty interesting objects
As a result the rules had to be updated to attempt to keep a reign on things
By developing a definition of what constitutes a ‘conforming’ tee;
A tee is a device designed to raise the ball off the ground
A tee must not:
Be longer than 4 inches (101.6 mm)
Be designed or manufactured in such a way that it could indicate line of play
Unduly influence the movement of the ball or otherwise assist the player in making a stroke or in his play
Use any tee outside of this definition to make a stroke at a ball in a game
And the golfer will be disqualified
So it’s worth having a look at just what ‘conforms’ and more importantly what doesn’t
The traditional ‘conforming’ tee
Normally made from plastic or wood, consisting of a pointed vertical peg which sticks into the ground and a small cup on which to place the ball
The tee can sometimes be shaped to incorporate a ridge to assist the player in obtaining a consistent teeing height
Turns out that you can even stack two of them on top of one another
As long as the total height of the stacked tees does not exceed 4 inches
These are pretty much all you will see at your local golf course and I would expect probably 99% of golfers would use them or some variation of them
But then things in the ‘tee world’ get a bit murky when we start to look at
Tees with Integrated Alignment Aids
These tees are simply ‘non-conforming’ as they are able to indicate the line of play
As a general guide, if there is any part of the tee which can be viewed by the player at address and therefore used as an effective alignment aid
It’s ‘non-conforming’
Which is fair enough but what about those tees you see joined together?
Two or More Tees – Connected by a Length of Cord or String
At first glance you could reasonably assume that such a configuration would be considered non-conforming
As the string could effectively be used to aid alignment
However, this is the Rules of Golf we are talking about
So of course – there is an exception
As long as you run under The R&A’s area of jurisdiction
Which is everywhere in The World except the USA and Mexico
The use of a conforming tee which is connected to one or more other conforming tees by a length of cord or string is permitted
Provided the cord or string and other tees are not used to aid the player in his alignment
That also makes sense – doesn’t it?
What about some of the newer inventions, what are they like?
Brush Tee
Instead of having a plastic or wooden cup on which to place the ball
A brush tee generally has a series of bristles extending upwards from the peg and forming a circle on which to place the ball
These have become fairly common in recent years and often include claims of reduced friction
There is no evidence to suggest that a brush tee “unduly influences the movement of the ball”
So as long as the tee meets all of the other requirements of a conforming tee
They are permissible under the Rules
Whether they really have any effect on your drives though
Is not entirely clear
There is one type though that clearly did have an effect on drives
As it has been deemed ‘non-conforming’
The Anti-Slice Tee
This plastic tee had a shield extending upwards from the tee-cup
Which in theory protected the ball from the club
It was designed to reduce the spin applied to the ball by the club and therefore reduce the amount of slice
Which is apparently one of the most common problems faced by golfers
Sadly, as the tee is clearly intended to influence the with and subsequent movement of the ball
It’s clearly a non-conforming tee as well
But to me the big question really is – can you make your own tees?
Well, sort of maybe
Home-made tees which have been fabricated out of materials such as rubber piping or bottle corks may be permissible
Depending on the design of the tee it would need to be submitted and evaluated by The R & A to make sure it’s ‘conforming’ – you can see more about that here
As for using another object as a tee like a tin can, a bottle or a pencil
Just as John Daly is in the image at the start of the post
As such items were not designed to be tees
I think you can figure out the answer
Play well
Related Posts
Just where exactly is the teeing ground
A quick tip for hitting great tee shots
