“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

Why does my driver slice but my 9 iron goes straight?

Out of bounds – friend or foe?