I don’t get the super short tees: can’t you just push a “normal” tee a little further into the ground?
I had an amusing interaction with a friend on Twitter regarding his superstition about using only unpainted, natural wood tees.
Which got me to thinking and caused me to realize I’ve never spent any time thinking about what kind of tee I use. Sure, in the pro shops and golf department of Dick’s Sporting Goods, I’ve seen all manner of golf “tees” for sale.
Traditional wooden tees. Plastic tees. Exotic “zero friction” tees. Odd martini-glass shaped saucers. Weird brushes that look like they belong on the end of a tiny vacuum. And those clunky hour-glass shaped “castle” tees.
I suppose that if I’d spent more than 2 minutes in my entire life thinking about how or on what I tee my golf balls, the choices could be borderline overwhelming.
But, alas, I’m a tee scavenger. I might purchase one bag of 50 tees per year. More often than not, I can be found surveying the tee box for lost, discarded, and forgotten tees left behind.
One advantage to frequently walking the course during a round of golf is that I get to scan the back, middle, and forward tees for ball-elevating bounty.
I see a paint brush, a push tack, a trophy to place a ball upon, and a golf tee.
I’m a traditionalist: I want my golf tee to look and feel like a golf tee. I prefer a wooden tee, but I won’t throw away a plastic tee just because it’s plastic.
I honestly don’t know what to make of all the exotic game-improvement tees. I’ve tried the zero friction tees, but I usually end up breaking them after one or two swings. The castle tees look like they might damage my clubs, and I simply wouldn’t know how to attack a ball sitting on brush bristles or in a bowl.
So, I’ll stick to my habit of restocking my golf bag with tees I find on the tee boxes. Tall. Short. White. Black. Natural. Plastic. These are all friends of mine.
What say you, Dear Readers? Do you have a particular tee you prefer to use? Are you superstitious about it? Chime in on the poll below.
Dave
Great question. I use a traditional white tee most of the time, but will use what I find once in awhile.
Cheers
Jim
This is actually a really heated debate amongst my golfing mates! I like plastic tees for durability. the short tees are useful because if you push a long tee into the ground it will break if you hit it with an iron. I am sounding very cheap right now. my playing partner hates plastic tees for two reasons – 1. they aren’t his purist idea of a golf tee and 2. they always go flying backward and hit him when he’s spotting my drive as it flies somewhere into the rough!