Golf Glossary
Golf tee
In short
A golf tee is a small peg made of wood, plastic or rubber on which you place the ball for the tee shot. It lifts the ball slightly above the ground and makes a clean strike easier. Under the Rules of Golf a tee may be at most 4 inches (101.6 millimetres) long and must not help you with alignment or the stroke.
Golf tee: meaning and purpose
The tee is the small peg that holds the ball slightly above the ground for the tee shot. Its purpose is simple: the ball sits free and stable so you can strike it cleanly, without grass or ground getting in the way.
The word tee has a second meaning in golf. It also refers to the teeing area from which every hole starts. That gives terms such as tee time or tee box. Anyone searching for tee golf therefore means either the peg or the place from which the first shot is played.
You may use a tee only when playing from the teeing area, which normally means the first stroke of a hole. After that you play the ball as it lies. On the fairway or in the rough you may not use a tee, but on the practice area you can.
Rules: length, teeing area and Rule 6.2b
The Rules of Golf set out exactly what a tee may look like and where a ball may be teed.
On appearance: a tee may be at most 4 inches (101.6 millimetres) long. It must not be made so that it indicates the line of play, influences the movement of the ball or otherwise helps you with the stroke or your play.
On location: under Rule 6.2b the ball must be played from the teeing area on the tee shot. This is a rectangle. Its front edge is the line between the two tee markers, and it is two club-lengths deep. The ball must lie inside this area, but your feet may stand outside. You may place the ball on the ground, on a tee, or on sand or another natural substance piled on the ground.
If you play from the wrong area, there are two penalty strokes in stroke play and you must replay the stroke from the correct area.
The right tee height: driver, wood and irons
How high the tee sits changes launch angle, spin and feel. There is no fixed figure, but some proven guidelines apply:
- Driver: the ball should sit so high that half of it is above the top edge of the clubhead. The driver then catches the ball slightly on the upswing, which produces distance.
- Fairway wood from the tee: a little lower than with the driver, with the ball just above the ground.
- Hybrid and irons: very low. With an iron the ball sits almost on the ground, for example on a par 3 with a 7-iron. Here you want to catch the ball on the downswing.
If the tee is too high, you hit the ball above the centre of the clubface. The ball then climbs steeply and flies short, in extreme cases becoming a sky ball. If it is too low, the driver comes in too steeply from above, the ball flies flat and quickly hits the ground.
Material and length: wood, plastic, rubber
Tees come in different materials that behave differently in everyday use:
- Wood and bamboo: cheap and environmentally friendly, but they break quickly. Many golfers use them as beginners.
- Plastic: durable and available in many shapes and lengths, also with a marked height scale.
- Rubber or brush tees: very durable, give the ball little friction and are popular on the driving range.
Lengths of roughly 40 to 85 millimetres are usual. Short tees of about 40 to 55 millimetres are meant for irons and hybrids, long tees of about 70 to 85 millimetres for the driver. Sizes differ by manufacturer and head shape. A flat, wide head gives the ball a more stable base. A narrow head reduces contact and therefore friction.
The rules apply to all materials: more than 4 inches in length is not allowed.
Ball falls off the tee: what applies now
It happens that the ball falls off the tee as you address it, for example from a gust of wind or because you touch it with the club. Rule 6.2b is clear here and friendly to beginners:
- If the ball falls off the tee before you have made a stroke, you may tee it again without penalty. That applies even if you knocked it off yourself. You may put it back anywhere in the teeing area.
- If you strike at the ball while it is falling or after it has fallen, the stroke counts. There is no penalty and the ball is in play. An air shot therefore counts as a stroke.
This rule applies only in the teeing area, as long as the ball is not yet in play there. Outside it, a ball that moves is treated under other rules.
Origin: where does the golf tee come from?
In the past golfers placed the ball on a small pile of sand or earth that they shaped themselves. At many courses there were sand boxes next to the tee for this. The origin of the word tee is not clearly settled.
The first patent for a golf tee was granted to the American dentist Dr George Franklin Grant on 12 December 1899. His tee consisted of a wooden peg with a flexible rubber top. It never reached the market, and he handed the prototypes to family and friends.
The breakthrough came from another dentist, William Lowell. His Reddy Tee, made of wood with a red painted top, appeared in 1921 and was marketed successfully in the 1920s. After that tees made of wood and later plastic spread across the whole golf world. Today the tee is a cheap consumable that belongs in every golf bag.
Typical mistakes and tips with the tee
The same mistakes come up when teeing the ball:
- Too high with the driver: the ball is topped or pulled up steeply. Try the tee a little lower.
- Too low with the driver: the ball launches flat and loses distance. A slightly higher position often helps.
- Always the same height: irons need a different tee height than the driver. Players who never change it often hit too steeply or too shallowly.
- No spare tees: tees break. Always carry several, ideally in two lengths.
- No feedback: anyone who changes tee height should check the effect. With values such as launch angle, spin and carry you can see whether the ball flies better.
As a rule of thumb: if you strike the ball well, keep the height. Change only one thing at a time and check the result over several shots.
Try it at Golf Lounge
The right tee height is best tried out on the range. The TrackMan range at Golf Lounge Resort Hamburg has 32 covered hitting bays on two levels. When you book a mat, the tee rises automatically at the start and goes down again after exactly 60 minutes. At every bay TrackMan measures launch angle, carry and ball speed, among other values, so you can see the effect of your setup straight away.
Frequently asked questions
What is a tee in golf?
A tee is a small peg made of wood, plastic or rubber on which the ball is placed for the tee shot. The word also refers to the teeing area from which every hole begins. A tee may be used only when playing from the teeing area. After that the ball is played as it lies.
How high should the tee be for the driver?
As a rule of thumb, with the driver half of the ball sits above the top edge of the clubhead. That lets the driver catch the ball slightly on the upswing. With irons the ball sits almost on the ground. Exactly how high suits you depends on your swing. Check the effect with launch angle and carry.
How long may a golf tee be?
Under the Rules of Golf a tee may be at most 4 inches long, which is 101.6 millimetres. It must not indicate the line of play or influence the ball unduly. Common tees are usually between 40 and 85 millimetres long, shorter ones for irons and longer ones for the driver.
What applies if the ball falls off the tee?
If the ball falls off the tee before you have made a stroke, you may tee it again without penalty, anywhere in the teeing area. If you strike at the ball while it is falling or after it has fallen, the stroke counts and there is no penalty. An air shot is therefore counted.
May you use a tee on the fairway?
No. You may use a tee only for the tee shot of a hole from the teeing area. On the fairway, in the rough and on the green the ball is played as it lies. On the driving range and for practice shots on the practice area you may use a tee at any time.
As of: October 2026