To Tee Or Not To Tee
by Gavin Owen, Senior Manager of Golf Operations
Back in my college playing days, one of the more talented teammates of mine stood upon the range, turned to us and said, “you guys wanna see something cool?” He proceeded to take out his golf pencil, rip out the eraser, tee the ball high upon this makeshift device, launch it straight up into the air, seemingly a pop-up, and still, the ball carried farther than all other drives on the range that day. Quite impressive it was, and though not sure if he later brought it to the course that day, this new strategy I had never seen, a question lingered which was; Would he be allowed to do such a brash act during a round?
As it turns out, yes, your trusted score-keeping pencil is a legally conforming tee. In Part 6-1. of the Equipment Rules: A tee is a device designed to raise the ball off the ground. It’s just that simple.
Rule 6.2(2) allows a player to use a conforming tee, placed in or on the ground, for any stroke that must be played from the teeing area. So, I guess I can use my newly sharpened No.2 pencil after finishing the SATs? Well, no, as there are a few restrictions on the device you use as a tee.
Firstly, a tee must not be longer than 4 inches. That is for the implement itself, and it doesn’t matter how far you jam that tee into the ground, even if it’s only raising the ball 0.5” from the surface of the ground. If its full length is beyond 4”, it cannot be used as a tee.
A tee cannot be designed or manufactured in such a way that it could indicate line of play. Now, they are making tees with a small directional arrow, being sold at your local golf shops, which are conforming, but this is due to the ball covering this indicator from your view once it is teed up and you are preparing for and completing your stroke. You could not, additionally, tie a string around your favorite tee and anchor it in front of you, indicating the line of play, but if it was off to the side, it’s completely fine.
Lastly, your tee cannot unduly influence the movement of the ball; or otherwise assist the player in making a stroke or in his play. If you bought those sketchy plastic tees online featuring a mini shield designed to reduce sidespin, the anti-slice tee, leave them in your garage. But the martini tees, even with the exaggerated cup design are fine, as are brush tees, as they do not have any significant influence on the ball. You can even use a driving range rubber tee or simulator tee placed in the teeing area; it doesn’t need to be stuck in the ground.
If you do make a stroke at the ball while using a non-conforming tee, the first breach will cost the General Penalty, and the second breach brings with it a DQ.
But none of the preceding matters when you must improvise. You rummage through your pockets to find not only do you have no tees left, but you also lost your new ball marker on the 6th hole! There are no broken or discarded tees around the area either, and no other players to lend you a tee, which you would also be allowed to use. So, what can the player do now?
If you choose not to tee, you still have made a choice.
The other option in Rule 6.2(2) is the player, when playing from the teeing area, may play the ball from the ground itself.
Since the teeing area rules apply here, the player can even alter the surface of the ground inside the teeing area, such as stepping behind the ball to flatten or lower the ground or even bang the club into the ground raising up a bit of turf to place the ball on, Rule 6.2(3).
In the early days of the game, players would carry around a pouch of sand to pile in the teeing area to use as the tee, and you can still do that today. The “ground” includes sand or other natural materials put in place to set the tee or ball on.
So wait, I can place the ball on natural materials to raise it from the ground? Can I grab some nearby divots and stack them up and then put the ball on it? There are a lot of divots here, and this pile is now almost knee height, can I keep going until it’s nearly to my waist, and then when I am satisfied, stick that golf pencil in the top and place the ball on top so I am taking a baseball type swing?
The answer to all is, YES. You can pile sand, divots, leaves, dirt, and then you can even stick a conforming tee in or on it. The 4” restriction is only for the device defined as a tee. You may wind up with a pace of play problem if you keep this up, but it’s allowed under the rules. Just remember, these rules only apply within the Teeing Area, Rule 6.2, and now you know the answer to the question.
This topic and more were covered this fall at the NCGA’s two On-Course Seminars, taught by NCGA’s Expert Rules Staff and Tournament Officials. Another round of On-Course Seminars will be available in Spring 2027 so please check the NCGA’s calendar for upcoming registration information.