Teeing the golf ball

In just about any sport that you may have played you were at one time given the age old advice of "keep your eye on the ball. Simply put, it just isn't easy to hit something and hit it solid if you aren't looking at it. When your eyes wonder, so do your arms and hands. Golf is one of the very few sports involving a ball and stick where the ball is stationary.

You're a beginning golfer stepping up to the tee box. You have a tee in your hand and you press it into the ground. But how far down into the ground does it go? How high or low should the golf ball rest on the tee? How high you should tee the golf ball depends on the type of golf club you are using.

There's a reason they let you tee up the ball only 18 times a round: It's easier to hit a shot that way. When you do get the chance to put the ball on a tee, take advantage of it, and always on par 3s. When you tee up a ball for an iron or hybrid shot, you're keeping grass from getting between the clubface and the ball, which gives you more control over distance and direction. Whenever anything gets between the club and the ball at impact -- like blades of grass or even early-morning dew -- the ball comes off with less backspin, so it doesn't behave as predictably.

Last Updated: January 14, References. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. This article has been viewed 19, times.