Golf guru: Tee it up

December 19, 2014 07:35 pm | Updated 07:35 pm IST

Teeing the ball. Photo: special  arrangement

Teeing the ball. Photo: special arrangement

The phrase “teeing ground” refers to the area in which a golfer commences play of the hole. It is also called the tee. However, the tee is also the small peg on which the ball is placed and could also symbolise the act of placing the ball (teeing it up) or the time of day you get to kick off. So there could be confusion as to whether the word tee is a noun or a verb!

The first of the original Thirteen Articles of Golf in 1744 said, “You must tee your ball within a club’s length of the hole,” signifying the starting point where play is to be initiated.

Too close for comfort

In the old days, there was no distinction between the fairway and the green; the shepherds just dug up a hole and decided that’s where play ended.

In 1882, the R&A decreed, “The ball must be teed within the marks laid down by the Conservator of the Links which shall be considered the ‘teeing ground’. The balls shall not be teed in advance of such marks nor more than two club lengths behind them.” Thus was the genesis of the modern day Rule 11 in golf.

Teeing the ball

The actual act of teeing the ball has seen variations as the game developed. In the eighteenth century, the ball was placed on a small mound of sand, which is by far the most traditional method.

Golfers thus took the sand from wherever they could, including from the hole last played! This resulted in the hole size becoming larger, leading to a new rule in 1829, which required new holes to be cut on medal (read tournament) days. This rule continues to exist today under Rule 33-2b.

To mitigate this, sand boxes were provided alongside teeing grounds, which visitors to many of the Scottish golf courses can still see today. An interesting rule in 1834 at Musselburgh Golf Club banned any “cady who does not carry a bag with moist sand or clay for the tees”.

One other method that was commonly followed then, and now, is creating an irregularity or welt on the turf using the boot or club. While some frowned upon this practice, it was never discouraged. Even today, the ball must be played in or on the surface of the teeing ground, whether or not created by the player.

Lift it up

The definition of the noun form of the tee appeared to take shape in 1857 with the description, “a pat of soil on which the ball is elevated for the first stroke”. Compare this with the very confusing Article 2 of the 1744 Code, which said, “Your tee must be upon the ground”, and one can understand the evolution of the ball-elevating devices. Indeed, the Equipment Standards Committee of the R&A grapples with scores of requests to approve such devices today.

Today’s tee

The 1908 rule reads, “In ‘teeing’, the ball may be placed on the ground, or on sand or other substance in order to raise it off the ground.” The modern rule defines a tee as a device to raise the ball off the ground, with a few caveats.

Whatever the word tee means, though, there is little doubt that the first shot of every hole is probably the most important one. The great Ernie Els said, “I plot the par 5s back from the green and make my plan. If I can reach the green in two shots, I’m going to be aggressive off the tee. But if it’s a three-shot hole, the goal changes. You want to put yourself in position to hit your favourite shot to the green.

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