I never liked using the line for putting because the ball always seems to move a tiny bit when putting it down, but I've never thought of using it off the tee. That's a good idea.
Tee box alignments that can play games with your head
I never liked using the line for putting because the ball always seems to move a tiny bit when putting it down, but I've never thought of using it off the tee. That's a good idea.
This gives me fits sometimes and I know it's my own problem. I just have something in my brain that loves symmetry and straight lines and whenever I have to set up at an angle to some straight edges my brain goes bananas. One of the courses I frequent has a nasty habit of doing this on half a dozen holes so to fight it I pick a spot in the distance and direct the line on my ball to it.
Yes, you really need to play attention on the box as to how it's aligned and where your aiming point is. Your mind will start to play tricks on you (like the silly rabbit!) It's a problem for anyone that plays the game of golf and trying to get your mind not to think about the markers on either side of your ball.
Best way to fight that...for me at least...stand back from your ball and look directly down the target line. find a small piece of something in front of your ball about 12" on that line. A divot, clump of grass, mud, anything. Then address your ball and never look up and down the line. Focus on the thing in front of your ball.
It has been mentioned often in this thread, but it is helpful. Trust yourself, don't look up.
- Staff
- #30
That reminds me. I almost always put my tee back of the markers and with a divot or something in line with my target. That's helped a little.
Yes. Very rarely is there not a clump of something on the tee box that you can't use.
Fourputt
Head Rules Official
This is the par 4 15th hole at my home course. As you can see the teeing area is aimed well off to the right. The make it even more fun, the fairway slopes well to the right too, so any ball landing near the middle will be well off in the left rough unless it has a strong draw (right to left) swing on it. Those trees look fairly sparse in the landing area, but they are tall with a wide spread and there is almost no chance for a normal shot if you are behind them. If you look closely at the photo you can see a player standing among the trees in the upper left corner, and that is the most common miss on the hole. He is standing 250 yards from the middle tee. You are also usually looking at 180+ yards to the green, with trees in play along the entire route.
15th hole by Preeb, on Flickr
15th hole by Preeb, on Flickr
Jack Nicklaus 101! Always use to watch him on TV as his eyes would look a few feet in front of the ball and then he would look up at his target. Such a surgeon.
mayday1775
New member
The first tee at my home course points you dead left from the fairway. I tend to hit the ball dead left, out of bounds into the road on the first tee!
Tedfroop
One eyed and left handed
Having the tee deck pointing in an off direction never gets me like having the tee markers pointed somewhere other than the line of play. I don't know if its just me or what but I tend to set up square to the teeing area as it is marked rather than the tee deck.
Its something I see in other golfers too. Its not right as the rules say the teeing ground markers should be square to the line of play, not to the tee deck. When doing setup for tournaments it is something I become very aware of because the rules guys end up really busy looking for balls and the like when the markers are square to something else, like the outside or inside corner of a reachable dogleg.
Its something I see in other golfers too. Its not right as the rules say the teeing ground markers should be square to the line of play, not to the tee deck. When doing setup for tournaments it is something I become very aware of because the rules guys end up really busy looking for balls and the like when the markers are square to something else, like the outside or inside corner of a reachable dogleg.
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One other place this can happen also at times is if your on the edge of a fairway. Sometimes you have this nice straight line of grass that defines the fairway at the first cut rough and the ball is very close to it but its not pointing towards the hole especially on a dogleg. A little easier to ignore being only one element vs the teebox with a few elements but can still (althought not as badly) also play the same games with you.
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It wouldnt suprise me that who ever places the markers also can get thrown off when a box is cockeyed to the hole. lol But i didnt realize that was even a rule. Something that just doesnt pop up much rule discussion wise.
If you look at my photo closely you can see the white tee markers in this case at each edge of the box but notice they are also facing the woods and not down the center fw.
Rob Wedge
Jersey
Hole 3 at Mercer East in W. Windsor NJ. Play here with a couple guys from THP and I think everyone of them has said something about the tee box on this hole.
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Hole 3 at Mercer East in W. Windsor NJ. Play here with a couple guys from THP and I think everyone of them has said something about the tee box on this hole.
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See, this one kinda makes sense to me, from a psychological perspective. The tee box is trying to reinforce the idea that you should play away from the fairway bunker left and, in essence, makes the hole longer. I'd say that such an extreme angle is actually away from the line of play, but it's trying to convince you not to just bomb your drive over the fairway bunker. I also see the pinch in the fairway is also trying to encourage a shorter club off the tee to where that cart is in the middle of the fairway, and a long approach, unless you're a very big hitter and can get it past that choke point in the fairway.
While I agree that the tee markers ought to point toward the "line of play," I think playing fast and loose with interpreting that rule is one way that course designers than encourage certain decisions on the part of the player, and it's a sort of subtle way to make a course play longer than it actually is. They point it toward the line of play, but not necessarily the optimal direction to drive the ball. It's up to the player to figure it out based on their skill level and distance.
Adam Hartzell
Yup, I'm a lefty.
I'm loving this thread, but as a left handed golfer I've often felt that when a course is designed to challenge a righty, it makes things a little easier for lefties.
Rob Wedge
Jersey
Sorry, its actually the West course. Always get those confused.
I hear what you're saying, but being its a 400 yard par 4 it's easier said than done to go with a shorter club. The setup actually doesn't bother me as I always do as others are saying an just pick a spot a couple inches in front of the ball. I just watch person after person go dead straight into the woods just about everytime I play there.
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Well, i guess in one sence when facing the oposite way you do have a different perspective but that also may simply be because of the dogleg lefts. if the leg is a right turning one then you would have the similar situation perhaps like in "hawk's" picture. Inever really thought of hole being planned out for righties vs lefties but perhaps that is something that is done. I just dont know or never thought about. But interesting.
I agree that that's an extreme angle (though I hit a pull these days, so I'd be in great shape) relative to the line of play (which I'd say is the start of the fairway). I don't know how far out that choke point is in the fairway, but looking at the green, it looks like it's fairly deep (can't see the contours of it from here), and would be receptive to longer approach shots. Not to drag this into a much larger conversation about course design as a whole, but there's got to be something besides distance that forces players to use their entire bag. Bunkers, choke points, even the tee markers, are different ways to make that happen. The hole you reference, disregarding the tee markers, I could see 3W to 6 iron approach doing better than driving it and ending up in the bunker, or hitting a fade off the tee and ending up in the rough right of the hole.
But if I'm looking at the direction the tee box is facing, I think I'd presume that straight is off into the woods at any distance, and look left. But it would serve to make carrying the bunker seem longer than it is, and pick the middle ground, which would make me think driver off the tee is not the smartest play.
Tedfroop
One eyed and left handed
I can't remember where it is in the book and I may be confused (that 21 year old Scotch last night tasted mighty fine and my head is a little fuzzy this morning.) as it may just be in my golf associations tournament manual. It does come to mind that it is a "should" do sort of thing.
What stands out to me about the whole thing is - it is something that slows play too. I mean pointing an average golfer at trouble on the right is just begging for at least one guy in the group to slice in that direction and if it is "hey look at all the balls in here" guy or "I have to find my ball" guy you are adding 5+ minutes to the playing of the hole for almost every group.
Adam Hartzell
Yup, I'm a lefty.
I don't know a thing about course design really. Who is to say if the track was built for either handed golfer or if that was take into account at all. Even the pic Hawk posted sets up real well to my eyes.
The only time I have trouble aiming on the tee box is when there are 6' tall cattails right in front of my 5'8" body and I have no idea where the fairway is.
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These are not the average or most tee boxes but i do hear what you are saying.
However to be a tad respectfully sarcastic I must ask where do we draw the line when it comes to pace? We can make easy tee locations, easy pin locations, in fact all move to the very forward tees, take out much the troubles on a given hole, cut doglegs and hazards down to a minimum, widen fairways, shorten rough, etc.. ,I can keep going as many of these things are often mentioned regarding pace but then are we really playing against the golf course anymore?
Golf for me would not be much fun anymore if we dont have to make choices and if we can just blast a driver with little reagard and then use a wedge in on most holes. I am all for keeping decent pace but not if it has to come at the cost of the golf course losing its character. Kind of defeats the purpose of playing it imo.
One example is that I hate those days when the ground crew puts the tees way up on too many holes. I already play the middles because its where i belong vs the tips (at my local course) but when they place the middle tees up even further than normal on too many of the holes it bothers me because it takes too much away from the course imo.
TimG3394
Lost: Center of clubface
Here is a hole at my local muni. It is the shortest par 4 on the course but always gives me fits for the all the reasons stated above.
Note: Please excuse my attempt of being an artist.
Blue- Tee Box
Green- The Green
Red- Where you hit from
Yellow- There goes my ball
Note: Please excuse my attempt of being an artist.
Blue- Tee Box
Green- The Green
Red- Where you hit from
Yellow- There goes my ball
swellins
Master of Hindsight.
Wicked Cool Bearded Man
4thegolf+4thefriends
This is an AWESOME tip. Bump because Blu is a stud.
bhilton
Active member
I normally struggle with this pretty badly. There was a tee box at the course I was a member at that actually lined you up to hit it in the water that ran along the left side of the hole. Most of the time I was either in the water, or way right after I overcompensated. The driving range at the course I'm working at now is actually lined up to the right of where you are supposed to be hitting balls, so whenever I go out there, I knock a ton of balls in the trees.