Episode #71: Simple Tee Box Strategy to Avoid Trouble
Where you tee up your golf ball on the tee box will help make the hole wider and easier than other places on the box.
For example, when there is out of bounds or water to the right, you obviously want to miss the left so you can avoid costly penalty strokes. To avoid the hazard, you want to open up the left side of the hole by teeing it up on the right side of the tee box. While it won’t completely eliminate the hazard on the right, it will widen the hole as opposed to teeing it in the middle or left side of the box.
If the trouble is left, tee up on the left side and vice versa with the right side. Always tee up on the side of the box where the worst trouble is to widen the hole and give yourself the best opportunity. If there is trouble on both sides of the hole, tee up away from the one with a bigger penalty (ex. If there is water left and out of bound right, water is better than OB so tee up on the right side of the box).
But a lot of holes don’t have much trouble so you might think the middle of the tee box is the right spot. Instead, you want to play the side that favors your typical shot shape. If you play a cut, tee up from the right side of the box to open up more of the left side to play a left to right shot shape. Conversely, with a draw you will want to tee up on the left side of the box to open up the right side of the fairway and allow for a right to left shot shape.
Don’t forget, you have the option to tee up to two clubs behind the markers too. This might allow a better angle and help you feel more comfortable on the tee shot (or find a flat lie) so take advantage of it. This sounds easy but it’s amazing how many golfers never think about tee box location and make it much harder to score consistently well.
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