Tee

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Tee

A tee is a stand used to support a stationary ball

Ball

A ball is a round object with various uses. It is usually sphere but can be ovoid. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players....
so that the player can strike it, particularly in golf

Golf

Golf is a sport in which players using many types of Golf club including wood , iron , and putter , attempt to hit golf ball into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes....
, Tee Ball

Tee Ball

Tee Ball or T-Ball is a sport based on baseball and is intended as an introduction for young players to develop baseball skills and have fun....
, American football

American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
, and rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football may refer to a number of sports through history descended from a common form of football developed in different areas of England....
.

Etymology
The word tee is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word tigh meaning house and is related to the 'house' in curling (the coloured circles). Of course, as the first golf tees were within a circle of one club length round the hole, this would make sense.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Tee'

Start a new discussion about 'Tee'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Etymology

The word tee is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word tigh meaning house and is related to the 'house' in curling (the coloured circles). Of course, as the first golf tees were within a circle of one club length round the hole, this would make sense. Thus, for example the ninth hole of a course is played from the ninth tee to the ninth green, and similarly for the other holes. By Surinder

Golf tee

In golf, a tee is normally used for the first stroke of each hole, and the area from which this first stroke is hit is informally also known as the teeing ground. Normally, teeing the ball is allowed only on the first shot of a hole, called the tee shot, and is illegal for any other shot; however, local or seasonal rules may allow or require teeing for other shots as well, e.g., under "winter rules" to protect the turf when it is unusually vulnerable. Teeing gives a considerable advantage for drive shots, so it is normally done whenever allowed. On short par 3 holes where the first shot is a chip, the tee shot may be played with or without a tee.

A standard golf tee is 2.125" (two and one eighth inches) long, but both longer and shorter tees are permitted and are preferred by some players. Now, designs of these golf tees have a slight adjustment with the holster for the ball, better known as zero friction or more trajectory tees. These generally have a tri-holster, which some people find hard to balance the ball on. Ordinary tees can be made from wood or from durable plastic.

According to the R&A rule book, for a tee to be legal, "It must not be longer than 4 inches (101.6 mm) and it must not be designed or manufactured in such a way that it could indicate the line of play or influence the movement of the ball."

History

The development of the tee was the last major change to the rules of golf. Before this, golf ball

Golf ball

A golf ball is a ball designed to be used in the game of golf.Under the Rules of Golf, a golf ball weighs no more than 1.620 ounces , has a diameter not less than 1.680 in , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits....
s were teed up on little heaps of sand that was provided in boxes. This explains the historical name tee boxes for what is today known as teeing ground.

The earliest golf tees rested flat on the ground and had a raised portion to prop up the ball. The first patent

Patent

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a term of patent in exchange for a disclosure of an invention....
for this kind of tee is dated 1889, and was issued to Scotsmen William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas. The first known tee to pierce the ground was a rubber-topped peg sold commercially as the "Perfectum." This was patented in 1892 by Percy Ellis of England. In 1899, an African-American dentist, Dr. George Franklin Grant

George Franklin Grant

George Franklin Grant was the first African American professor at Harvard. He was also a Boston dentist, and an inventor of a wooden golf tee. ...
obtaned a patent for an "improved golf tee". This tee was a wood cone with a rubber sleeve to support the ball. It is not known to have been marketed.

These and other variations failed to catch on, as most golfers—whether because of tradition, habit, or concerns about the rules—continued using heaps of sand. It took a strong marketing effort by Dr. William Lowell, Sr.

William Lowell, Sr.

William Lowell, Sr. was a dentist, and an inventor of a wooden golf tee.William Lowell was born in Hoboken, New Jersey and lived in Maplewood, New Jersey and had a son, William Lowell, Jr....
in the 1920s to bring manufactured tees into widespread use. Sales of his "Reddy Tee," a simple wooden peg with a flared top, took off after Lowell hired professional golfers Walter Hagen

Walter Hagen

Walter Charles Hagen was a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of eleven Men's major golf championships is third behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods ....
and Joe Kirkwood, Sr.

Joe Kirkwood, Sr.

Joseph Henry Kirkwood, Sr. was a professional golfer who is acknowledged as having put Australian golf on the world map. Born in Sydney, Australia, as a ten-year-old he left home to work on a sheep ranch in the Australian Outback where his boss introduced him to the game of golf....
to promote the product during exhibition matches. It was copied around the world, and remains the most common type of golf tee.

Tee Ball tee

Tee Ball

Tee Ball or T-Ball is a sport based on baseball and is intended as an introduction for young players to develop baseball skills and have fun....
is based on baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport of nine players each. The goal of baseball is to score run by hitting a thrown Baseball with a baseball bat and touching a series of four markers called base arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond. Players on one team take turns hitting against...
, with the main difference being the use of a tee in the place of a pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a base on balls....
. Much larger than a golf tee, the Tee Ball tee is a rubber stand attached to the home plate

Home Plate

Home Plate is the fifth album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1975 ....
which supports the baseball at a suitable height for the batter to hit. It is adjustable to allow for variations in batter height.

Kicking tee

A kicking tee is a rubber or plastic platform, often with prongs and/or a brim around an inner depression.

In American football

American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
and its variants, a tee may be used on kickoff

Kickoff (American football)

A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football or Canadian football....
s to raise the ball slightly above the playing surface (up to one inch, by NFL and NCAA

College football

College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American University, colleges, and United States military academies....
rules). The CFL

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League is a professional sports league located entirely in Canada.Its eight teams, which are located in eight cities, are divided into two division of four teams each ....
and some high school leagues also allow the use of tees on field goal

Field goal (football)

A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a Goal that may be scored during general play .A field goal may be scored by a placekick or the now very rare Field goal #Drop kick....
and extra point

Extra point

In American football and Canadian football, the convert, conversion, try, extra point, point after touchdown, point-after try or PAT is the act of lining up to attempt a one-point conversion, immediately following a touchdown....
kicks, where another player (the holder) places one end of the ball on the tee (usually just a rubber block) and holds the opposite end.

Tees may also be used for place kick

Place kick

The place kick is a kick commonly used in rugby football when kicking for goal and is also used in American football and Canadian football for Kickoff and field goals ....
s in rugby