# On par 3 holes, do you tee up?



## memorex88

I haven't seen a poll in a while so here's one.

Do you use a Tee when using irons on par 3's or do you put the ball straight on the ground?


----------



## Fourputt

99% of the time I use a broken tee that I find on the box. I always use a tee, even if it's pressed in almost flush with the ground. Trevino and Palmer have both commented on this, asking "Why wouldn't you give yourself a perfect lie when you have the chance?" With a short iron I tee so the bottom of the ball is just about even with top of the grass, but I still tee it up. 

Once in a long while when playing a practice round I'll just hit off the grass, but that's usually only when I'm having an issue with my fairway iron shots and need the practice. If I'm playing for score I always use a peg.


----------



## broken tee

99% of the time I use a tee, there are rare occasions that I haven't and failed miserably.


----------



## Surtees

nope I like to be different and most of the time I hit off the ground I just pick a nice lay to put my ball it seem to work better for me when teeing off with my irons.


----------



## CDeal

I tee it up just enough to get it off the ground. I used to just set it on the ground but I'm a little more consistent off the tee. Now if I could only tee it up when I'm in the rough!!!!!


----------



## Surtees

teeing up from the rough if Bob could do that he'd being teeing up gor every shoot apart from putting.


----------



## 373

Yes and no depending on the length of the hole.

If I'm hitting a hybrid 220 yards, down to about a 5 iron 180 yards, I'll put the ball on a tee just barely above the ground.

On the other hand, even being teed up that silly fraction of an inch throws me off badly on short par 3 holes where I want to hit something like a 7 iron through a wedge. Then I find a nice little clump of grass and leave it on the ground.


----------



## Surtees

yeah I'm not alone. Dennis is the same as me


----------



## flyerfan2

I've always tee'd the ball up on longer par three's and hit it off the deck on shorter par three's.

Any time i can hit my scoring irons off a perfect lie (with out a tee) i'll jump at the chance. 

It's something i've always done and like the old saying go's if it aint broke don't try and fix it.


----------



## dk91ls

Goog grief yes! Any chance to get better lie is a gimme!


----------



## Trigger

I saw Arnold Palmer on TV the other day and he gave a guy a pretty good ass chewing for not using a tee. Why would you not put it on a peg if you had the chance? I don't think I have ever teed off with a wedge, so it has never been an issue using the scoring clubs off a tee.(The only reason I call them my scoring clubs is that each time I pull them out my score goes up dramatically)


----------



## flyerfan2

Trigger said:


> I saw Arnold Palmer on TV the other day and he gave a guy a pretty good ass chewing for not using a tee. Why would you not put it on a peg if you had the chance? I don't think I have ever teed off with a wedge, so it has never been an issue using the scoring clubs off a tee.(The only reason I call them my scoring clubs is that each time I pull them out my score goes up dramatically)


Arnold who ?? never heard of him.

I guess it really comes down to personal preference.

Right or wrong i've never used a tee for my more lofted clubs.:dunno:


----------



## broken tee

Flyerfan2: I agree with you on preference. I never paid attention to the pro's what do they do?


----------



## Fourputt

broken tee said:


> Flyerfan2: I agree with you on preference. I never paid attention to the pro's what do they do?


Most of them use a tee. The don't tee it way up, usually with the top of the tee right at the top of the grass. It's just added insurance against hitting a bit chunky. Even if you do hit it a little bit fat, you'll still make clean contact with the ball.


----------



## broken tee

Rick: I'm playing tomorrow on a course that is tough, now I'm a guy that needs to tee up on a par three, so, how high too high or too low. I've never thought about it until now


----------



## Fourputt

broken tee said:


> Rick: I'm playing tomorrow on a course that is tough, now I'm a guy that needs to tee up on a par three, so, how high too high or too low. I've never thought about it until now


I use broken tees that I pick up off the tee box most of the time on par 3 holes. For iron shots I tee it so that the bottom of the ball is even with top of the blades of grass. For my hybrids I do the same, because I play them just like an iron. For my FW woods, I tee it about 1/2" above the grass.


----------



## broken tee

I'll use your strategy as a base


----------



## Surtees

I agree with rick for when i do tee up my iron just at grass level although I tee my hybrid at about 1/2 inch same as my three wood. That is the level that i can tee off nicely with my hybrid but find what works for you.


----------



## Up North

Surtees said:


> nope I like to be different and most of the time I hit off the ground I just pick a nice lay to put my ball it seem to work better for me when teeing off with my irons.


I do the same. Two reasons for me doing it, first is because when I use my irons 99% of the time it's to hit the ball off the turf. Since that is the majority of my iron shots why would I want to start hitting them from a different lie? Second reason is I used to use a tee and hit them like crap while doing so. So I ditched the tee and been much better since. My stepfather used a tee until last year when I told him to try it without, he too became more accurate off the tee box.

It really boils down to what works best for you, that's what's cool about golf.

Buck


----------



## Surtees

thats my thought on why i hit of the ground to i never tee my irons up on fairways so why on the tee box? but as you said you do what suits you.


----------



## Fourputt

Just an added comment.... twice this week I've been within 3 feet of the hole on a par 3... hitting the ball teed like I describe in the post above. I must be doing something right...


----------



## Surtees

nice work rick keep doing it if it works for you


----------



## broken tee

Fourputt said:


> Just an added comment.... twice this week I've been within 3 feet of the hole on a par 3... hitting the ball teed like I describe in the post above. I must be doing something right...


I give you :thumbsup: :thumbsup: its not hard to do when it comes to this game...you're making me jealous


----------



## flyerfan2

Fourputt said:


> Just an added comment.... twice this week I've been within 3 feet of the hole on a par 3... hitting the ball teed like I describe in the post above. I must be doing something right...


So did you birdie them both.?

Or turn them into routine pars.? 

Two great shots thou.:thumbsup:


----------



## Fourputt

flyerfan2 said:


> So did you birdie them both.?
> 
> Or turn them into routine pars.?
> 
> Two great shots thou.:thumbsup:


One was only 6" short of the hole during a casual round, the other was yesterday, exactly 3 feet - measured with a tape - it won me the closest to the pin pot in the tournament that day. Good thing too, because it was almost the only decent shot I hit all day. 

And yes, both were birdies.


----------



## Up North

Surtees said:


> thats my thought on why i hit of the ground to i never tee my irons up on fairways so why on the tee box? but as you said you do what suits you.


I tried it again last night just for kicks, tee'd one up on a 159yd par 3. Took out my 6 iron (hitting into a wind) and thinned it out about a 100yds. AAARRRRGGGGG! I don't know what it is about hitting a ball off the tee with an iron but I can't do it. I dropped another ball, hit it off the turf and knocked it to the back edge of the green. And yes...I played the first ball.


Buck


----------



## Fourputt

Up North said:


> I tried it again last night just for kicks, tee'd one up on a 159yd par 3. Took out my 6 iron (hitting into a wind) and thinned it out about a 100yds. AAARRRRGGGGG! I don't know what it is about hitting a ball off the tee with an iron but I can't do it. I dropped another ball, hit it off the turf and knocked it to the back edge of the green. And yes...I played the first ball.
> 
> 
> Buck


Sounds like you do as a lot of guys do and subconsciously try to scoop the ball when you see it on a tee. You are changing your swing and coming up on the ball, which is often caused by teeing it too high. go to a grass range where you can practice this shot and try pressing the tee down into the ground farther, to the point where it is still on the tee, but looks more like a really clean fairway lie. 

A good drill to practice it is to preset the cocking of your wrists and hold that all the way from takeaway through impact. That will keep you focused on proper contact and I think you'll be surprised and how much better you can hit it when the ball is all you hit. 

If it isn't for you then so be it, but I can guarantee that with practice you will hit a higher percentage of clean shots from a tee than you will from the ground, no matter what club you have in your hands. There are few amateurs who are as good at striking the ball as a pro, yet 99% of the pros I've watched or read about play every tee shot using a tee. There must be a reason for it.


----------



## Up North

Fourputt said:


> Sounds like you do as a lot of guys do and subconsciously try to scoop the ball when you see it on a tee. You are changing your swing and coming up on the ball, which is often caused by teeing it too high. go to a grass range where you can practice this shot and try pressing the tee down into the ground farther, to the point where it is still on the tee, but looks more like a really clean fairway lie.
> 
> A good drill to practice it is to preset the cocking of your wrists and hold that all the way from takeaway through impact. That will keep you focused on proper contact and I think you'll be surprised and how much better you can hit it when the ball is all you hit.
> 
> If it isn't for you then so be it, but I can guarantee that with practice you will hit a higher percentage of clean shots from a tee than you will from the ground, no matter what club you have in your hands. There are few amateurs who are as good at striking the ball as a pro, yet 99% of the pros I've watched or read about play every tee shot using a tee. There must be a reason for it.



Yeah...because they get free tees. 

Buck


----------



## Fourputt

Up North said:


> Yeah...because they get free tees.
> 
> Buck


My par 3 tees are free, I just use broken ones. In fact, every tee I have was picked up on the tee boxes of various courses, mostly my home course. I haven't bought a tee in 20 years.


----------



## Surtees

as long as you dont pick lost golf balls up while there still rolling!!!


----------



## Fourputt

Surtees said:


> as long as you dont pick lost golf balls up while there still rolling!!!


My buddies give me more points if I get them on the first bounce... :cheeky4:


----------



## Surtees

You get even more points if you can catch them on the full.


----------



## Up North

Surtees said:


> You get even more points if you can catch them on the full.



with your teeth...:laugh:

Buck


----------



## cbwheeler

Definitely use a tee, but don't put it so high that you're going to take an upswing. Your goal is to stabilize the ball and separate it from the grass. This maximizes your spin and accuracy.


----------



## Up North

I've been working on using a tee at the range and the last couple times out on the course. I have to say that maybe it's starting to pay off as it seems my control has been a little better. Will keep working with it and see what happens.

Buck


----------



## Surtees

I've been trying the tee lately and I does work pretty good but it i dont seem to be as consistant with the tee as hittting of the ground.


----------



## Up North

Surtees said:


> I've been trying the tee lately and I does work pretty good but it i dont seem to be as consistant with the tee as hittting of the ground.


I played 36 yesterday and there was only one par 3 that I could tee up on. The rest were pitching wedge range and I couldn't bring myself to use a tee with the wedge. And I'm glad I didn't as I got my first hole in one yesterday, 130 yards, playing more like 120 as it was downhill. One short hop and it rolled about 3ft right into the cup.

Buck


----------



## Surtees

congrats on the hole in one! jerk sorry that just slipped out lol I was happy with my last round with two on the greens in one but a hole in one you must be over the moon did you call it a day after that? great work


----------



## broken tee

Up North said:


> I played 36 yesterday and there was only one par 3 that I could tee up on. The rest were pitching wedge range and I couldn't bring myself to use a tee with the wedge. And I'm glad I didn't as I got my first hole in one yesterday, 130 yards, playing more like 120 as it was downhill. One short hop and it rolled about 3ft right into the cup.
> 
> Buck


Way to go Buck, I've only come close and that only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and government work. Let's see how I do today, one of the days I'll ace a hole.:thumbsup:


----------



## Up North

Surtees said:


> congrats on the hole in one! jerk sorry that just slipped out lol I was happy with my last round with two on the greens in one but a hole in one you must be over the moon did you call it a day after that? great work


Thanks Surtees, no actually it happened on hole #7 of the first 18, played another 18 after that. Sad thing was...I took a 4 on #7 during my second round...:dunno:



broken tee said:


> Way to go Buck, I've only come close and that only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and government work. Let's see how I do today, one of the days I'll ace a hole.:thumbsup:


Thanks Broken Tee, I've had several near misses over the years and pretty much figured I'd never get one and if I did it would be by pure luck. The shot I hit on Saturday was just an absolute perfect shot, one of those that I could stand up there on the tee box and try another 5000 times and not drop it in. Good luck out there, it's fun when it does happen!

Buck


----------

