World's Best Tee?

[Norbert P]

 That photo of Stonehaven is  AWESOME!!! (Thanks Brian)

I also love being on the 16th at Bandon Dunes.








(and (whispering) Five Mile Point  - shhhhh)

[Ray Richard]

7th at Pebble Beach
3rd at Spyglass Hill
10th at Winged Foot Open Course
1st at Spanish Bay then it goes down hill from there.
4th at Bethpage Black
12th at Myopia
12th at Plymouth (Ma)

[Gib_Papazian]

It is rarely my habit to indulge in provincialism, but the 18th tee at Olympic Lake, to me, is the most majestic inland aesthetic imaginable.

#16 at Shinnecock deserves honorable mention, with those craggy bunkers leering back at the tee and the Stanford White clubhouse in the distance presiding over the kingdom.

I am also going to select #4 at Cypress Point. Why that is not considered the quintessential example of Mackenzie's bunkering style escapes me.

Another occurs to me that gets overlooked: #4 at Barona Creek. Wonderful, expansive view of the beautifully sculpted bunkers and alternate fairway options.

Or, we can just be obvious and cough up #3 at Spyglass.

[Mike Wagner]

# 7 -Bandon - first time you start to get the vantage point.  

#16 Cypress - best walk to a tee & most exhilirating shot -period.

[Tim Leahy]

Jeff, I can't think of any tee design's that stnad out per se aside from the runway RTJ tee's.
As far favorite tee's, here are a few of my favs.
18 at Pebble Beach
7th at Pebble Beach
5th at Pebble Beach
1st at Riviera
3rd at Spyglass
6th at Torrey Pines North
17th at Pelican Hill North
12th at Pacific Grove
16th at Coronado
8th at Arizona National
1st at Pasatiempo
12th at Stone Eagle
18th at Pauma Valley
15th at Barona Creek
11th at Sandpiper

David, love your list, it starts with my favorite and I have played all the others except Pauma and Arizona. I would add:
13 at Sandpiper
18 at Lake Chabot
3 at Olympic
16 or 17 at Lincoln Park
18 at Harding Park
18 at Kapalua Plantation
1 at Stone Eagle

[John Foley]

#16 Sand Hills - late in the day , sun at your back.

Back Tee #17 Ocean Course - glad I don't have to hit it from there!!

[Jason Topp]

My choice (or at least my favorite picture of a tee)

[Mike Wagner]

Many people mentioning Spyglass #3.  I'd have to go with # 4 there - same great view and one of the more unique holes anywhere.

[Brian_Ewen]

Mr Bandoon
Apologies for misleading you , by using a Finegan quote to describe the 2nd at Stonehaven [My Home Club] .

Speaking of Ailsa , I wonder how the new 10th will play for the 09 Open .

[ed_getka]

Gotta nominate 11 at The Old Course.

From that vantage, you can see so much of the links, it's a truly special place.

It was there that I realized how little I prize the seclusion often mentioned in course reviews of places like Sand Hills, which I not have played.

When I first read a description of it, I thought it sounded sublime, but I loved the collegial feel of St. Andrews Links, where you can often see a hundred or more golfers and caddies at one time.

The other thing about that tee is that it's height makes the shot into the green even more challenging when the wind is up. The first time I played it, the wind was stiff and I probably could have hit driver.

Ken

Ken,
   I think you mean #12 tee, which looks back towards town and the R&A clubhouse, and is more raised up than #11 tee.

[ed_getka]

#7 at Murcar. Elevated tee, off to the right you can see the sea. Before you is a wonderful, but daunting vista of a fairway that sits on a diagonal to you and has a burn winding in front and down the right side of the landing area. A large grass-covered dune eats in  from the left so bailing out away from the burn will make your approach blind. As you stand there the hole has your full attention.

Another candidate would be #1 at Kingsley or Sand Hills. In both cases it is evident from the first look that something special is in store for the day.

Interestingly I am not the biggest fan of elevated tees and yet on all 3 examples that is what I have listed.

[James Bennett]

Aye Ally , it can be a bit exposed  

I wish I had a better photo to do it justice , but has anyone else 'launched' one off the 10th at Dufftown before , which has a wonderful aerial view of Glenfiddich .

Brian

I wish I had known of Dufftown when I last visited.  How cool would it be to have an original 'Dufftown' hat to give to your regular playing mates.  

Cool picture of (I presume) the highlands as well.

James B

[David_Madison]

Can I add an "s" to "tee" and change the context a little? The tees at Sebonack are wonderful. They're contoured like flowing, irregularly shaped greens, with scattered level areas here and there from which to hit. Totally refreshing after coming from a Nicklaus course with highly structured raised oval tees.

[Bill_McBride]

I do not claim it as the best, but it is one of my favorites.

The 12th @ Pac Dunes

Other mentionables . . .
The 15th at North Berwick
The Battery @ Machrihanish
#2 @ Traigh (near Mallaig)
#17 @ Barnbougle
#1 Sand Hills
#14 @ Bandon Trails
Ladies tee #9 Pacific Dunes    
and many at Chambers Bay
(and, of course, any Kaiser tees)

One reason the 15th tee at North Berwick is such a great tee is that it's also the 4th tee, there must be half an acre of flat, closely mown grass there!  

[Tommy Williamsen]

[Dan Kelly]

I don't know if they're the "best," but they're sure among the coolest:

Nos. 1 and 18 at Sutton Bay.

Look, Ma! I'm on top of the world!

[Tim Bert]

Devil's Cauldron

[Brad Swanson]

Tommy,
   I never played the Keystone River course, but that panorama looks very familiar to me from many trips up to Summit County, (I think?).

CHeers,
Brad

[Tim Gavrich]

I don't know what is exactly meant be "best," but the tees for the 13th and 17th holes at Pawleys Plantation must be unique in the world of golf.  They're situated on a former cotton dike dating back to the plantation era.    Unfortunately, this causes the tee boxes to be so narrow that they get beat up pretty easily, but work was just done to resod and level them out.

[Kyle Henderson]

10th hole, The Course @ Wente Vineyards. Views for miles from the edge of a 200 foot cliff which borders a reachable green at 300 yards downwind.

7th and 18th at Pebble Beach.

I probably get most-excited on the 1st at Tobacco Road, knowing what's in store.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Tommy,
   I never played the Keystone River course, but that panorama looks very familiar to me from many trips up to Summit County, (I think?).

CHeers,
Brad

Good call.  It is indeed Keystone river.  I'm not overly fond of the course but the views of Lake Dillon and the mts are pretty good.

[Doug Wright]

Several have been mentioned, including TOC #1, Kapalua Plantation #18 (#17 isn't bad either...), Spyglass #3 and many at Pebble. There's a cliffside par 3 on the back 9 at Manele Bay that is very cool, along with #17 and #18 at Nicklaus's Cabo del Sol.   For local color, I'd also add Castle Pines GC #1 and #10 and  Cherry Hills #1 (for Arnold).

Plus, the island tee at Leatherstocking that I mentioned on the other thread:

[Grant Saunders]

The Championship tee on the 6th hole New at South Wales. Wish I could figure out how to upload the picture in the courses by country section of this hole.
Also, the 7th tee at Kauri Cliffs has an amazing panorama of the bay of islands and the shot to the green is pretty inspiring.

[Brent Hutto]

For Grant...

[Grant Saunders]

Thanks Brent