Thomas,
Fazio does a great job of this by contouring the entire tee area, often using subtle ridges behind forward tees so you don't even see them from tees further back. He also does great at hiding the path if it crosses in front of the tee. Big upside in considering the tees, usually just functional elements as artistic elements as well.
Only downsides are some confusion, wider room needed at tees, where we usually squeeze those areas in to save residential land. Even on core courses, greens and tees on the next hole tend to get spaced out more than some here would like. Also, more grading cost, and sometimes, more cart path cost, if tees are staggered left and right of the back tee centerline.