UNLEVEL TEES ---on purpose!

[Ron Farris]

Filtering thru some old photos I came across a picture of a caddie at Prestwick having my (then pregnant) wife tee it up on a little patch of green grass on what appeared to be a path for sheep, or perhaps a road for Braveheart era folks.  The caddie said this was the forward tee (my wife was getting tired).  We chuckled under our breath and played on.  



Unlevel tees are common place in the golf world for various reason.  However, at Ballyneal in Colorado they purposely have tees with contours.  I trust it has been discussed here, but how many other courses has tee complexes of this nature.

[Patrick_Mucci_Jr]

Ron,

I think drainage is A, if not THE primary beneficiary of planed tees with a few degrees slope.  Unlevel tees create problems.

Remember, not every golf course is built on sandy soil.

[Tom Ferrell]

We-Ko-Pa has 17 rolley-polley tee complexes.  There are flat areas on each of them, but the tees could certainly incorporate rolls.

During research for an article on Robert Hunter, I spoke at some length with Jim Urbina, who noted that Hunter believed teeing grounds and complexes should reflect the natural landscape just as green complexes do.  I replied that I agreed and read him my notes from my pre-opening tour of Ballyneal, where I was enamored of the 17th tee.

On a hole where bending the ball could be advantageous, I love the idea of being able to tee the ball a little higher or lower than my feet.  Could it be overdone?  Of course.  But I don't think tees need to be perfectly level than I believe greens or fairways need to be.  

[Patrick_Mucci_Jr]

Remember, not every golf course is built on sandy soil.

Prestwick?  

No sand there ............ you heard it from Mucci first!  I'll let the the club secretary know this next week.

And then have him enroll you in a reading comprehension course.