Question on Tee Markers and the Rules

[Hays33d]

So the USGA rule book is about as fun to read as Conrad on acid, but I do have a question regarding the Teeing Ground in relation to the Tee Markers that it doesn't seem to make very clear.

I was in a match where a competitor late in the round said, "you know I noticed you teed up in front of the teeing ground several times. I'm not going to call you on it but someone in the future might...."

I'll bypass commenting on his passive-aggressive way of telling me this, but what bothered me about it was I was sure I was teeing up in the middle of the tee markers at the course. Basically they were rectangular blocks of granite and I was in a line either in the middle of them or maybe a shade towards the front of them. But never thought I was in front of the front edge of the marker.

What is the official "very front" of the teeing ground? Since markers come in all shapes and sizes and many are really in wacky shapes (prancing horses, for example), what constitutes the front?

[sacm3bill]

The rules say the teeing ground "is a rectangular area two club-lengths in depth, the front and the sides of which are defined by the outside limits of two tee-markers." I would interpret that to mean the front of the granite blocks (or in general whatever is being used as the markers) define the front of the teeing ground.

Btw, regarding the comment the guy made - I don't have the benefit of actually having been there but it doesn't sound like he was being passive/aggressive. Are you sure it wasn't just a polite way of informing you that you may not have been paying attention to where you were teeing? OTOH though, if his motives were pure seems like it would've been better to have called you on it at the time...

[justinp]

Just out of curiosity, what was the score of the match at the time? If it was close, it's quite possible he was just trying to rattle your cage. Whether you were or weren't teeing up too far forward, he obviously got you thinking about it toward the end of a match. On the next tee box you start thinking about where you are teeing up and it's there in your head. Your thoughts go from, "Crap, am I really doing something wrong?", to being annoyed at your competitor, etc, etc. Basically it gets you thinking about stuff other than what you are normally thinking about when you are playing in a competition. You lose some focus.

[goblue107501]

I have always been told that the line is from the front of the markers. Although you have to be careful sometimes because the maintainance crew may have one set back at a little angle. I just try and imagine taking a string and streching it from marker to marker to see if there is an angle and place the ball accordingly.

I have inadvertantly done this from time to time as well. Sometimes if I tee up near the right hand marker I'll put the ball near the front edge of the marker. After hitting and picking up the tee I notice that the left side is a back at a slight angle and if you drew a line I would be in front of the 'teeing area'. If I am playing in something offical I will be mindful of it and tee up a little behind the markers just to be safe since I know I do this occasionally.

I wasn't there, but I would think the guy was just being polite and telling you what you were doing with being a jerk about it. He probably saw it a couple of times and waited to see if it was a trend before saying anything about it. There are people out there who would probably be a jerk and give you a penalty the first time they saw you do it.

[iacas]

Just tee up a foot or two behind the front. Save yourself the grief and agony of wondering or worrying about teeing up in front of the markers.

[Hays33d]

I understand where everyone is coming from. I would have preferred being told then even if I got a penalty. At least I would have some evidence I did something wrong. Later didn't do anything for me but wonder about it and his motives.

I didn't mean for this to go off topic as much, but that is what happens in a discussion. No big deal.

Thanks for everyone's reply. I'm much clearer on the rule and have just decided to avoid it in the future by teeing behind any markers.

[Augusta Hacker]

Just tee up a foot or two behind the front. Save yourself the grief and agony of wondering or worrying about teeing up in front of the markers.

Yup, that is what I do....one of my regular playing partners used this to get into my head and now I tee up about 3 feet behind the markers. In reality it is just 1 yard and I out-drive his ass anyway by 10-20 yards......lol

[BritBoy]

Just tee up a foot or two behind the front. Save yourself the grief and agony of wondering or worrying about teeing up in front of the markers.

I was going to say the exact same thing. I always tee up back a little, just to make sure.

[AmenCorner]

Agree w/ Iacus. No need to be in your head about it whatsoever. It's an easy rule not to break.

I'd like to add that some of my friends do this quite regularly (tee up in front of markers) and it looks very amateurish. Tee it up behind the markers.

[JKilgore44]

From what I understand, only the ball has to be located within the designated hitting area. As long as the ball is within the limits of the tee markers, your foot could be ahead of them. He may have misinterpreted the ruling and thought your entire body had to be behind the markers, but I don't believe that's the case.

I've seen people tee-off from the extreme far side of the box, where the ball was just inside the tee marker and the player was outside of the box. By doing so he gave himself the maximum angle to the fairway for the shape of the shot he was trying to hit.

[Pat007]

Last year at Intersectionals, I won the last hole and on the tee box I had to wait about 5 minutes for a ruling in the group ahead of us. I put my ball on the tee (2nd tee) and was just taking practice swings. One of my competitors came over and said "I don't want to be an ass, but you're ball is ahead of the markers" and then proceeded to start bending over to picl up my ball off the tee. I don't take too kindly to other people touching my golf ball, and I replied: "If you touch my ball, you're going to finish the round with a broken hand" and I swung my club at his hand (with no intention of hitting him and far away from his hand). He ended up wanting to challenge me to a fist-fight....It was pretty funny. The worst part was, I ended up finding out he was a multi-milionnaire and was representing Royal Montreal (where last year's Presidents Cup was held). He tried to play head games with me and it ended up backfiring on him, I beat hin 6&5. HA!

[bigphil]

"If you touch my ball, you're going to finish the round with a broken hand"

thats hilarious! why would he care anyways...especially if he is being an ass (speculating) he should have kept his mouth shut to see if you somehow could get a penalty. he should read the rules again and note that you can practice on the previous putting green, any practice putting green, and the tee box of the next hole being played.

[martin00015]

I understand where everyone is coming from. I would have preferred being told then even if I got a penalty. At least I would have some evidence I did something wrong.

There would have been no penalty for what you did, only the option of a recalled stroke. I think he was doing you a favour for any future stroke play event, where there is a penalty.