TST Member Review - Tee Claw

[newtogolf]

Product Name: Tee Claw
Product Type: Practice Equipment
Product Website/URL: teeclaw.com
Cost: $9.99 - $14.95 (various retailers)

Ratings (out of 5):
Quality: 5
Value: 5
Effectiveness: 4
Durability: 5
Esthetic Appeal: 5

 

My Member Review

I spend a lot of time hitting off of mats at local golf ranges.  The ranges aren't very well maintained, rubber tees often are stolen, destroyed or hit out onto the range so finding a mat with a decent rubber tee is often a challenge.  I always carried my own but it would sometimes get awkward as people would think I was stealing them when I was done practicing.  I liked the idea behind the Tee Claw and was looking forward to testing it because if it worked well it would solve my problem of finding mats with rubber tees.  

I first tested the Tee Claw at my instructors store, he uses a GC2 Smart Camera System with standard indoor mats.   The Tee Claw secured nicely to the mat but because the mat he uses is quite large, there was not a easy place to secure the anchor cord.  We ended up connecting two anchor cords together and attaching them to my shoe which worked well.  

The Tee Claw design prevents the tee from going into the carpet which means you will likely need to use tees that are shorter than the ones you would on a course.  I basically used the tee I'd use with my fairway woods with my driver and the ones I use with my hybrids with my woods.  I was unable to find a tee length that was short enough to work with my hybrids but I probably tee the ball lower than most people.  We eventually cut a tee that had just enough stem to fit into the tee claw and that worked okay.  

Once we had the right tee heights set, using the Tee Claw with my different clubs worked very well.  I like the idea of using the same tees I do on the course when I practice.  The Tee Claw held into my instructors carpet very well.  On the few times it came loose (mostly due to hitting the ball fat), the anchor cord attached to my shoe kept if from getting too far away.  It worked as you would expect with tees, sometimes you would pick the ball off clean and the tee and Tee Claw remained intact, other times the tee would fly out  or break but the Tee Claw remained attached to the carpet.  I left one with my instructor who liked it a lot and will probably start to use it in place of rubber tees.  His feedback is that most of his clients preferred it to rubber tees once they figured out the right tee length to use with it.  

I then took the Tee Claw to a local indoor simulator facility.  The simulators are used for multiple sports (hockey, football, soccer, baseball, dodge ball) which all require the person to stand in the middle of the floor.  Keeping a rubber tee in the middle of the floor is not possible so they have been experimenting with different tee options to solve the problem.  The issue they had with some of the solutions they tested is that the device would shoot backwards or around the room.  There was a risk someone outside the simulator could get hit with it and they kept losing the devices.  They liked the idea that the Tee Claw could be anchored to a shoe, as that would not only prevent loss but also reduce risk of someone outside the simulator getting hit in the eye.  The Tee Claw worked just like it did at my instructors store and going forward I think the Sim Company will become a good customer of Tee Claw. I left them one of the three that was included in the box so they could continue testing it.  

My last test yesterday at my local outdoor range.  The mats my local outdoor range uses are different than the mats at the indoor locations.  What I found was that it was more difficult to screw the Tee Claw all the way down into the mat like I could with the indoor mats.  This created two problems, 1) The tee height was a little higher than it was on the indoor mats and what I prefer.  2) The Tee Claw always detached from the mat from a strike.  I was able to anchor the Tee Claw to the underside of the mat so it never left the mat but it was a bit cumbersome to constantly re-secure the Tee Claw into the mat then insert the tee.  The problem is the thickness of the mats which prevents the Tee Claw from screwing all the way down into it.  I used the Tee Claw for about 40 shots and was impressed that despite being detached from the carpet  every time, the plastic tabs did not break.  

Overall, I think the Tee Claw is a great product that will always be in my practice bag.  I gave it 5's for everything except "Effectiveness" only because I had some issues with the outdoor mats and people will have to customize their tees so they are the same height with the Tee Claw and what they expect on the course.  I appreciate Tee Claw and TST for providing me with the opportunity to test it.  

[iacas]

Did you use the lanyards and Tee Claws to create any alignment lines, clubhead path lines, etc.?

It does a lot more than hold a tee on a mat.

[Golfaddict247]

Thanks for the great review! That was really helpful --- I will have to grab the Tee Claw and try it out

[Tee Claw]

Thanks for the great review!