Do you arbitrarily tee up the ball anywhere between the tee markers? There is quite an advantage to knowing where the best location to tee up your ball is, based on your shot preference and how your eyes see the ideal landing spot.
Tee markers may be placed by the grounds crew in such a way that, whether inadvertently or intentionally, they point you toward trouble in the fairway, so it’s important to take a close look at where the markers point from the tee box every time you prepare to hit a tee shot. You may be surprised to find that the marker placement is subtly influencing your aim toward fairway bunkers and hazards, so don’t fall victim to simply making your setup parallel to the tee markers.
Instead, identify your ideal landing spot first, then locate where on the tee box you visually get the most amount of landing space. For example, let’s say there’s a lake on the left side of the fairway. If you stand on the right half of the tee box, what penalty area takes up most of your visual space (at least if you’re a right-hander)? The water!
Next, stand on the left side of the tee box. Where do you find your eyes are drawn now? All the grass in the fairway! This simple pre-shot procedure of standing on each side of the tee box to visualize where you get the largest area to land your ball will help you save shots, as you’ll be sure to hit more fairways.
