Rules Guy: This question about using a rubber driving range-style tee during a round was the year’s most read

December 31, 2019

In every issue of GOLF Magazine, our readers are invited to submit their most confounding rules conundrums to our resident expert, the Rules Guy. In 2019, Rules Guy covered just about every angle of the game we all love, from the legality of employing a drone to get an inside look at a hole location to using a shadow on the green as an alignment aid.

But there are some topics that piqued our readers’ interest more than others. A question about whether it’s legal to use a rubber driving range-style tee during a round was published online in September, and became the most-read Rules Guy question of the year. You can revisit both the question and Rules Guy’s answer in its entirety below.

Love reading about the rules? Remember, you can always send your rules-related queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

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I play year-round here in Colorado. Come winter, it can be hard, and sometimes impossible, to get a tee in the ground, so I use a rubber tee like the ones at driving ranges. Is this permissible — and, if so, is it permissible year-round? I like that the ball is always the same height at address, and my drives are more consistent as a result. —DEAN MARRACCINI, NIWOT, COLO.

You want to know where the rubber meets the road, Rules-wise. As long as your rubber tee doesn’t exceed four inches in height, it’s perfectly acceptable to use, regardless of the ground conditions. Keep burning rubber on those tee shots and you might just turn into a trendsetter.

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