page_title: Golf course
section_title: Teeing area
hierarchical_section_title: Golf course / Parts / Teeing area
context_page_description: A golf course is the grounds where the game of golf is played. It comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and hole. A standard round of golf consists of 18 holes. Most courses contain 18 holes; some share fairways or greens, and a subset has nine holes, played twice per round. Par-3 courses consist of nine or 18 holes all of which have a par of three strokes.
  Many older courses are links, often coastal. The first golf courses were based on the topography of sand dunes and dune slacks with a ground cover of grasses, exposed to the wind and sea. Courses are private, public, or municipally owned, and typically feature a pro shop. Many private courses are found at country clubs.
context_section_description: The game of golf is played in what is called a "round".  This consists of playing a set number of holes in an order predetermined by the course.  When playing on an 18-hole course, each hole is played once; whereas, on a nine-hole course each hole can be played twice to complete a round.  To begin a hole, players start by striking the ball off a tee.  Playing the ball off a tee can only be used on the first shot of every hole although it is not required to use a tee on the first shot.  Tees are a small wooden or plastic peg used to hold the ball up, so that when hit by the club the ball travels as far as possible.
  The first section of every hole consists of the teeing ground, or tee-box. There is typically more than one available box where a player places his ball, each one a different distance from the hole (and possibly with a different angle of approach to the green or fairway) to provide differing difficulty. The teeing ground is generally as level as feasible, with closely mown grass very similar to that of a putting green, and most are slightly raised from the surrounding fairway.
  Each tee box has two markers showing the bounds of the legal tee area. The teeing area spans the distance between the markers, and extends two-club lengths behind the markers. A golfer may play the ball standing outside the teeing area, but the ball itself must be placed and struck from within the area. A golfer may place his ball directly on the surface of the teeing ground (called hitting it "off the deck"), or the ball may be supported by a manufactured tee (limited to a height of four inches), or by any natural substance, such as a mound of sand placed on the teeing surface
  The tee markers are often color-coded for easy identification of the tee box; the order of colors, their names where appropriate, and the distance of each tee to the hole is provided on the scorecard and/or on signs identifying each hole. Most U.S. courses have four tee boxes:
  Red – Closest to the hole and often placed to minimize the influence of major hazards like water; typically used by ladies of all ages, juniors (up to age 12), and novice players of any age/gender.
  Gold- Next farthest, typically used by teenage boys, low-handicap ladies, and senior or high-handicap men.
  White – Farther still, typically used by low-to-average-handicap men and low-handicap teenage boys.
  Black or Blue – The farthest tee from the hole and with the most exposure to any major hazards; typically used only during tournaments or by zero-handicap ("scratch") male players.
  There may be additional tees available, depending on the course, and they may be labeled or colored differently depending on the club and its normal patronage. A club catering to senior players, for instance, may offer an additional tee further forward of the ladies' tee, labeled for "senior ladies". A municipal course may label a similarly placed tee the "junior" or "novice" tees. Silver and gold may be used to denote senior ladies' and men's tees, with the regular men's tee being white and the tournament tee being blue.
  In recent years, many golf courses have introduced mixed or "combo" tee boxes.  A combo consists of playing some holes from one color of tee box and the remainder from one tee box ahead (or back).  The selected tee box for each hole in a combo configuration is shown on the scorecard.  Each combo tee configuration normally has its own course and slope rating.  The use of combo tees allow courses to offer one or more additional options with respect to total yardage at a minimal cost.  They can be effectively used when there is a large difference in total course distance between two traditional tee levels.
  In casual play, the tee a player hits from is usually their prerogative (there is no rule prohibiting a man from hitting off the closest tee box, nor any prohibiting a woman from using the tournament tee), but players will generally gravitate toward the traditional tee for their gender and/or age, as this will provide the best results given a player's nominal drive distance. Groups are often encourage
caption: Tee for the first hole at The Links at Spanish Bay
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