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GolfTest
USA 2009 Comprehensive Golf Tee Test
For
several years GolfTest USA has received many requests to
conduct a test of all the new tees that have been developed
and introduced to the golfing public. Initially we resisted
because we thought “Well, a tee is a tee”. As time went
on and we visited golf shows around the USA, we saw more
and more different, innovative types and designs of tees;
we knew we needed to respond to the changing times. We begin
contacting all the companies that make golf tees and we
thought we would have 10 to 12 models of tees in the test.
When all was said and done we had more than two dozen tees
in the test.
We are not aware of any other similar independent test that
has been conducted to date so we believe the results of
this comprehensive tee test will be of interest to all golfers.
Many of the companies that market tees make claims that
their tees “improve” distance, help to maintain a consistent
ball height, are eco friendly or are very durable. Thus
we came up with 10 criteria that we had testers evaluate
for each of the tees in the test. The testers were instructed
to NOT compare a tee to the other tees in the test. They
were directed to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being
best each tee in each of the criteria. We asked them to
be fair and unbiased as best as they could be and to not
be influenced by any of the other tees in the test when
it came to rating each tee. Each tester was instructed to
play one round of golf with each tee. At the end of each
round they rated that tee so that their perceptions were
fresh in their mind.
Once we had 60 testers rate each tee we reviewed the evaluations
and picked the 50 testers that we felt rated all the tees
in the fairest and most consistent manner to insure that
the results attained had a statistically valid margin of
error of +/- 3%.
The
results proved to be very interesting. Because of the different
designs of some tees there were some criteria that had quite
a wide range from low to high ratings. Some of the tees
were made of plastic composites which made them very durable
while other tees were made of wood and could never last
as long as the plastic composite designs. A couple of the
tees were designed to also be used as ball mark repair tools
on the greens while some were not suitable to be used to
repair ball marks at all. Some of the tees were designed
to assist the golfer in maintaining a consistent ball height
while other tees offered no markings. The surfaces on which
the ball rests on some tees were designed to offer less
resistance than a standard tee. There appear to be results
showing that some tees did promote more distance of the
tee. However because there was no actual scientific testing
done we are not prepared at this time to say that it is
in fact true.
In the near future we will be writing an article focusing
on the features and benefits of each tee in the test and
we will also be filming a video demonstrating each of the
tees. The article will be posted on www.golftestusa.com
and will be made available to various golf publications
in the US and around the world should they choose to publish
it. The video will be available on our website as well as
YouTube. We believe there will be a lot of interest from
golfers wanting to find out how these tees performed when
used by real golfers under actual playing conditions.
 Based
on the results we have awarded all the tees that participated
in this test our GolfTest USA Seal of Excellence.
Whenever you see the GolfTest USA Seal of Excellence
associated with a golf product you can be assured that it
will be of superior quality, performance and value.
Here
is the criterion that was used for the test. We are confident
that the results will help golfers determine which tees
would be best for them to try based on what factors are
important to them when choosing a tee.
Golf Tee Test Criteria
1: Do you feel this tee helps improve the distance
of your drives?
2: How easy is it to insert this tee into the ground?
3: Rate how much you like the design of this tee.
4: Rate how durable this tee is.
5: Rate how Eco friendly you feel this tee is.
6: Does this tee help you maintain a consistent ball height?
7: How easy is it to place the ball on this tee?
8: Is this tee helpful in fixing ball marks and cleaning
the grooves on clubs?
9: Rate how strongly you would recommend this tee to other
golfers.
10: Taking in account all the factors that are important
to you in a tee rate it overall?
Overall
Average:
Once we compiled the results from the 60 testers we averaged
all the 10 criteria to come up with an “Overall Average”
for each tee. This number can be compared to see which tees
rated the highest taking into account all the criteria in
the test. When comparing the “Overall Average” it is important
to keep in mind that one criterion for a particular tee
may have an adverse negative effect when we calculated the
“Overall Average”. Some examples follow.
1: A
tee like the Zero Friction tee is designed to reduce friction
thus increasing distance but in the process it is more difficult
to easily place the ball on it because of its three prong
design.
2: Because
of the Brush Tee and Royal Tee designs they are not suitable
to use for repairing ball marks.
3: The
SuperAir tee has a very thin shaft which is fragile thus
affecting it “Durability” rating.
To see how the tees were stack ranked in each criterion
please “click” on the top of each column you wish to view.
| Golf Tee |
#1 Increase Distance |
#2 Insert into the ground |
#3 Design |
#4 Durability |
#5 Eco Friendly |
#6 Consistent Height |
#7 Ease of Ball Placement |
#8 Fix Ball Marks, Clean Grooves |
#9 Recommend to Other Golfers |
#10 Overall |
Average of all Criteria |
| Evolve Epoch | 9.0 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.9 |
| Perfect Tee | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.9 |
| ECO RRT | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.8 |
| Launcher II Pro | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 8.8 |
| Royal Tee | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 6.3 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.7 |
| SmarTee | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.7 |
| Launcher Pro | 8.9 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| ECO END | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.6 |
| Tomahawx Tee | 8.8 | 7.7 | 8.2 | 9.2 | 8.9 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 7.4 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.6 |
| Xt-1 Tee | 9.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Pride Pro Length | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 7.6 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 8.6 |
| Unbreakable Tee | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Zero Friction | 9.1 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Piranha Tee | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.5 |
| 4 Yards More | 9.1 | 7.8 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 8.2 | 6.7 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 8.5 |
| Distance Tee (Sideways) | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 7.8 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.5 |
| Viper Tee | 8.9 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.5 |
| Distance Tee (Forward) | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.4 |
| Brush Tee XLT | 8.8 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 7.8 | 6.6 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.2 |
| Brush Tee | 8.9 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 7.7 | 6.3 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.2 |
| Brush Tee 3Wood | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 6.5 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 |
| Pride Step Tee | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 9.1 | 8.8 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Stinger Tee | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.2 |
| SuperAir T70 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 6.2 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.0 |
| SuperAir T40 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 6.3 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.0 |
Below
are the website links for all the Tee Companies that participated
in the test. We want to thank all the Tee companies that
participated because without their cooperation this test
would not have been possible.
Zero Friction Tees www.excelgolfproducts.com
Tomahawx Tees www.tomahawx.com
Distance Tees www.d-tee.com
Xt-1 Tees www.xt1golf.com
4 Yards More Tees www.4yardsmore.com
Evolve Epoch Tees www.evolvegolf.com
Brush Tees www.brusht.com
Stinger Tees www.stingertees.com
Piranha Tees www.piranhagolf.com
SmarTee Tees www.golfteesgalore.com
Perfect Tees www.perfecttee.com
SuperAir Tees www.bykgolf.com
Royal Tees www.royalteesgolf.com
ECO Tees www.ecogolf.com
Viper Tees www.vipertee.com
Launcher Tees www.teeguard.com
Unbreakable Tees www.playingpro.com
Pride Tees www.ptsgolftees.com
Please let us know if you have any comments regarding the
Golf Tee Test either positive or negative. Send your emails
to requestatest@golftestusa.com.
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