If you use a “high tee” your club will go one bigger club further, and one shorter club higher.   For example, A high-teed 3-wood will go as far as a driver, and as high as a 5-wood.  This will help when getting over trees and going a long way, such as hole #9 of Laurel Park.  CAUTION!!! A high tee will have backspin or topspin reduced to 5-10% of what you’d see with a normal tee.  Also, backspin still creates a bit more loft, and roll creates a bit less loft.

In reverse, a low tee will go one club shorter for length, and one club bigger for height.  For example, a low-teed 3-wood will have the distance of a 5-wood with the height of a driver.  This helps getting through the pyramid on Falcon Sands #14 (a 2-iron low tee topspin through the hole works often here).  Expect backspin and roll to be increased 20-25% from what you’d see with a normal tee.  Also, backspin still creates a bit more loft, and roll creates a bit less loft.

Go ahead and “waste” a tee off the first hole to get a feel of how much further a high tee will go. Then you’ll be ready when you need one .

Also, we recommend playing Hawks and Hurtles on ALL courses until you’re a 23 handicap or better consistently!

On Par 4s, an important tip is to always check to see if there’s any way to reach the green with your drive. Maybe you can hook the ball around those trees, maybe you can hit over that building that looks too tall, or maybe all it takes is a good, accurate shot into a reachable green surrounded by water. If you determine that it’s possible to reach the green on your drive, the next decision should be whether or not you want to go for it! How aggressive or conservative are you feeling? There are times in Golden Tee to lay up and times to go for it, but those depend on your current situation!

On Par 5s in Golden Tee, you’re looking to see where you can drive the ball so that you can reach the green on your second shot. Sometimes you just can’t, but often times you can. Maybe you have to land the ball on a little island, maybe you have to hit off into the sand, maybe you have to land it in an area where your next shot will thread the needle between some mountains, or maybe you just need an extra long drive to clear that second lake. Again, use your imagination, and then figure out if it’s worth the risk! If you’re curious, give it a shot – you won’t know until you try! Better yet, tell your buddy to tee off before you to go for it!

Visualize the flight of your ball to the landing area. Also realize that if you plan to pull the trackball back first, you may be sacrificing some accuracy, but you may gain some distance as well. A great tip I use is if my landing area is pretty thin, I’ll just crank the ball forward against the direction of the wind so that it lands where I want it to. Review the shot types in the section on “Using the track ball”, and figure out what you want to execute!

Next, determine if you want backspin or roll on the ball (review the section on “Backspin and Roll”), and make sure you’re accounting for the wind!

Finally, execute your shot and hope for the best! It takes a lot of practice to get the ball to land exactly where you want in Golden Tee, so take notes in your head on what you did and what the results were so you can improve upon or do it again next time!

If anyone has any comments to help out here with long drives in Golden Tee, I’d love to hear them!