Basic strategy from the tee – where to tee it up?

At my home course, the ninth hole is a par 3 with an elevated green that was built into the side of a hill. To the right of the green is a cart path and rough which are several feet below the level of the green. If you hit your tee shot to the right of the green, you have to play up to the level of the green. Your second shot to the green tends to roll quite a ways after it lands because of the elevated green. Generally, you want to avoid missing the green to the right or short of the green because you are faced with a pitch shot back up to the level of the green. The right side of the par 3 is also lined with tall trees.

On the tee, it is tempting to tee up your ball on the left side of the tee (as you face the hole) to avoid the overhanging branches of the trees on the right. However, when you tee the ball to the left side of the tee, this naturally makes you aim to the right. I’ve made this mistake a few times and ended up losing the shot to the right of the green because I was aimed that way as a result of where I teed the ball on the tee box. Since the green is to the left, I should tee the ball towards the right side of the tee box because this will naturally make me aim left. This seems like a simple point but on this hole and on holes where trouble is on one side of the fairway, this tip can save you a lot of strokes.

I once gave this tip to a fellow who paired up with me on a winter’s day after he had lost his ball to the right of the green. He came over to the right side of the tee box (where I was standing) and looked at the hole from that perspective and immediately saw what I was talking about. From the right side of the tee, you will naturally aim to the left. He was amazed that such a simple tip could be so effective.

If your natural ball flight is from left to right, you would generally want to tee the ball on the right side of the tee box so you have more fairway to work with as your shot travels from left to right. If your normal ball flight is from right to left, you should tee the ball on the left side of the tee box. This will allow you more room for your shot to travel from right to left.

You can take this one step further with relation to the position of the flag on the green. If the flag is on the left side of the green and you can shoot at the flag, then generally your best angle from the fairway to the flag is from the right side of the fairway. The converse is true if the flag is on the right side of the green. Your best angle to the flag is generally from the left side of the fairway.