Rules of Golf: The Teeing Area

When referring to the tee, most golfers will naturally think of the tee box – often raised - from which they start every hole. But ‘teeing area’ under the Rules of Golf is one of the definitions you really need to know as it is a very precisely defined area. The teeing area is a rectangle two club-lengths in depth, with the forward-most points and outer-most sides of the tee markers defining its outer limits.

‘Club-length’ is also now a defined term under the Rules (the longest club you are carrying for that round, excluding your putter), so you may have to be a little careful about how far back you go, perhaps to avoid an uneven patch of ground or to get a very precise yardage on a par 3, especially if you've decided to leave a misbehaving driver out of the bag that day!

A ball is considered to be inside the teeing area even if only a tiny part of it overlaps the edge of the area, and it is perfectly permissible to stand outside the teeing area to play as long as your ball remains within it. This might be to make maximum use of the angle on the hole or to allow you to hit your preferred shot shape more comfortably.

Related: 8 Rules Golfers Break Without Realising

The penalties for, or consequences of, playing from outside the teeing area or from the wrong tee are significantly different between stroke play and match play. Playing from outside the teeing area (Rule 6-1b) would most commonly occur through lack of concentration, or perhaps care, if the tee-markers are set wide apart, when it can be all too easy to end up slightly ahead of them.

Playing from the wrong tee may seem more unlikely, but it does happen, either through going to the wrong hole when tees are set close together on an unfamiliar course, or more likely when you absent-mindedly tee off from the yellows when the competition is being played from the whites.

Playing from outside the teeing area or from the wrong set of markers is effectively the same offence under Rule 6.1b, but while the ramifications can be quite severe in stroke play, in match play, whether or not you are penalised at all is entirely at the discretion of your opponent.

In stroke play, you incur the general penalty (two strokes) and must then correct your error by playing a ball from inside the teeing area before making a stroke at your next hole, or before returning your scorecard if it happens on your final hole. Unfortunately, if you don’t correct your mistake in time, you will be disqualified.

The ‘good’ news is that any strokes with the ball played from outside the teeing area or wrong tee do not count in your score for that hole.

In match play, there is no penalty, but your opponent may immediately request that you cancel the stroke and play another ball from within the teeing area. The likelihood of this will probably depend on how good your original shot was, but if you have knocked it close on a par 3, it would be fair to assume that you will be asked to replay the shot. If, however, you have despatched it into dense jungle, don’t be too surprised if you are not asked to play again!

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Finally, any time your ball is lying in the teeing area of the hole you’re playing, it may be re-teed anywhere within that teeing area. So, if your foursomes partner almost misses it and it just topples off the tee, you may then re-tee it if it hadn't made it outside the teeing area – potentially very handy if you’re facing a long drive over water!