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History of Golf Tees
- Tuitje. In the late 13th century in Holland, golf, called kolfspel, was played by hitting a ball into a series of targets.
- Grant Tee. In late 1899, George Grant patented a golf tee that helped to elevate the ball. ...
- Reddy Tee. The Reddy Tee was invented by inventor William Lowell in 1921. ...
- Materials. ...
- Environment. ...
Who invented the first American wooden golf tee?
Jul 03, 2018 · In 1899, Boston dentist Dr. George Grant, frustrated with this tedious and messy process, invented a wooden golf tee. Dr. Grant was born to escaped slaves in 1846, eventually finding work as an assistant at a dentist’s office.
How did the grant tee help the game of golf?
Oct 26, 2020 · The year that George Franklin Grant created the golf tee was in 1898 according to the site linked above, and the year that it was made commercially was in 1921 by William Lowell. Since then, the design and materials of golf tees have not changed all that much.
What is a tee in golf made of?
The golf tee finally found its modern form - and its audience - with the introduction of the Reddy Tee. The Reddy Tee was the invention of Dr. William Lowell Sr. - like Grant, a dentist - who patented his design in 1925 (U.S. Patent #1,670,627).
Who invented the Reddy Tee?
The world’s first patented golf tee was invented by two Scots: William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas. Their patent document is dated 1889 and describes a small rubber plate with a raised ball support in the form of upright prongs or a hollow cylinder. This tee sat up on top of the ground and became cumbersome in windy conditions.

How was tee invented?
On 12th December 1899, an American dentist, Dr George F Grant, one of the first black graduates of Harvard College, was the first American to patent a tee that he had invented in 1898. It was a peg with a rubber top and was pushed into the ground, and is very close to the modern tee, but it did not have a concave head.
When were golf tees first used?
The first known tee to pierce the ground was a rubber-topped peg sold commercially as the "Perfectum." This was patented in 1892 by Percy Ellis of England. In 1899, an African-American dentist, Dr. George Franklin Grant, obtained a patent for an "improved golf tee".
Who created the golf tee What was different about them back then?
Starting with paper then cork and rubber. The world's first patented golf tee was invented by two Scots: William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas. Their patent document is dated 1889 and describes a small rubber plate with a raised ball support in the form of upright prongs or a hollow cylinder.
Who invented the martini golf tee?
Cliff BakerThey're all made from a proprietary polymer resin created by Cliff Baker, a member of the Plastics Hall of Fame. Are they legal? --Yes; all four types of Martini Tees have been evaluated by both the US Golf Association and the R&A and they all conform with the Rules of Golf.
What is a green in golf?
Definition of putting green : a smooth grassy area at the end of a golf fairway containing the hole also : a similar area usually with many holes that is used for practice.
Why do pros use wooden tees?
While the stiff-nature of the wood is good for performance, wood golf tees do tend to break more easily, so durability is not their strong suit. Plastic golf tees, on the other hand, won't snap in half during a monster drive, but they do have a tendency to bend. Material make-up isn't the only way golf tees vary.Nov 26, 2019
Are golf tees patented?
The first patent for the golf tee is marked on this date in 1899 to George F. Grant. He was one of the first Black golfers in post-Civil War America and one of the first Black dentists too. His was the blueprint for today's wooden and plastic tees and also the last recognition for his invention.
What is the purpose of a golf tee?
The Official Rules of Golf state a tee is a device that raises the golf ball above the ground. Tees must be longer than four inches and cannot be used in a manner that influences the movement of the ball. The tee itself enables the golf ball to stay above ground for the initial shot of each hole.Sep 19, 2017
Who was the first African-American professional golfer on the PGA Tour?
Charlie SiffordCharlie Sifford broke barriers throughout his life. He was the first African-American to earn a PGA TOUR card and the first to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Are there any golf tees that are illegal?
No other tee has introduced a ramp that launches the ball for the golfer. While the Lof-Tee may be 'illegal' according to the rules of golf it does conform with assisting golfers in getting their rounds off to a quicker and more exciting start.Feb 14, 2014
Are there illegal golf tees?
A tee must not: Be longer than 4 inches (101.6 mm). Be designed or manufactured in such a way that it could indicate line of play. Unduly influence the movement of the ball or otherwise assist the player in making a stroke or in his play.May 26, 2013
Do Martini tees affect ball flight?
Most golfers are not finding that their Slices are reduced or that their ball flight is straighter. Many report higher ball flight due to the increased tee height and lighter material that these plastic tees are made of.
Who invented the golf tee?
Quick Answer: The man who is largely accepted as the inventor of the modern wood golf tee is George Franklin Grant ( source) Grant was actually not only the inventor of the golf tee, but he was actually very influential in other areas of life. He was actually the first African American professor at Harvard and was a Boston dentist.
When were golf tees invented?
The year that George Franklin Grant created the golf tee was in 1898 according to the site linked above, and the year that it was made commercially was in 1921 by William Lowell. Since then, the design and materials of golf tees have not changed all that much.
Why are plastic golf tees so popular?
Plastic golf tees are starting to gain a lot of popularity in the sport because of their effectiveness. While it can’t be proven, there are some golfers out there that think that less friction is involved, and the golf ball comes off cleaner off of a plastic tee. Another advancement in golf tee technology is the fact that some plastic golf tees are ...
Why is finding your tee after your shot so hard?
The only hassle is finding your tee after your golf shot because they can actually travel a good distance from where the shot took place. Nick Lomas is the founder of GolfSpan, an avid golfer, not quite a pro but has over 15-years of experience playing and coaching golfers from all over the world.
Where was the first golf tee made?
The golf tee was invented in Boston, Massachusetts according to practically any source on the internet, so Boston has a special place in golf history. The first commercial golf tee was actually produced at Maplewood Golf Club according to Scottish Golf History and it was called the Reddy Tee.
When was the last time the golf tee was updated?
Last Updated: October 26, 2020 by Nick Lomas. Golf is a sport that has obviously come a long way with today’s technology and inventions. Still, there are some things that are basically the same design from the beginning. That is exactly how the golf tee is.
Can a wood tee be innovated?
When you think about it, a wood tee really can’t be innovated that much so they have practically stayed the same in design and technology. What both dentists did for the game of golf was huge and should definitely be remembered by avid participants in the sport of golf.
World's first golf tee patent
In the early days of golf, golf tees as we know them today were not part of the game. To elevate the ball for a drive, one had to build a tiny mound of dirt or sand and balance the ball on top. Fed up with this messy nuisance, a few golfers broke with tradition and tried using portable manufactured tees.
Peg tees
Tees that sat on top of the ground had an annoying tendency to fly away upon getting smacked with the club. A solution, advertised in British golf journals of the 1890s, was the use of peg-shaped tees that could be pushed into the ground.
The modern tee
While the turn of the 19th-20th century saw many tee inventions of various forms and materials, none of these novelties grew popular enough to threaten the centuries-old tradition of the sand tee.
Appendix: Patent details
The list of patents below covers only the tees discussed on this page. More extensive patent lists can be found in Valenta's book. One should keep in mind that patents are not necessarily "firsts": surely there were golfers who fashioned makeshift tees out of paper or cork, or whittled pegs out of sticks, without seeking patent protection.
Who invented the golf tee?
The first really famous patent for a golf tee came from inventor Dr. George Grant. A dentist from the Boston area and one of the first black graduates from Harvard Dental School, Grant invented the first American wooden golf tee. The tee consisted of a wooden peg attached to a rubber tube with a cup on the top to hold the ball.
What was the first golf tee?
Lowell’s patented “Reddy Tee” is the first modern golf tee. The familliar one piece wooden peg with hollowed out top became the standard even today. Dr. Lowell even had golf great Walter Hagen advertising his invention. Although there where many other golf tee inventions, these are the main ones.
When did golf tees start?
This is the history of the golf tee. The original rules of golf from 1744 state that your ball must be “teed” from the ground. Golfers where allowed to go within one club length of the original hole and use elements from the ground to tee it up. As time went on the game grew and there was a need to separate putting areas from teeing grounds.
Who invented the perfectum golf tee?
The Perfectum was the first tee to be placed in the ground. In 1897, Scottish inventor PM Matthews patented a tee called the “Vector” with a metal spike and rubber cup to hold the ball which further held the ball in place. The first really famous patent for a golf tee came from inventor Dr. George Grant.
What was the first invention to stop your ball from rolling away?
The first invention to stop your ball from rolling away was the “Perfectum” The Perfectum was patented in 1892 by Percy Ellis of Surrey, England. It was made of an iron spike base and round rubber pegs to hold the ball in place. The Perfectum was the first tee to be placed in the ground.
Who invented the golf tee? - Black Invention Myths
The first United States patent relating to a golf tee belonged to David Dalziel of Glasgow, Scotland. The patent was for a cylindrical, concave-tipped rubber tee in combination with an artificial ground surface (similar to the setup one might find at a driving range). Senat's tee (1895)
Who Invented the Golf Tee - TOM FIELDING GOLF SCHOOLトム ..
In 1991, the United States Golf Association recognized Grant as the inventor of the modern, wooden, peg golf tee - not the inventor of the golf tee itself, but of the specific type of tee that became the standard over ensuing decades. There were earlier inventors and tinkerers who experimented with various types of tees .
Who invented the golf tee?
Who invented the golf tee? World's first golf tee patent. In the early days of golf, golf tees as we know them today were not part of the game. To elevate the ball for a drive, one had to build a tiny mound of dirt or sand and balance the ball on top. Fed up with this messy nuisance, a few golfers broke with tradition and tried using portable ...
History of golf - Wikipedia
The modern game of golf is generally considered to be a Scottish invention.A spokesman for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St.
Who Invented the Golf Tee?
Dr. George Grant, one of the first Black graduates of Harvard's dental school, patented his version of the golf tee in 1899. Like the earlier "Victor" tee it combined a hollow, flexible rubber head and a rigid ground-penetrating spike; but in place of the Victor's spindly metal spike was a carrot-shaped wooden one.
A Brief History Of The Golf Tee: What You May Not Know
The first known tee that was designed to be stuck into the ground was called The Perfectom. It was created and patented by Percy Ellis of England in 1892. This golf tee was essentially a nail with a rubber ring added to the head. George Franklin Grant’s golf tee. If you research who invented the golf tee, Dr. George Franklin Grant would be ...
Who invented golf, and how did it become so popular?
Golf Questions You're Afraid to Ask: Who invented golf, and how did it become so popular? By: Jackson Wald September 26, 2020 A group of men playing golf at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St ...
What was the first golf tee?
In late 1899, George Grant patented a golf tee that helped to elevate the ball. The Grant tee was made of a wooden peg with a concave piece of rubber to hold the ball. This tee helped the golfer to hit the ball longer by allowing the golfer's club to hit under the ball.
How long have golf tees been around?
When you plant the golf tee into the ground, you don't think how they were made or where they originated from. But the reality is golf tees have been around since the middle ages.
What are golf tees made of?
Since the advent of the golf tee in the 18th and 19th centuries, tees have been created from plastic or wood. The primary wood tee is made of red cedar, found in the eastern United States. Plastic tees are also used.
What are biodegradable tees?
In the late 20th century, biodegradable tees have been provided to the public. Examples of these biodegradable tees includes animal byproducts and corn derivative. Both of these tees degrade automatically over time. The corn tee can be broken down by water.
Who invented the Reddy Tee?
Reddy Tee. The Reddy Tee was invented by inventor William Lowell in 1921. The tee was a wood tee and painted with a red top to be easily visible. Eventually, the tee was made in a variety of styles and materials. In 1924, the tee was patented by the Nieblo Manufacturing Company and made of celluloid, a type of plastic.
What is the name of the golf ball that is thrown into a series of targets?
Tuitje. In the late 13th century in Holland, golf, called kolfspel, was played by hitting a ball into a series of targets. For elevation, the "tee" used was a tuitje, a small pile of sand that elevated the ball to help the golfer hit the ball.
Who invented the golf tee?
George Franklin Grant (1847-1910) of Oswego, New York, received a degree from the Harvard Dental School in 1870 and then joined the faculty as an authority on mechanical dentistry. He was the first African-American faculty member at the university and remembered today for his invention and patenting of the golf tee.
Where was Grant born?
Grant was born in 1846 in Oswego, N.Y. Unlike many modern-day heroes, his contribution to the game was through ingenuity and resourcefulness rather than playing ability. Grant received a patent for the golf tee in 1899. His was the blueprint for today's wooden and plastic tees.
What did Grant die from?
In 1899 he improved on Percy Ellis' "Perfectum" tee. Grant died on August 21, 1910, at his vacation home in Chester, New Hampshire, of liver disease.
Who is George Franklin Grant?
George Franklin Grant is the only one of Tudor E. Grant's four children who left much of a historical trail, but it's an intriguing one, notably for an invention used by millions of golfers.
Who invented the tee?
On 12th December 1899, an American dentist, Dr George F Grant, one of the first black graduates of Harvard College, was the first American to patent a tee that he had invented in 1898. It was a peg with a rubber top and was pushed into the ground, and is very close to the modern tee, but it did not have a concave head.
When was the Victor tee invented?
A variation of this, the "Victor" tee, with a cup-shaped rubber top connected to a ground spike was patented by PM Matthews of Scotland in 1897.
What is the tee in golf?
Golfers of the 19th Century, in the living memory of the early historians, all say that the 'tee' was the area where from which you played and they 'tee'd' on the ground, as laid down in the first rules of golf 1744 - 'Your Tee must be upon the Ground'.
What does the tee mean in curling?
There is a 'tee' in curling, derived from the Gaelic word 'tigh' meaning house. The House is the coloured circles that form the target area and the curling 'tee' today is the line through the centre of the 'house' and is the target not the release line, which is the 'hog' line.
Where did the term "teaz" come from?
As the first golf tees were within a 'circle' of one club length round the hole, this could be the origin of the term. The golf tee or 'teaz' has similarities to the Dutch word 'tuitje ' pronounced 'tytee' and meaning a little conical shape, which referred to the little piles of sand or snow that would be used for the tee'ing off stroke.
When was teeing ground established?
Teeing Ground. It was not apparently until Old Tom Morris created separate teeing areas at St Andrews in 1875, as reported in the press, that this defined area became common place.
When did golfers start using cork?
Throughout the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, golfers began trying to create re-usable tees, using cork, paper or rubber. (Although the crosse (chole) players have graduated to using screw caps as their tees, early 'colf' and later 'kolf' had died out before anyone thought of developing more sophisticated tees.)

World's First Golf Tee Patent
Peg Tees
The Modern Tee
Appendix: Patent Details
- In the early days of golf, golf tees as we know them today were not part of the game. To elevate the ball for a drive, one had to build a tiny mound of dirt or sand and balance the ball on top. Fed up with this messy nuisance, a few golfers broke with tradition and tried using portable manufactured tees. Among the experimenters were two Scots, William Bloxsom and Arthur Dou…