Sometimes Tee Boxes Alignment Lie

As I stood in the tee box of the 13th hole at Southbridge Golf Club, I stared at my club and took a deep breath. My aiming point was a divot mark three feet in front of the club face. The hole lay 144 yards straight off that point. An easy 6 hybrid shot that I can hit all day. But something did not feel right. The Earth’s tilt was off a degree or two? Nope the tee box did not prove a straight line to the hole and it was messing with my mind.

Tee Box Alignment

97% off all tee boxes point us straight to the flag. The remaining 3% are off by a degree or two or more as if the golf course architect free handed that particular hole or the ground keeper played lawn darts with the tee box markers. The key to these holes is to trust in the aim and swing process.

Tricks to Ignore Tee Box Alignment

Here are a few tricks I use to ignore poor tee box alignment:

• Move away from the tee box markers if they are arrows. I do not want the marker in my vision because it will remind me of the tee box angle.
• Trust in my aim. It rarely fails me so just swing.
• If I don’t feel good, I don’t swing. I exit my swing and start over and make sure my aiming point is true.

Just remember that greens keepers are human too and sometimes that feel like making the course a bit more challenging from putting the cup on the meanest slope of the green or misaligning the tee box. The tee box tells you where you can hit from not where to aim. Just play your game and swing away.