Master tee height chart.
Every club, every recommended height, the physics behind why, and what changes if you go higher or lower.
The chart
| Club | Ball-bottom height | mm | Why this height |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver (460cc, modern) | 1¾" | 44.5 | Half the ball above the crown; promotes ascending strike |
| Driver (older 440cc) | 1½" | 38.1 | Smaller head sits lower at address |
| Mini driver | 1" | 25.4 | Ball equator near crown; clean compression |
| 3-wood (off the tee) | 1" | 25.4 | Same as mini driver |
| 5-wood (off the tee) | ¾" | 19.0 | Slightly smaller head; lower tee |
| Hybrid (17-19°) | ¾" | 19.0 | Plays like a small fairway wood |
| Hybrid (22°+) | ¼" | 6.4 | Plays like an iron; tee just clears mat |
| Driving iron (2-iron, utility) | ¼" | 6.4 | "Just off the deck" position |
| 4-iron through 7-iron (Par 3) | ¼" | 6.4 | Clean strike with ball-first contact |
| 8-iron through wedge (Par 3) | ¼" or flush | 0 to 6 | Wedges often play better off the deck |
What "ball-bottom" means
Ball-bottom is the height of the lower pole of the ball above the ground (or mat surface). A USGA-conforming golf ball is 1.68" (42.67mm) in diameter, so ball-center is always ball-bottom + 0.84" (21.33mm) and ball-top is ball-bottom + 1.68" (42.67mm).
What changes if you go higher or lower
Published research and TrackMan data converge: the USGA's own R22-08 study on tee-height effects on drive distance found that within each skill level, carry distance for mid and high tee heights was significantly longer than low tee heights, "largely an effect of the higher tees promoting higher launch angles and less spin."
Practical rule of thumb: every ¼-inch of additional driver tee height adds roughly 1 degree of launch angle and reduces spin by approximately 200 RPM, with the ball moving toward the upper-center of the face. PGA Tour averages cluster around 10.4° launch and 2,760 RPM spin for ~295 yard carries.
Why you cannot just "tee it higher to hit it farther"
Above a certain tee height, the angle of attack becomes too steep, the strike moves to the very top of the face, and you start to "balloon" the ball: extremely high launch with too much backspin. The sweet spot for most golfers is 10° to 14° launch with 2,200 to 2,800 RPM spin.
What we ship in the 4-pack
Three SKUs from this table: 1¾" driver (×2), 1" mini driver / 3-wood (×1), ¼" 2-iron / utility / Par 3 (×1). Together they cover roughly 95% of tee-up situations a typical practicer encounters.
What is the standard tee height for a driver?
1¾ inches (44.5mm) ball-bottom for a modern 460cc driver. This puts half the ball above the crown at address.
Is teeing it higher always better?
No. Above the sweet spot you balloon the ball (too much launch, too much spin, lost distance). Most golfers optimize at 10-14° launch and 2,200-2,800 RPM spin.
Does tee height matter on a simulator?
Critically. Your launch monitor reads tee height directly through launch angle. A simulator tee that does not match your on-grass height calibrates your practice to numbers that do not exist on the course.