Golf tees. Often overlooked by golfers but the simple golf tee is an essential part of a golfers arsenal. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to get our best lies on the golf course. After all, it was Arnold Palmer who once offered the following advice during a “Playing With The Pros” segment on Golf Channel. While I won’t offer a direct quote, I will paraphrase. Always tee it up when you have the chance. Although that advice was given for Par 3 tee shots imagine trying to hit our 460CC drivers without a tee. Like I said… essential!
There is no doubt that the options for purchasing golf tees are nearly endless. Walk into any golf box store and walk down the aisle where they have the tees located. Plastic, wooden, long, short, and tees made from recycled plastic are just some of the options out there. Some claim to bring golfers distance gains. But what about a golf tee that not only could yield golfers a couple of extra yards but one that could be defined as multi-use? Introducing the subject of this review… ZoomTee USA.
The Pre-Shot Routine
ZoomTee USA is the manufacturer of golf tees that are designed to bring golfers “ultimate driving distance”. Through working with a golf professional for over a year ZoomTee designed and developed what they think is the perfect golf tee. Through the use of using an animated wind tunnel research revealed that “having the grooves in the tee increased the ball speed as the pocket of air traveled in front of the golf club at impact, thus making the ball turn forward for the ultimate driving distance”.
Furthermore, ZoomTee developed a golf tee that produced less drag (friction) at impact, was durable, had a “Height Guide” to ensure that the golf ball was being teed up at the correct height every time, and had a tip designed specifically to repair ball marks and clean the grooves of your irons and wedges.
It seems like a lot of work and a lot of positives for what seems to be a simple golf tee. But how did they actually test?
The Transition
I first came into contact with ZoomTee not too much before the 2019 PGA Merchandise Show. Having recovered from a stroke suffered in September I was excited at the prospect of not only attending the show but testing ZoomTee. In fact, I would conduct testing on the range at Demo Day which is held annually at Orange County National Golf Resort and Lodge.
I remember when I first opened the contents of the envelope from ZoomTee. Inside were a couple of poker chips and a variety of ZoomTee golf tees. ZoomTee offers its products in a variety of bright, easy to locate colors including red, white, yellow, and blue. However, because of their design and have a flat side customization options are also available. This is great for those who organize golf tournaments, pro shops to advertise their golf course or companies wishing to advertise their respective brands. I’ll be honest, upon first glance I wasn’t too sure how these golf tees would perform and to be even more honest the look of them sort of “bugged me”. Bear in mind that if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my time in the golf industry it’s that you need to keep an open mind.
So I made my way down to Florida for the PGA Show and put ZoomTee to work. The tee was easy to place into the teeing ground at OCN as it should seeing that the base there is very sandy. However, where I work and play most of my golf the soil is very clay-based. When it gets hot and the turf dries it’s very hard. Think in terms of a pottery kiln. I need to point out that inserting the tee into the ground under these (current as I write this review) conditions is also pretty easy. In comparison, typical tees have broken and splintered as they were inserted to the ground. The first victory for ZoomTee USA.
At one time or another, we as golfers will tee up a golf ball and hit our drive just to lose our golf tee. So now, you’re looking for your golf tee soaking up seconds of valuable time. The golf tee might have been your lucky golf tee. Because of the colors and size of ZoomTee locating the golf tee in the grass is extremely easy. Maybe it’s just some sort of “fluky” observation but golf tees from ZoomTee always seem to sit up in the turf. Like, I already stated. But this is only half of the equation.
ZoomTee has really been a star in one particular area. Durability. I’m sure that over time their golf tees will break. That said, you might be surprised to know that I’ve used the same tee since opening the package. I have used the same yellow ZoomTee for countless range sessions, the PGA Show Demo Day, a trip to Florida at the end of March and through I cannot tell you how many rounds of golf. What a great way to cut down on the number of broken golf tees seen on golf courses around the world. Not to mention, golf superintendents can save on their budgets. As someone who has worked throughout the industry (most notably as a Director of Golf Services), I’m fully aware of operating budgets and costs. Golfers might be surprised by how much it costs to sharpen mower blades. Because these tees are so easy to locate and the fact that they simply don’t seem to break ZoomTee is very golf course friendly.
Sure any tee can clean out the grooves of your irons and wedges but none are specifically made for that purpose. Cleaning the grooves with the “blade” of ZoomTee is a “snap”. While this feature is nice it’s the “Height Guide” that steals the show. No matter the driver that I’ve teed up. Whether it was a Callaway Golf Epic Flash, Mizuno Golf ST-190, Cleveland Golf Classics XL (which is very deep-faced) or my current gamer the TaylorMade Golf SLDR it just seemed like I was able to hit the sweet spot more often. While ZoomTee conducted their research via computer-animated wind tunnels I personally think that it’s the height that allows golfers to pick up yards.
While both golf club head and ball speed are both essential in hitting longer drives it’s the contact on the “sweet spot” that makes a ton of difference in gaining or losing yardage. Why? If your ball is teed up too low you are likely to hit with a steeper blow which consequently increases the backspin of the golf ball. Conversely, when a golf ball is teed up too high and you hit it too low on the face that hit is thin which also adds spin to the golf ball. Oh yeah, too much loft too! I can categorically state that my sweet spot impact has been way more consistent while using ZoomTee golf tees and my tee shots have appeared to be longer and on line.
The Finish
There are going to be golfers out there who will be skeptical about the claims that both ZoomTee and I have made. Believe me, I get it. I was skeptical too. ZoomTee offers a product that lasts, is practical, and quite simply works. For more information on ZoomTee please visit ZoomTee USA.
Until The Next Tee!!
#SeeUOnTheNextTee #FightAndGrind
The Next Tee (TNT) 