Teeing up the golf ball is the most overlooked aspect of the set-up. If a golfer is not consistent with the height of their tee (with respect to the club in their hand), both the contact and the flight of the golf ball will be unpredictable.
One should pay as much attention to tee height as they would ball position, or any other part of the set-up (the things a golfer does before they take the swing in order to prepare to hit a shot). Since we only tee a golf ball up once per-hole (on the tee-box, or 'the first shot on each hole' for those unfamiliar with golf terminology), we should make sure to get it right so that there is no guesswork involved.
Tee-height should be different for every club in the bag.
For a short par three hole we would be using a very lofted club such as a pitching wedge or nine iron. When teeing up a ball for these clubs, tee height should be minimal. If the ball is teed up too high with a lofted club there will be a greater chance of the club sliding too far underneath the ball and catching the ball well above the sweet spot on the clubface. So, the tee should be pushed almost all the way into the ground so that the ball is resting barely above the turf. The golfer should treat the shot like an ordinary shot from the fairway, hitting down on the ball and allowing the clubhead to travel into the turf after contact.
For a medium to longer length par three hole, a mid to long iron would be the appropriate club. The tee height on these shots should be just a bit higher than it was with the more lofted clubs because we are not hitting down on the ball quite as dramatically. Since the swing is a bit more of a sweeping motion than a steep descending blow, the clubhead will be travelling 'along the turf' more than down into it. This means the sweet spot on the clubface will be a bit higher than it was with a more lofted club, so the ball is teed just a wee bit higher.
When teeing up a ball for a hybrid club or fairway wood, again, the ball is set just a tiny bit higher than it was with the mid to long irons. As the swing becomes less of a descending blow and more of a sweep (where we are catching the ball as the clubhead reaches the bottom of the swing arc) the ball should be teed up a fraction higher.
Lastly, the driver. When setting a ball on the tee for the big dog, there is a general guideline; set the ball on the tee so that when the driver's clubhead is resting on the ground, half of the ball is visible above the top of the clubhead. The ball is teed up so high with this club because the intent with the driver is to catch the ball on the clubface as the clubhead is just starting to come up from the bottom of the swing arc. In other words, we should hit the driver slightly on the upswing. Also, the sweet spot on a driver is higher on the clubface than it is on the other clubs merely because there is more surface area. The sweet spot on a three-wood might be a half-inch up from the bottom of the clubface, whereas the sweet spot on a driver might be a full inch from the bottom.
Just like every other part of the set-up (grip, stance, alignment, posture, and ball position), the more consistent we are with tee height the more repeatable our swings become.
