Equipment Review: Pride Golf Tee Company, by Jeffrey Reed

Latest estimates peg the golf tee market as a $50-million business, with two billion tees sold annually. In today’s era of oversize drivers and high-tech balls, even tee manufacturers are getting into the act of introducing innovative products. Hence, the availability of tees including the composite-designed, two-pronged Perfect-Tee, the Brush-T, and in total, more than 30 types of tees from which to choose.

Up until 2001, less than five per cent of all tees sold by the Pride Golf Tee Company were 2 ¾ inches or taller. Today, with 460cc drivers in the hands of everyone from weekend duffers to Tiger Woods, Pride now counts tees measuring 2 ¾ inches and taller as 70-per-cent of its business. With club faces on oversized drivers up to 41 per cent higher than their predecessors, it only makes sense to manufacture a golf tee suited to sweeten the sweet spot on the big dog.

The old standby – the wooden tee – accounts for up to 90 per cent of the tee market. Pride, the world’s leading producer of golf tees, makes sure your cup of tea is available at the local pro shop, thanks to the colour-coded Professional Tee System: 2 c-inch red-ringed Shortee; 2 ¾-inch yellow-ringed ProLength; 3 ¼-inch blue-ringed ProLength Plus; and the monster 4-inch green-ringed ProLength MAX.

Choosing a tee is as easy as 1-2-3 – 2 c-inch for irons and hybrids, for example. Pride Golf Tee Company now makes choosing wooden tees at the pro shop an easy task, too. A 50-pack of the new ProLength MAX tees – the longest allowed by the USGA – has a suggested retail price of $4.99 US. For more information, visit www.pridegolftee.com.