Is it OK to not tee the ball on a par 3? No, no and no

Question: I take a lot of ribbing because I don’t use a tee on par 3s, preferring to just drop it on the turf and go. Am I missing something?

Answer: We’re not sure a discussion on teeing up fits into the equipment arena, but since it also involves irons, we’ll allow it. Look, we’re always of the mind that you should do you, but only after you have all the information, so here goes.

We understand the premise. You hit irons all the time directly off the turf so why wouldn’t you do it on a par 3? There are more than a few reasons. To begin with, most golfers are more comfortable hitting irons when the ball is slightly propped up. Think a cushy lie in the fairway or first cut of rough. The tee box features (or should feature) a closer, tighter cut of grass. So the familiarity argument kind of falls flat on its face.

The biggest reason, however, why choosing to hit off the ground is as boneheaded a move as trying to carry a 3-wood 230 yards over water is that it robs you of yards that can be useful. Arccos data from 2023 shows the amount of distance golfers of all skill levels gain from hitting an iron off a tee versus fairway-height grass, and the smarter choice is pretty clear.

Taking data from all players with all irons, the gain is 12 yards—143.4 yards from the grass versus 155.3 yards off the tee. That’s a full club less to reach the green. It’s also nearly universal with each club as no iron from 3-iron to 9-iron showed less than a 9.7-yard increase. Does more distance mean more greens hit? You bet. On all shots from fairway-type grass, the green-in-regulation percentage for all handicaps was 36.2 percent. With a tee, it was 40.7 percent.

The distance increase is sure to open some eyes, but it makes sense. A ball propped up tends to promote a shallower swing. That results in not hitting down on the ball as much, thereby reducing the kind of distance-robbing spin that results from ballooned shots.

Erika Larkin, the director of instruction at The Club at Creighton Farms in Aldie, Va., and a Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher in America, gets right to the point on whether you should use a tee when it’s an option for hitting an iron shot.

“Anytime you can use a tee, do it,” Larkin says. “Getting the ball up a quarter inch off the ground for those par-3 iron shots takes the turf out of play, reducing the chance of a fat or thin miss. If you cast (release the club early) or scoop at the bottom of your swing, hitting off a tee is a big help. Take advantage of any benefit you can within the rules. This is one of them.”

More distance, more greens hit and less chance of a bad mis-hit are pretty strong arguments in favor of teeing up. However, there’s one more: When is the last time you saw a tour player step up on a par 3 and plop the ball down on the turf? If those whose livelihood depends on playing their best don’t do it, odds are it’s not the right play for you, either.