The short answer: in the tests we found, yes. In a 2021 MyGolfSpy test of 120 drives off each tee, a 1½-inch tee carried about 14 yards farther than a ½-inch tee. In a 2006 GOLF Magazine study of 27 golfers, from scratch to a 29 handicap, a high tee carried an average of 12 yards farther than a low one, and it didn’t cost fairways. There is a limit: in a robot test, drives struck a little above the center of the face flew farthest, and higher still dropped back.
This article goes with episode 12 of HYTON Golf, our video series that cuts golf open in 3D. It explains what tee height does to a drive, not how to swing. Every fact below is linked to its source at the end.
Key numbers
| Number | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 14.19 yd | Extra carry off a 1½-inch tee compared with a ½-inch tee, 120 drives off each (14.66 yd in total distance) | MyGolfSpy (2021) |
| >4 mm / 3.54° / 326 rpm | Off the ½-inch tee: impact that much lower on the face, launch that much lower and backspin that much higher | MyGolfSpy (2021) |
| 1.68° | How much more upward the attack angle was off the taller tee | MyGolfSpy (2021) |
| 244 vs 241 yd | Carry from 0.3 in above the center of the face vs the center, 95 mph robot | GOLF.com (2022) |
| −0.9° / +2.8° | Average driver attack angle on the PGA Tour / LPGA Tour | TrackMan |
| About 30 yd | Extra carry Fredrik Tuxen gave for hitting up 5° instead of down 5°, same 90 mph | Keiser University College of Golf (2025) |
| 12 yd / 18 yd | Average extra carry, high tee vs low tee: all 27 golfers / high handicappers | GOLF Magazine (2006), via GOLF.com |
| 61.5% / 58.5% / 54.1% | Drives that found the fairway from the high, low and middle tees | GOLF Magazine (2006), via GOLF.com |
| 4 in | Longest tee the rules allow (101.6 mm) | USGA Equipment Rules |
More numbers from the series, each with its source: Golf by the Numbers.
Watch the episode: Does Teeing It Higher Add Distance? on YouTube (5:14).
The test
In 2021, MyGolfSpy compared two tee heights, measured from the ground: half an inch and an inch and a half. It hit 120 drives off each with the same driver and ball, and a launch monitor tracked every shot. Off the taller tee, carry was 14.19 yards longer on average, and total distance 14.66 yards longer. The write-up doesn’t say how many golfers hit the drives or how fast they swung, so treat it as one test, not a rule for every golfer.
Off the ½-inch tee, impact was more than 4 mm lower on the face. Launch was 3.54 degrees lower and backspin 326 rpm higher. The taller tee also hit more fairways, was more forgiving and gained more strokes, MyGolfSpy said, though it didn’t give numbers for those.
Two things changed at once: where the ball met the face, and which way the club was moving. The next two sections take them one at a time.
Where the ball meets the face
A taller tee puts the ball higher on the face. In February 2022, GOLF.com had Gene Parente of Golf Laboratories set a swing robot to 95 mph with a 10.5-degree driver and a −2 degree attack angle, and hit three balls at each of five spots up and down the face. From the center, carry was 241 yards. A strike 0.3 inch low carried 232, and 0.6 inch low 219. A strike 0.3 inch high carried 244, the longest of the five.
Parente’s range check for a strike that’s too low: “if it goes out and rises, that means the ball has too little launch and too much spin.” Why a higher strike launches higher with less spin, through the face’s curve and gear effect, is in our article on where to hit the driver face.
Hitting up
A taller tee changes the club’s direction too. TrackMan calls it attack angle: whether the club head is moving up or down when it meets the ball. In MyGolfSpy’s test, the attack angle off the taller tee was 1.68 degrees more upward on average.
For scale, TrackMan’s tour averages with the driver are −0.9 degrees on the PGA Tour, slightly down, and +2.8 degrees on the LPGA Tour, up.
Launch and spin
Why does hitting up matter? Spin depends on what TrackMan calls spin loft. Subtracting attack angle from dynamic loft gives a close approximation of it, and all else equal, a higher spin loft gives a higher spin rate. Keep the loft the same and hit up, and spin loft shrinks.
TrackMan’s Fredrik Tuxen put numbers on it, as quoted by Dr. T.J. Tomasi of Keiser University’s College of Golf. For a golfer with a 90 mph club speed, hitting down 5 degrees, the best launch is about 10 degrees with about 3,100 rpm of spin. Hitting up 5 degrees at the same speed, it becomes about 16 degrees with about 2,200 rpm, and Tuxen said that combination carries the ball almost 30 yards farther.
That’s the direction the taller tee pushed things in MyGolfSpy’s test: launch about 3.5 degrees higher, 326 rpm less spin.
Twenty-seven golfers
One test isn’t enough, so here is another. In a study for GOLF Magazine in June 2006, republished by GOLF.com, Eric Alpenfels and Bob Christian, Ph.D., had 27 golfers aged 25 to 71, from scratch to a 29 handicap, hit drives at three tee heights. There were nine golfers in each handicap group: 0 to 9, 10 to 19 and 20 and up.
Low meant the top of the ball was level with the top of the driver. Middle meant half the ball sat above the crown. High meant the whole ball sat above it. Each golfer hit 10 drives at each height, the best five were recorded, and a launch monitor measured them.
The high tee gave the most distance: an average of 12 more yards of carry than the low tee. High handicappers gained the most, an average of 18 yards, as the study reported. The 0 to 9 group went from 211.64 to 222.92 yards, about 11 yards more, our arithmetic. The write-up puts the gains largely down to higher launch and lower spin. Afterward, 9 of the 27 golfers planned to switch from a middle to a high tee.
Accuracy
More distance usually raises a worry: do you spray it more? Not in that study. With a 33-yard fairway, 61.5% of drives from the high tee found it, 58.5% from the low tee and 54.1% from the middle, based on 135 drives at each height. So the extra carry didn’t come at the expense of accuracy.
MyGolfSpy found the same direction: the taller tee hit more fairways and was more forgiving. Two studies don’t prove it for every golfer, but neither found the higher tee costing accuracy.
How high is too high?
Higher isn’t better without limit. Go back to the robot: 0.3 inch above the center carried farthest, at 244 yards, but 0.6 inch above dropped back to 237. And the Equipment Rules set a ceiling: a tee must not be longer than 4 inches (101.6 mm).
On the course
In these tests, the taller tee moved the strike up the face and the club’s path upward. The ball launched higher, spun less and carried 12 to 14 yards farther, without costing fairways. Just not so high that the strike climbs past the longest spot on the face. Where your own strikes land is the thing to check, and our article on where to hit the driver face shows a simple way to see it.
Illustrations by HYTON; flight shapes, impact positions and angles are illustrative (angles exaggerated where marked), and the figures marked as our arithmetic are ours. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MyGolfSpy, GOLF.com, GOLF Magazine, Golf Laboratories, TrackMan, Keiser University or the USGA.
Sources
- MyGolfSpy Labs, “Tee Height – A Solution to the ‘Distance Problem’?” (February 19, 2021): ½-inch vs 1½-inch tee, measured from the ground, 120 drives per height; off the ½-inch tee, impact more than 4 mm lower on the face, launch 3.54° lower, 326 rpm more backspin; the 1½-inch tee carried 14.19 yd farther (14.66 yd total), with an attack angle 1.68° more positive, a higher fairways-hit percentage, more forgiveness and higher strokes gained
- Jonathan Wall, “RoboTest: How to gain 25 yards from one simple tee adjustment,” GOLF.com (February 16, 2022): Golf Laboratories robot run by Gene Parente, 10.5° driver, 95 mph, −2° attack angle, three balls per spot; carry 241 yd from the center, 232 / 219 yd from 0.3 / 0.6 in low, 244 / 237 yd from 0.3 / 0.6 in high; Parente: a drive that goes out and rises has too little launch and too much spin
- TrackMan, “What is Attack Angle?” (September 23, 2024): the vertical direction of the club head’s movement at impact; average driver attack angle −0.9° on the PGA Tour, +2.8° on the LPGA Tour
- TrackMan, “What is Spin Loft?” (September 23, 2024): subtracting attack angle from dynamic loft gives a close approximation of spin loft; all else equal, a higher spin loft results in a higher spin rate
- Dr. T.J. Tomasi, “Angle of Attack’s Role in How Far You Hit Your Driver,” Keiser University College of Golf (April 10, 2025): quoting Fredrik Tuxen of TrackMan: at 90 mph, a −5° attack angle has an optimal launch of about 10° with 3,100 rpm; +5°, about 16° with 2,200 rpm, carrying the ball almost 30 yards farther
- Zephyr Melton, GOLF.com (October 14, 2026), from GOLF Magazine (June 2006), study by Eric Alpenfels and Bob Christian, Ph.D.: 27 golfers aged 25 to 71, scratch to 29 handicap, nine per group; low tee: top of the ball level with the top of the driver; middle: half the ball above the crown; high: the whole ball above the crown; 10 drives per height, best five recorded; high tee an average of 12 yd more carry than low, high handicappers an average of 18; fairways hit 61.5% high, 58.5% low, 54.1% middle (135 drives per height, 33-yard fairway); 9 of 27 planned to switch from middle to high
- USGA, Equipment Rules, Part 6: Tees: a tee must not be longer than 4 inches (101.6 mm)
- Our arithmetic: 0 to 9 handicaps, 222.92 − 211.64 = 11.28 yd of carry (about 11); in the same table, the 20-and-up group went from 160.85 to 178.24 yd, 17.39 yd, which the study reports as an average of 18
Sources last checked October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Does teeing the ball higher add distance with a driver?
In the tests we found, yes. In MyGolfSpy's 2021 test of 120 drives off each tee, a 1½-inch tee carried 14.19 yards farther than a ½-inch tee. In a 2006 GOLF Magazine study of 27 golfers, a high tee, with the whole ball above the top of the driver, carried an average of 12 yards farther than a low one.
Why does a higher tee add distance?
Two things changed at once in MyGolfSpy's test. The ball met the face higher, and the club was moving about 1.7 degrees more upward at impact. Off the taller tee the ball launched 3.54 degrees higher with 326 rpm less backspin. The 2006 GOLF Magazine study also put its extra carry largely down to higher launch and lower spin.
Does teeing it higher hurt accuracy?
Not in the two studies we found. In the 2006 GOLF Magazine study, 61.5% of drives from the high tee found the fairway, against 58.5% from the low tee and 54.1% from the middle. MyGolfSpy also found the taller tee hit more fairways. Two studies don't prove it for every golfer.
Can you tee the ball too high?
There is a limit. In GOLF.com's 2022 robot test at 95 mph, a strike 0.3 inch above the center of the face carried farthest, 244 yards, but one 0.6 inch above center dropped back to 237. The rules also cap a tee at 4 inches (101.6 mm).
What is attack angle in golf?
It's whether the club head is moving up or down when it meets the ball, as TrackMan defines it. TrackMan's tour averages with the driver are about −0.9 degrees on the PGA Tour, slightly down, and +2.8 degrees on the LPGA Tour, up.
What is spin loft?
TrackMan's term for the angle that drives spin. Subtracting attack angle from dynamic loft gives a close approximation of it, and all else equal, more spin loft means more spin. So hitting up with the same loft lowers spin loft and spin.
From this episode
The 120-drive test is on the How High to Tee Your Driver golf towel, No. 3 ($20.99), which shows the two tee heights side by side. The Tee Height golf mug, No. 3 ($20.99) has the big number, −14 yards, on one side and the same tee-height diagram on the other. Both are printed to order in the US with free US shipping. More designs from the series are in the Wear the Science collection.