Grouchy Golf Blog

Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 10:09 AM

Hottest Golf Product? You Gotta Be Kidding Me

I was talking to a salesman at my local on-course golf shop. I asked him what's currently the hottest seller in the store.

Fully expecting him to say, "the TaylorMade R7," I was shocked when he replied, "the Epoch tees."

"Epoch tees?" I said. "I never heard of 'em."

The salesman handed me a package and gave me the 411. He said that he's been getting calls from all over the country to purchase these tees. Supposedly, Evolve Golf's Epoch golf tees offer the least resistance of any golf tee, resulting in longer and more accurate drives. He said that Ping uses them exclusively during product testing.

I just can't believe that any golf tee would make a material difference to anyone's driving distance, from Tiger all the way down to my lowly self. Really, how much resistance can a tee impose? I mean, does a traffic cone slow down a Mac truck flying down the road at 80 mph?

I just don't buy it. And at $5 for a package of 16 Epoch tees, I doubt that I'll ever buy 'em. Nonetheless, they're still selling out faster than Corey Feldman or Playboy mags in a post-Saddam Iraq. I guess it just goes to show that golfers will pay almost anything to get that extra millimeter of distance. Maybe I'll just take a file to my outdated but free wooden tees and make 'em myself!

Labels: Equipment

 Erik @ The Sand Trap said...

I sure as heck didn't like the Epoch tees, but I did like the Stinger Tees and they're priced way better than the Epochs.  

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 Anonymous said...

What have you heard about the Birdie Ball? Its supposed to be the hottest thing. Its a practice ball that you can hit as hard as you want. it willonly go about 40 yards but with the feel of hitting a real golf ball  

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 Golf Grouch said...

Erik,
Thanks for the links to your articles. Very informative.  

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 Golf Grouch said...

Yes, I've seen the Birdie Ball. I'm very sensitive to appearance at setup, so I think hitting something that doesn't look like a golf ball would be difficult for me. Interesting concept though.  

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 Jat said...

Sounds like a marketing ploy to me. I have a hard time believing that the friction between the tee and ball have that big of an effect. The torque from the tee on the ball is tiny compared to everything else. The dimples are much more important.

I have the feeling that a lot of people might hit better with them just because they think they'll hit better with them.  

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 Anonymous said...

the epoch is several times more durable than any wood tee, stinger / proslim... + the epoch is used by sever pga tour pros... I use one epoch per round... I used 8 to 10 stingers per round... the price of the epoch is better IMHO  

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 Anonymous said...

the epoch is several times more durable than any wood tee, stinger / proslim... + the epoch is used by sever pga tour pros... I use one epoch per round... I used 8 to 10 stingers per round... the price of the epoch is better IMHO  

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 Golf Grouch said...

Sounds like competition in high-tech tees will drive the prices down to where they are just a tad more expensive than regular wooden tees. Maybe at that point I'll give 'em a try.  

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 Anonymous said...

i got a zero friction tee at the pga show. what a joke. i couldnt get it in the ground never its made of saw dust or something. i will stick with wood  

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 terri crawford said...

We use Birdie Balls here in the office. The flight is not unlike a golf ball, just won't go as far...still can get accurate ball flight check. I belive the hype and thinks it's pretty useful. Doesn't beat going to the range but from 8-5 it works for me! ...although there's a couple of serious divits in my office ceiling now.  

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 Anonymous said...

Don't you believe for a second that a tee will ever make one iota of difference to your ball flight. Come on people. Hit 200 balls off each tee and you'll get remarkably similar groupings of balls. It's enough of a disgrace that people go and buy any new club that comes along without whoring yourself out to the tee companies. It is always your swing that makes you hit bad shots, never your tee. Perhaps someone should market a plain wooden tee called the placebo.  

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 EJ said...

Regarding the Birdie Ball.

It does work. I have used it on numerous occasions when the range is closed. Feels just like a ball off the club head. Travels 40 yards or so with an iron, a little more with a driver or fairway metal.

Worth the investment.  

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