Golf courses often provide small boxes or containers next to tee markers for golfers to discard broken tees. Even so, it is still common to see tees left stuck in the ground or scattered in fragments on the tee surface. That may seem like a minor issue – just “par for the course” – but those remnants can create serious problems for course maintenance.

Sharp and well-maintained mowers are a vital part of golf course management because they affect plant health and playing conditions. Unfortunately, the precise setup needed to mow grass at tee height – often lower than half an inch – can be easily disrupted by small pieces of debris.

Golf tees are usually made of wood or plastic, but regardless of the material, they are foreign objects that do not belong in the path of a carefully sharpened and adjusted tee mower. When cutting units encounter broken or discarded tees, chewing through the hard material will dull the blades and reduce mowing quality. Instead of a crisp, clean cut, the grass can be torn or ripped, which weakens plant health and diminishes surface quality.

Tee debris can also disrupt the calibration of mowing equipment. Cutting units are adjusted to extremely fine tolerances, often measured in thousandths of an inch. If a broken tee goes through the blades it can knock the settings out of alignment, which leads to a reduced quality of cut from that mower until the equipment manager readjusts it. What looks like a small piece of litter on the tee can translate into real mechanical consequences.

Broken tees scattered across the ground are also unattractive, like litter in a park, and they interfere with the daily work required to prepare the golf course. Put simply, more tees left behind means more labor and more time. If golfers are not picking up their broken tees, cleaning up the teeing grounds after a busy day can take a surprising amount of time.

If the course you’re playing has containers for broken tees, please try to use them. If there is not a container readily available, you can look for a garbage can or drop the fragments into your pocket or golf cart until you find a good place to dispose of them. If nothing else, it’s better to throw broken tees into the rough instead of leaving them on the tee surface because rough mowers will not be as affected by the debris. Cleaning up our tee debris helps protect equipment, makes course setup more efficient for the maintenance staff, and preserves the quality of the turf. It is a simple courtesy that benefits everyone who enjoys the course.