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Stinger golf tees promise greater distance through less friction with the ball and driver.
By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 21, 2002
The quest to hit a golf ball farther continues. Golfers love the long ball, and they'll buy the latest high-tech driver, multimaterial shaft or souped-up ball to do so.
Perhaps they should consider the tee.
The tee?
Yes, that little peg you put in the ground to begin each hole. Nobody gives it much thought, grabbing a handful before a round of golf, discarding them like a blade of grass.
But there are more than a few people out there who swear by a thinner, taller tee.
One of them is Earl Weiss, a Cleveland businessman who makes the Stinger tee. He has various sizes, but generally they are taller and thinner than conventional tees.
"It's the craziest thing in the world," said Weiss, who owns the Performance Golf company. "When I was a kid, I heard that Arnold Palmer would hit the ball farther teeing the ball up on a pencil. I used to sand down tees to make them thin. I had a shop where I used to build clubs, and when I wasn't doing anything I started sanding down tees. People started asking me for them, and that's how I got into the Stinger tee business."
Weiss, 58, says balls hit off his tees travel farther because of less resistance, drag and backspin. The thickness of his tees is half as deep as a regular tee, it weighs less and is taller.
He says the ball leaves the tee faster and flies with a more penetrating trajectory.
"I have to say it's better because less of the tee touches the ball," Weiss said. "It's amazing, but not too many people understand the thin-tee concept. I tested the tees with a group of pros up here in Cleveland. We laser-measured a range. I had 10 pros each hit two dozen golf balls, using a regular tee and a Stinger, and without them seeing which tee they are using. I'd tee them up for them, and each time the ball went farther off the Stinger tee."
There are other benefits, such as the tees going into hard ground easier and not leaving colored marks on club heads. And they are better for the environment: The tees biodegrade more quickly than regular tees because of their size.
None of that matters much if drives aren't traveling farther.
"People buy them because the ball goes long," said Frank Calafiura, a part-time Pasco County resident who sells the tees locally. "It seems that people will do anything to hit the ball 5 to 7 yards farther."
Calafiura has slowly seen success. If a shop has ordered thousands of tees, it doesn't much worry about replenishing its supply. After all, a tee is a tee, right? But as the word has gotten out, more people have requested the Stinger. "It's weird," said Brian Richter, the head professional at Plantation Palms in Land O'Lakes, who wanted to try the tees before purchasing them for his club. "They talked about less friction and a smaller tip ... and I thought about it, 'How could that actually be?'
"But I have noticed a difference. It's not drastic, but I've noticed a longer tee ball. You think about it and wonder if friction can really matter. Maybe it's psychological. Whatever it takes, everyone is looking for more distance."
Stinger tees are not everywhere. But Weiss said some 135 college programs are using the tees, as are dozens of tour professionals.
"This tee costs a little more than a regular tee," Weiss said. "Small packs sell for $1. Until they are accepted, people have a hard time justifying spending $1 for tees. They don't particularly care. They don't understand how you can hit a ball farther off a different tee. But the serious golfer, he grabs them up. It makes more sense to them."
-- For more information on Stinger tees, visit www.stingertees.com or call 1-888-600-3447.