Take control of your shot. Pick your tee spot thoughtfully.
Start the clock. I’ve stepped into the tee box.
If you think I’m going to be picking a target on the fairway, you’re getting ahead of yourself, and that’s a huge mistake in any set-up routine. Don’t skip a step!
I’m not one of those golfers who marches up to the tee box and stabs my tee in the ground at random. Where I place my tee is directly related to how I read the lay of the land as I stood outside the tee box the tee box.
My tee shot is the only one on each hole where I get to control the lie. I want my feet to be level with the ball and each other and I want my ball positioned to take advantage of any little variations that I may have detected when I was checking out the lay of the land.
I also want to tee my ball up in a position that gives me an intermediate target, a distinctive piece of grass, a leaf, a unique feature of some sort that will help me line up my club face (that’s coming up in #6, but I like to plan ahead a bit); and, frankly, I try to avoid the visual distraction of other players’ divots, although that’s sometimes difficult.
5 seconds.
Next: #4: Clear Your Mind