How To Remove Tee Marks From A Golf Driver

You just bought a shiny new driver that cost you an arm and a leg. After using it for a couple of holes you notice there are marks on the face and sole of the club.

You want to try and keep your clubs looking nice and neat so you’re now wondering what caused them and how to remove tee marks from a golf driver.

Below I explain what’s causing the marks, how to avoid them and how to clean them to make sure your driver looks as good as possible.

Why Does My Driver Have Tee Marks?

Over time your driver can start to show signs of wear on the face due to hitting the ball. If you’re not careful you might get other marks and scratches if you contact the ground when playing from the tee.

The other likely marks you’ll find on most people’s drivers are marks made by their tees.

It’s even more obvious what causes the mark if you use different colored tees since the mark will match the colors of the tees you’ve been using.

You’re most likely to see marks on the driver if you use wooden tees since wooden tees tend to be painted in different colors.

When you strike the golf ball with your driver there’s a good chance you’ll also connect with the tee. Some of the paint on the tee will be transferred to the driver’s face or sole.

The paint is usually fairly cheap so it will easily transfer to another object if struck firmly enough. With your driver club head swinging at somewhere between 70 mph and 125 mph, there are certainly plenty of opportunities for the paint to transfer onto the club.

Are Tee Marks On My Driver Bad?

Tee marks on your golf driver shouldn’t have any effect on how the club or ball performs when you are playing golf. Tee marks are only a cosmetic problem. If you’re not particularly bothered by how your clubs look or if your clubs are already quite old then having tee marks on your driver shouldn’t be any great problem.

How Do I Avoid Tee Marks On My Driver?

Painted wooden tees are the most likely to cause marks on your driver. So the best way to avoid getting any marks is to avoid using painted wooden tees. Personally, I prefer wooden tees and would rather put up with the odd paint mark on my driver.

If you would rather not get any marks then you need to try to find wooden tees that are unpainted. You could also try unpainted bamboo tees. Plastic tees might be another option although I have also known them to leave marks on occasion. It depends on the quality of the plastic. I also don’t think they are the best option environmentally. You could even try the rubber tees that you see people sometimes use in winter golf when the ground is frozen.

Since most drivers tend to be quite dark in color you could also try to stick with wooden tees that have been painted with dark colors since these will not show up so easily even if the paint is transferred across. Even if you just avoid white tees you will probably greatly reduce the visibility of any marks caused on your driver.

Instructions For Removing Tee Marks From Your Driver

The vast majority of people will have some form of metal-headed driver. You should follow these instructions to try and remove the tee marks from your club.

You can buy specialist “golf” brushes but I always use an old toothbrush and find that is usually sufficient for any club cleaning tasks.

You should take care using a brush with hard bristles since that may end up causing more damage to the surface of your driver than the tee marks you are trying to remove.

I would also think carefully before using any chemical cleaners as they are likely to cause more damage to the driver’s finish.

Steps To Remove Tee Marks From A Metal-Headed Driver

It is a relatively simple process:

Get some warm soapy water
Dampen the brush in the soapy water
Gently rub the brush over the tee marks
For stubborn marks you may want to try a brush with harder bristles but take care to avoid damaging the surface of your driver – I think it would be better to leave the paint mark rather than damage the surface of the driver
Dry the club off with a towel

Steps To Remove Tee Marks From A Wooden Driver

In the unlikely event you have a wooden-headed driver then you should use the following steps:

Get some warm water
Dampen a towel in the warm water
Rub the tee marks gently to remove them
Dry the club with a clean towel