Epoch Performance Tees Review

When it comes to the little peg you stick in the ground to hold your golf ball, there are basically two factors that are important to me. Does the ball fall off? Can I find that damn thing after hitting the ball? That’s it. Being a blogger I get to go to industry shows and try new products, which is fun. But I’ll be the first to admit that there are certain products that, while worthy of coverage, don’t exactly get me excited. Golf tees are one of those products.

In the early days of golf, players didn’t have wooden or plastic tees. In fact, many courses didn’t have teeing grounds at all. After holing out on the current hole, players would go to the edge of the putting surface and make a small pile of sand, then place the ball on top and hit away. After enough greens were mangled from bad swings making divots, the course designers started adding teeing grounds near the previous green to allow players to tee off, and soon after the wooden tee was created when someone decided to whittle a stick and hit the ball off that.

Fast forward a few hundred years to the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show, and there are companies all over the place that have some fancy new tee technology that promises to add distance to my drives. Like many consumers, my natural reaction was skepticism. I saw tees with fancy designs, tees made of wood, plastic, and biodegradable “stuff”. I saw tees that were offset, tees that lean, tees that perform magic tricks…

When I received a package of Evole Golf’s new Epoch performance tees, I was expecting more than what I got. The Epoch tees are just straight, white boring tees, with little stripes around the bottom. No gadgets, trinkets or gimmicks. My understanding from the website was that this simple looking eco-friendly golf tee is supposed to help me hit the ball further. Trying to keep an open mind, I took them to the FSGA Mid-Amateur Championship with me for the truest test of any equipment – tournament competition. I’ll reveal my personal test results later. For now, lets look at some independent test results from a recent Evolve Golf press release:

Evolve Golf confirms recent independent testing conducted at both GolfTest USA and Golf Laboratories showed the company’s patented, Tour-proven Epoch performance tee provides significantly greater total distance and accuracy than competing products.

Featuring a robot and players with a wide variety of handicaps and swing speeds, these are the latest in a series of tests to support the distinct advantages golfers of all abilities can gain by using the Epoch.

Using a launch monitor, GolfTest USA compared the Epoch to a three-post composite tee, an offset composite tee and a traditional wooden tee. According to the data acquired from 20 male and female golfers hitting multiple shots with each tee, the Epoch proved on average to be:

1.6 yards longer and 1.6 yards more accurate than the three-post composite tee
9.0 yards longer and 4.7 yards more accurate than the traditional wooden tee
7.3 yards longer and 2.2 yards more accurate than the offset composite tee

Those results were mirrored by Golf Laboratories, which conducted its tests at a swing speed of 95 mph using a robot and launch monitor in a controlled test environment. Under these conditions, the Epoch was shown to be:

1.8 yards longer and 2.0 yards more accurate than the three-post composite tee
5.8 yards longer and 2.7 yards more accurate than the traditional wooden tee
3.4 yards longer and 3.0 yards more accurate than the offset composite tee

“The test results go hand-in-hand with the fact that so many of the world’s best players trust the Epoch’s performance advantages to help them win on Tour,” says BJ Maloy, Founder and CEO of Evolve Golf. “When the variability of each golfer’s swing is evaluated, golf tee design flaws become blatantly evident.  Whether it’s a test featuring a robot in controlled conditions or average men and women swinging away, our tees are quite literally outpacing the competition.”

Since its 2004 debut, the Epoch has been part of 127 major Tour wins, including 48 PGA Tour victories. Used weekly by scores of PGA Tour players it is the only performance tee with radius posts that span the width of a golf ball dimple. This unique feature creates the lowest coefficient of friction of any tee, eliminating deflection at impact and increasing ball speed and control.

Like all Evolve Golf products and packaging, the Epoch is environmentally friendly. Made from recycled materials, the design is significantly more durable than its wooden counterparts and not harmful to mower blades.

In early 2010, Evolve Golf introduced the Epoch-S3, featuring the same innovative and durable design that has made the original Epoch the most popular performance tee on the PGA Tour. It incorporates the company’s groundbreaking Sweet Spot System, a proprietary internet application that takes the guess work out of consistently teeing at the proper height by aligning the ball with the driver’s “sweet spot,” assuring optimum distance on every drive. Players simply enter a make and model of driver and the recommended depth of insertion is displayed, which coincides with markings on the tee stem.

As far as my own testing goes, have I seen an increase in distance by using the Epoch tees? No, I haven’t noticed anything. But, with all the factors in play and the fact that I am human and do not make perfect contact every time, I cannot conclude that I’m any longer or shorter with one tee versus the next. This doesn’t mean that the Epoch tees are not worth a try, because they are. Besides being cool looking and very durable, they are used by many PGA Tour pros and given out at many private clubs and resort courses. They also have some cool custom options to have your own logo printed in color. Epoch Tees are available at all the major retailers, give them a try and see if you pick up a few yards!

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