Golf Tee Placement Helper

Many senior golfers and others with physical limitations have trouble bending over and placing a tee with a golf ball upon it in the ground on a golf course tee. Also, golfers with hip or knee issues cannot bend over to place the tee without a lot of pain. The need for a simple golf tee helper is apparent.

There are some commercial tee aids available that range in price from $50 to $200. I thought I could come up with a cheaper solution using a low-cost Grabber Reacher pick-up tool readily available for between $10 to $12. The grabber tool was modified to accept 3D printed closing arms with a golf ball/tee cup-like holder attached.

1. (1) Grabber Reacher Pick-Up Tool

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T82QQKK/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=AY3M3JM02VPZV&psc=1

1. (1) Two-part Epoxy Glue

https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-50240-ClearWeld-Quick-Setting/dp/B07TTTYKGS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.A4hYnPxnUJS8dD0Uaat8pMkodn4Si_u1dcMt9-VFdI1hN8fhUKg89tZNrktQ3L9JGUY0TddIU1vwXN4CpPHUOFFcKgguwjwhVpXqJw2KthC8PqcdFzMsEaFDHufX0-QIWVOO_cgdOagnDMvQ4krn0CfkC5whoVfZrfc5RvJ9iUnw1vn_B74thBI-iPMkLaE-6Xzn3DaVkizRTY3_SjVcIQ-0rqq-jNbOVM8HbWLS-5Y.o2CSD1ttKuECYLcHWIHhyxTKrCJf1xyCkqOsF10uvG0&dib_tag=se&keywords=JB+Weld+Clear+Weld&qid=1754525553&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

1. (1) Super glue tube
2. (1) Flashforge ASA Filament Spool
3. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB7WFQP1?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1
4. (1) 3D Printing Machine
5. (1) Some type of saber/jig saw
6. (1) Ruler

I used ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate) filament because it was UV stable and resistant to high temperatures. It maintains its shape up to 93 degrees centigrade. These properties were important when playing golf in the heat of the summer.

The standard Grabber tool had to be modified to accept the new 3D printed closing arms for the homemade Golf Tee Placement Helper. To keep things simple, I cut each jaw or closing arm off at a distance of 1 inch from their hinge attachment. I used a standard bandsaw to accomplish this. Cutting the closing arms off here, kept the Grabber hinge mechanism intact and working properly.

The first step in designing the golf ball/tee receptacle was to record the diameter of the golf ball. Officially, the diameter of a modern-day golf ball is 42.67 mm or rounded up to 43 mm. Using this diameter in Tinkercad, the golf ball receptacle was designed.

I was able to find a golf tee print file on the Thingiverse web site. Bringing this file into Tinkercad, I was able to change it to a hole shape and complete the golf ball/tee receptacle half design.

At first, I tried to design the modified closing arm and golf ball/tee receptacle as one piece, but I soon learned that the combined design would be too hard to print out. So, I separated the two parts and came up with a simple attachment system between the golf ball/tee receptacle and the modified closing arm using a cylinder peg and hole for the peg to fit into.

On the outside of the receptacle cup, four 7.1 mm diameter holes were placed. This was done so I could see what area of the receptacle back, when attached to the properly angled closing arms, would hold the golf ball and the tee with the maximum force when the handle of the grabber was squeezed.

The STL file is listed below.

Again, with the use of Tinkercad software I was able to design modified right and left closer arms. The modified grabber arms had to be designed at the correct angle to achieve complete closer of each golf ball/tee receptacle with the grabber grip fully squeezed. That is, each half golf ball/tee cup, holding the golf ball and tee, had to meet squarely when the handle was squeezed tightly.

Also, an attachment mechanism had to be designed to place the modified closer arms on the shortened grabber arms. I was able to find a shape in Tinkercad called “Soft Box”. It was found under the “Shape Generators” heading. It was a hollow box with rounded corners that I thought could be sized to fit over the remaining stub of the grabber arms.

I measured the width and height of the arm stub to size the Soft Box. I printed out a couple of attempts before I got the snug fit I was looking for. At first, I removed the soft rubber portion of the residual grabber arms but later decided to keep it on. The rubber seemed to provide for a tighter fit.

Unfortunately, my engineering skills were not that good, it took me several attempts to print closing arms to the exact angle needed to get good closer of both golf ball/tee receptacle halves.

Finally, a 7mm peg was placed at the distal end of the closing arm to provide a connection to the golf ball/tee cup as described in the golf ball/tee receptacle section.

The STL file is listed below.

As described before, the right and left closing arms were printed to fit over the remaining 1-inch stubs of the Grabber Tool jaws. It was a very snug fit but there was still a little movement when the Grabber grip was squeezed tightly. I decided to glue the modified closing arms in place so there was no movement at all.

I used an epoxy 2-part glue system called “ClearWeld” made by J-B Weld. As you can see from the photos, I mixed the 2-parts together and then applied the epoxy to the inside of the “soft box” attachment housing on the end of the closing arm. I pushed each closing arm as far as it could go on the Grabber jaw stubs and temporarily placed the golf ball/tee cups in place. I then clamped close both golf ball/tee halves with a golf ball and tee in place. I used a rubber band for this purpose until the epoxy glue was set.

I tested the placement of the closing arm peg in each of the four cylinder holes on the back of the golf ball/tee cup shaped half. I found that when the closing arm peg was centered over the midpoint to lower half of the golf ball, the ball was held very secure when the Grabber grip was fully squeezed, but the tee seemed to have a lot of play and wobbliness. This did not work well when trying to place the tee in a hard and dry tee box.

It turns out, the lowest attachment hole that was applying pressure to the tee when the Grabber grip was squeezed, worked the best for tee placement. The golf ball was still held secure but the greater closing force to the tee area allowed the golf tee placement helper to lock the tee in place so the tee could be seated in dry and thinly mowed tee box ground.

The peg and hole attachment design was very snug between the back of the ball/tee receptacle and the closing arm. Just for good measure, I used common super glue to make the attachment permanent on both closing arms.

I tested the golf tee placement helper on a couple of different golf courses. See the attached videos. It seemed to work quite well; even when placing a tee in a dried out and hard tee box.

If the ball does fall off the tee as you loosen the grip, the tee placement helper can be used as a grabber to pick up the golf ball and sit it on the tee you just placed in the ground.

When not in use, the golf tee placement helper can be folded and placed in your golf bag or cart.