21 Fun Tee Markers from Pro Golf That Will Make You Smile

01
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The Michelin Man

The Michelin Man is a tee marker at the 2005 PGA Tour Michelin Championship
A Michelin Man tee marker at the 2005 Michelin Championship in Las Vegas. Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Tee markers on golf courses' tee boxes and teeing grounds tend to be ... boring. Often just a globe, cone or cube, wood or plastic (sometimes stone), painted various colors to represent the different playing lengths available.

Tee markers designate the space from which golfers begin each hole. And traditionally, they were colored red for forward tees, white for middle tees and blue for back tees. Today golf courses often use more than three sets of tees, and many different colors.

But we're still talking mostly about the same ol' boring shapes, colors and materials.

Not so for the tee markers on the pro golf tours! Like the mini-Michelin Man above - he was used when tire company Michelin was title sponsor of the PGA Tour's Las Vegas tournament - the tee markers on the following pages are fun and sometimes even funny.

All of them are a lot more interesting that what golfers typically find on our local courses. Turn the page and enjoy.

02
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Plush Tiger

White tiger plush tee marker at the 2015 Czech Masters
Tee marker at the Czech Masters in 2015. Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

"It's the eye of the tiger ..." It's a plush, white tiger tee marker in use at the European Tour's D+D Real Czech Masters tournament in 2015.

And the cute tiger was one of many different tee markers in use there. They had little bottles of champagne, semi truck models, airplanes, and little barrels of beer, among other things. Fun! (There were probably a few golfers in the field who tried to break into the beer barrels.)

03
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Boys and Their Toys

Hyundai tee markers at the 2014 PGA Tour Tournament of Champions.
At the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in 2014, they had cars as tee markers. Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

The hands in this photo belong to Zach Johnson, who couldn't resist playing with the Hyundai model used as tee markers during the PGA Tour's Hyundai Tournament of Champions event in 2014. Model cars are actually pretty common at pro golf tournaments that have title sponsors from the auto industry.

04
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Coke

Coca-Cola tee markers at the Tour Championship
A Coca-Cola 6-pack as tee markers at the 2014 Tour Championship. Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Have a Coke and a smile? Well, that all depends on your score. Coca-Cola is a presenting sponsor of the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship, and miniature Coke bottles turn up as tee markers there.

05
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Tastes Like Chicken

Hand-painted chicken tee marker at Sanderson Farms Championship
At the Sanderson Farms PGA Tour event, the tee markers are naturally chickens. Michael Cohen/Getty Images

This painted bird was one of the tee markers at the PGA Tour's Sanderson Farms Championship in 2014. Only appropriate, since title sponsor Sanderson Farms is a major United States poultry producer.

During the 2015 edition of that tournament, the PGA Tour tweeted that all the tee markers are hand-painted by children at Batson Children's Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.

06
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Chips Off The Ol' ...

Swinging computer chips as tee markers
Swinging computer chips at the Frys.com Open. Steve Dykes/Getty Images

These cute little guys were used as tee markers at the 2015 Frys.com Open. What are they? You mean you've never seen golfing computer chips before? Frys.com is an electronics retailer.

07
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Gone Shopping

Miniature shopping carts as tee markers
Miniature shopping carts at the Wegmans LPGA Championship in 2011. Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Hey, anybody need any groceries? Maybe some tiny boxes of cereal or thimble-sized cans of soup?

These miniature shopping carts were the tee markers at the Wegmans LPGA Championship during the last few years of that tournament's history with Wegmans as the title sponsor. (This photo is from the 2011 tournament.)

Wegmans, a grocery store chain, was title sponsor of a regular LPGA Tour stop for many years before becoming title sponsor for one of the tour's majors, the LPGA Championship. The tournament is now called the Women's PGA Championship. So the mini-grocery carts are gone, but not forgotten.

Wonder if any of the golfers ever got stuck with the tee marker that had the squeaky wheel.

08
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Nothing Runs Like A ...

John Deere tractor tee marker
John Deere tractors and heavy machinery of various types at the John Deere Classic. Darren Carroll/Getty Images

Well, what else would you expect the tee markers to be at the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour except for John Deere heavy equipment? This one is a skid steer loader with a drill screw; other miniatures used during the tournament include farm tractors and combines, and front-end loaders.

09
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Barbasol

Shaving can tee marker at the Barbasol Championship
Barbasol shaving can tee marker. Stacy Revere/Getty Images

The Barbasol Championship made its debut on the PGA Tour in 2015, and title sponsor Barbasol was ready with cans of its shaving cream as tee markers. Cue the "close shave" jokes for anyone whose drive barely misses the fairway or trouble.

10
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They Deliver

St Jude Classic tee markers
FedEx delivery truck tee markers at the St. Jude Classic. Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

When your tee markers absolutely, positively have to be there overnight, who you gonna call? At the St. Jude Classic, title sponsor FedEx delivers miniatures of its delivery vans for use as tee markers.

11
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One Small Step for Golfers

Honda Classic astronaut tee marker
This Honda Classic tee marker is a spaceman. David Cannon/Getty Images

Well, hello there Mr. Spaceman! This fun tee marker was photographed during the PGA Tour Honda Classic in 2015. That tournament is played in Florida, which is where so many astronauts have blasted off into space.

This little guy is not the most famous astronaut golfer, however. That would be Alan Shephard, who hit a 6-iron shot on the moon.

12
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Cleared for Takeoff

Model airplane tee marker at the Turkish Airlines Open
Model airplane tee marker at the Turkish Airlines Open on the European Tour. Warren Little/Getty Images

The tee marker here is the model airplane. The tortoise just happened to be passing by.

That's a Turkish Airlines airplane, and the tournament using these tee markers is - big surprise - the Turkish Airlines Open on the European Tour. Planes are popular tee markers at any pro tournament sponsored by an airline.

If the airplane model and tortoise were both to scale in this scene, how big would the tortoise be? Too darn big.

13
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Vroom, Vroom

Porsche tee markers at European Open tournament
A Porsche model as tee marker at the 2015 European Open. Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

These models of Porsche automobiles showed up as tee markers at the European Open in 2015, when the famed German carmaker became title sponsor. If you're like me, you probably can't afford Porsche tee markers. But they are nice to look at.

14
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Don't Forget Your Helmet

Motorcycle tee marker at Indian Open
A Hero motorcycle tee marker at the Hero Indian Open. Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

We've seen airplanes and automobiles and delivery vans and tractors ... so here's a motorcyle tee marker. These bikes are used at the Hero Indian Open on the European Tour. Hero Honda Motors Ltd. - a company that makes a lot of motorcycles - is the title sponsor.

15
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Umbrella Game

Umbrella tee markers at the Travelers Championship
The Travelers umbrella as tee marker. Jim Rogash/Getty Images

I wonder if any golfer has picked up one of these little umbrellas and tried to hide under when it started raining. That would make a great photo. Somebody should do that.

The red umbrella is the corporate logo of The Travelers Companies, an insurance company. And these little umbrellas are the tee markers at the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship.

16
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A Splash of Color

Valspar paint can tee marker
Tee marker in the form of a little can of Valspar paint. Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

 A can of paint. Yep, that's a can of paint. Hey, we didn't necessarily say that the tee markers featured in this article are exciting, just that they are different

Valspar is a manufacturer of paint. And the company is also a PGA Tour title sponsor for the Valspar Championship.

17
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El Camaleon

A tee marker during the second round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun held at El Camaleon Golf Club on February 25, 2011
A tee marker in the form of a chameleon lizard. Michael Cohen/Getty Images

Admit it: At first glance you thought this was two lizards mating. It's not! It's just one lizard sunning itself on a rock.

It's a chameleon, to be exact, and this one was a tee marker during the 2011 Mayakoba Golf Classic on the PGA Tour. That tournament is played at El Camaleon Golf Club, hence the lizard-on-a-rock tee markers.

18
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Man of the World

The Omega Mission Hills World Cup logo as a tee marker during pro - am the Omega Mission Hills World Cup on the Olazabal course on November 25, 2009 in Shenzhen, China
Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

This tee marker is a real man of the world. That little guy sports the colors of many nations in the form of their flags. It's a colorful, fun tee marker with a meaning. The tournament? The World Cup of Golf, and this little golfer is in China in 2009 in the photo above.

19
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Solar Power

Tee markers in the shape of solar panels
Tee markers in the shape of solar panels. Hunter Martin/Getty Images

The Senior Players Championship has an energy company, Constellation Energy, as its title sponsor. And it has little, tiny solar panels for some of its tee markers. Too bad they don't actually work. The Champions Tour golfers could charge up their cellphones while they wait to tee off.

20
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Bullish on Golf

A sponsors tee marker prior to the start of the Shenzhen International at Genzon Golf Club on April 15, 2015 in Shenzhen, China
Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Toro, toro, toro! When the Shenzhen International debuted on the European Tour in 2015, the tournament in China had some very colorful tee markers, including this bull.

21
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Flock of Birdies

Tee markers during the third round of the 2005 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club January 15, 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii
'Birdie' tee markers at the Sony Open. Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Well, if you're playing golf you want to see lots of birdies. And this pair are tee markers during the 2005 Sony Open on the PGA Tour.

That tour through the tee markers of pro golf was fun! Here are a couple photo galleries you might enjoy: