~550M
rounds played in the US in 2025 — an all-time record, the 4th in 5 years
SandTee is a compressed tee made of sand, turf seed, and nutrient. It holds the ball for the strike — then the next rain or irrigation cycle breaks it down into the tee box, overseeding the exact turf golf damages most.
Every round starts with a divot and ends with litter. Courses pay twice: once to clean it up, and again to regrow what golf tore out.
Wood and plastic fragments accumulate on every tee box. Crews hand-pick them daily, and what they miss dulls or chips reel-mower blades — a maintenance cost no one budgets for but every superintendent knows.
Tee boxes — especially on par 3s — are the most concentrated wear zones in golf. Courses re-seed, top-dress, and rotate markers all season just to keep them playable. It's continuous, labor-heavy spend.
Durable plastic tees were sold as the sustainable upgrade to wood. They fly on mis-hits, disappear into rough and bunkers, and persist for decades. Sustainability-mandated clubs are actively looking for an exit.
One product, three lives: equipment during the swing, disappearing act after, turf input by morning.
Kiln-dried sand and a regionally matched turf-seed blend are compression-molded with a plant-based binder into a standard tee profile. Rigid when dry, stable in the bag.
TARGET SPEC: holds driver-speed impact ≥1 strike TARGET SPEC: bag-stable in humidity — breaks down only under soakingStandard heights and cup geometry — nothing about the swing changes. On impact it snaps clean or stays planted. Either way, the golfer walks off and never thinks about it again.
FORM FACTORS: 2¾″ · 3¼″ · par-3 short DESIGNED TO CONFORM: USGA/R&A EQUIPMENT RULES, PART 6 (TEE ≤ 4″)The next irrigation cycle or rainfall dissolves the binder. The sand top-dresses the divot, the seed germinates in it, and the nutrient charge feeds establishment. Germination rate versus a standard overseed program is the key open question — it's the first thing our field trials measure.
TARGET SPEC: full breakdown within 24–48h of soakingBiodegradable — even seed-bearing — tees have been tried before. None were built as a turf-care input the course itself buys. That inversion changes who's willing to pay.
| Wood / bamboo tees | Plastic tees | Biodegradable / seed tees | SandTee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| After the shot | Splinters left as litter | Lost into rough; persists for decades | Breaks down eventually — timing and residue vary | Dissolves into the tee box — 24–48h target |
| Effect on turf | None — cleanup burden | None — pollution burden | Seed drop at best — no top-dressing, no agronomy match | Overseeds + top-dresses the divot, regionally matched blend |
| Who pays | Golfer | Golfer | Golfer | Golfer, pro shop, and the course itself |
| Course's attitude | Tolerated | Increasingly banned | Tolerated novelty — never sold to the course | Actively wants it used — and branded |
Dissolving and seed tees have shipped before — as golfer-paid novelties — and died on price. SandTee is sold to the course first, on litter elimination and branding; the agronomy upside is measured in trials before it's promised.
Tees are bought again and again, all season, by golfers who never comparison-shop. The wedge in is small; the surface it opens is not.
| Segment | Entry price | Why they buy |
|---|---|---|
| DTC golfers | $12 / 30-pack | Feels good, plays the same, great gift — the "leave the course better" story sells itself on social. |
| Pro shops & retail | Wholesale, ~50% margin | High-margin impulse item at the register; sustainability story matches where club branding is going. |
| Courses & resorts | Bulk + logo-branded | Litter-free tee boxes and logo-branded tees today; the overseed upside gets measured in field trials before it gets sold. Range and par-3 pilots turn cleanup labor into turf care. |
| Corporate & events | Custom runs | Tournaments and brands want a sustainability line in the gift bag that's real, not greenwash. |
Stage-gated milestones: each phase only unlocks spend on the next if the data clears the bar.
The three tests that decide everything: bag-humidity stability, driver-strike durability, and the 24–48h dissolution window — data published as it lands.
In progressPilot LOIs from superintendents on litter elimination and branding alone. Freedom-to-operate review; formulation iteration through the off-season.
UpcomingTimed to the growing season: germination on par-3 tee boxes vs. broadcast-seed controls and each course's standard overseed program.
UpcomingDTC, pro-shop, and course programs — sold on published trial results, not projections. Regional seed blends follow.
UpcomingThe people getting SandTee from formulation to first tee.
Eh Ploe started SandTee after one too many rounds spent picking broken tees out of the grass before he could even put his ball down. He plays regularly, and every prototype gets tested on the same courses he plays. As a student founder with real business and sales experience, he leads the vision and pricing behind SandTee.
LinkedIn →Yee runs the numbers and the build. He handles supplier sourcing, manufacturing logistics, and unit economics, and he keeps the road from formulation to first production run on budget and on schedule. He plays golf too, so he knows exactly what the product has to live up to.
LinkedIn →Capital is stage-gated to the three proofs that decide everything: the material works, courses will pay, and the seed germinates. Production spend unlocks only after the data.
EHPLOESOE0@GMAIL.COM · INTERACTIVE 3D PROTOTYPE DEMO AVAILABLE ON REQUEST