In golfing times past, players would often use sand to tee up their golf ball. In fact, caddies would sometimes carry sand for their players and there would often be small piles of sand to use for teeing.
In more recent times, most golfers now use a specially designed tee peg to place their ball on. The first patent for a golf tee (a rubber plate that sat on the ground with prongs to hold the ball) dates from 1889. The first tee that went into the ground was patented in 1892 by a chap from Surrey called Percy Ellis.
