Tee'd Off
Gottlieb, 1993 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Tee'd Off in the Pinball Genie app →Tee'd Off is a round of golf with a gopher problem. The whole game is built on playing nine holes in strict numerical order, and what you get for finishing them changes each time round. It is a Gottlieb, which means catch-all flippers that hold nearly anything, and that turns out to be the single most important thing about it — every enormous score on this machine comes from trapping balls and looping one shot over and over.
The layout
- Volcano — a plastic volcano with a vertical kicker underneath it. Covers holes one, six and nine, and is your mode start once its insert is lit.
- Mean Hole — a saucer in a walled pocket right of the volcano. Mystery when lit, and where Anything Goes and Quickpick are offered.
- Right ramp — wraps behind the captive ball and hands off to the top flipper. Covers holes two, four and eight.
- Saucer — a plain Gottlieb hole over on the left. Covers holes three, five and seven.
- Centre lane — reached through a gap in four coconut drop targets. A hole in one with all coconuts standing, a Gopher wheel spin with any of them down.
- Gopher wheel — twelve lettered pockets set in a roulette wheel that sits recessed into the wood at the bottom of the playfield. Spelling GOPHER on it starts a multiball.
- Captive ball — top right. Each hit builds the end-of-ball bonus and pushes the multiball jackpot up.
- Slice target — spots letters in SLICE for a fifty million hurry-up, and collects a lit extra ball.
- Top flipper — puts the volcano, the twenty million target and the feed to the Mean Hole in range, and a post beside it will hold the ball while you aim.
Playing the nine holes
Three shots cover all nine holes and each only spots the one you are currently on, so shots at the wrong feature are simply wasted. The volcano covers one, six and nine. The right ramp covers two, four and eight. The saucer covers three, five and seven. Reaching the ninth hole starts something different every time: the first completed round gives you Multiball, the second gives Raining Cats And Dogs, the third Multiball again, the fourth Anything Goes, and then the cycle begins over. That escalation is the game's real structure, and getting to the fourth round is what separates a decent game from a huge one.
Holes in one are a separate counter
Do not confuse them with the nine holes. Holes in one come from three places: the plunge skill shot, the centre lane with every coconut still standing, and the Mean Hole when lit — which the right orbit also feeds around into. Both outlanes are permanently lit for one as well, so a drain down the side at least buys you something. Seven holes in one awards an extra ball, and nine lights the Mean Hole for Quickpick, a straight choice between lighting a Special and starting a lightning storm. That coconut detail is a real trade-off: each drop target you knock down adds a million to your bonus but converts the centre lane from a hole in one into a wheel spin. Decide which you are chasing before you start swinging.
The five modes
- Skins Game — spell SKINS at the volcano, then take ten million or gamble it on a random shot in twenty seconds. Lose and your score goes to zero, but Recover Score lights at the Dogleg for the rest of the ball.
- Find The Gopher — fifteen seconds to shoot any hole. Thirty million if he is in it, insults if he is not.
- Extra Ball — the slice target lights for fifteen seconds. Trap first, then shoot; do not swing at a live ball.
- Tee'd Off — repeat the centre lane for a value starting at five million and climbing.
- Pitch And Putt — ten million per Mean Hole shot for fifteen seconds, with the lane post available to hold the ball for you.
- Modes start at a lit volcano. First time round the volcano relights itself; after that the right ramp does. All five lights the big score target and ends modes for that ball.
Where the points actually are
Plain Multiball is two balls unless you launch the second one straight into the Mean Hole for a third. Jackpots run around five million and the captive ball pushes them up, so bang the captive ball a few times before you start cashing. Clear down to the last remaining jackpot and taking it pays three hundred million and relights the lot. The storm modes are better still. Raining Cats And Dogs strobes every jackpot shot and the centre lane at twenty five million each into a running total, and Anything Goes doubles that to fifty million. Both pay at the end of the ball, which means a tilt throws away everything you built.
The loop that runs up the score
Start any multiball other than the plain one, trap two balls on the right flipper, and loop the centre lane with the third. The catch-all flippers hold what comes back from the volcano and the centre lane reliably enough that this becomes a rhythm rather than a gamble, and at fifty million a shot in Anything Goes it is where the billion-point games come from. Two rules go with it: build the captive ball value before you cash jackpots, and never nudge hard while a storm total is unpaid.
How Tee'd Off plays
Tee'd Off plays as a round of golf: sink the nine holes in strict order, then farm the storm multiballs that each finished round unlocks. The catch-all flippers hold almost anything that returns, so every huge number here grows out of trapping the ball and looping one shot.
The loop
- Nine holes must fall in number order, and only three shots spot them: the volcano stands in for the 1st, 6th and 9th; the lone saucer for the 3rd, 5th and 7th; and the right ramp for 2, 4 and 8.
- Finishing the ninth hands you a headline feature that grows each lap -- a plain multiball, then a Raining Cats And Dogs storm, a multiball again, then Anything Goes.
- Between rounds, light the volcano to open the five golf modes; complete all five to light the big score target.
- Bank holes-in-one from the outlanes, the skill shot and a clean centre lane toward an extra ball at seven and Quickpick at nine.
- When a storm is up, park the spare balls on a flipper and repeat the centre lane for a fortune -- the total pays only when the ball drains, so protect it and never nudge hard.
Reading the lights
- The Nine Holes (ladder) — lit: One hole is active at a time and only its spotting shot counts -- the lit shot is whichever of the volcano, right ramp or plain saucer covers the hole you are currently on. The round you are on carries forward rather than resetting each ball. · then: Sink all nine in order and the ninth hole hands you a headline feature that steps up each lap -- a multiball, then the Raining Cats And Dogs storm, a multiball again, then Anything Goes -- before the cycle repeats.
- Golf Mode Start (mode) — lit: The volcano glows for mode start whenever a golf mode is ready, and lighting it begins one of the five. On the opening lap the volcano relights itself for the next one; every lap after that it is the right ramp that switches mode start back on. · then: Roll through all five -- Skins Game, Find The Gopher, an Extra Ball dash, the Tee'd Off centre-lane repeat and Pitch And Putt -- to light the big score target, after which no further mode can begin on that ball.
- Holes In One (status) — lit: Both outlanes stay lit for a hole in one all game, the Mean Hole pays one while its lamp is on, and a clean centre lane counts only with every coconut still standing. These add into a running total that climbs across the whole game, not merely the ball. · then: Seven holes in one light an extra ball; reach nine and the Mean Hole lights Quickpick, a straight choice between lighting the Special and kicking off a lightning storm.
- S-L-I-C-E Target (letters) — lit: Each hit on the lone Slice standup lights one more letter, and a letter already banked stays lit -- so only the ones still dark are left to finish the word. · then: Complete S-L-I-C-E to light a fifty-million hurry-up, so know your angle back to this target before the last letter falls, because the value bleeds down the instant it starts. This same standup is where a lit extra ball is cashed.
- Coconut Drops & Gopher Wheel (letters) — lit: With a coconut knocked down, the centre lane stops spotting a hole in one and instead spins the recessed Gopher wheel; a landed letter of GOPHER stays lit in its pockets while you chase the rest. · then: Fill in GOPHER to kick off Go-Fore-Par-Tee. Its three balls turn both the volcano and that same centre lane into flat twenty-million shots, collected on contact with nothing to light first. Weigh it against the trade: dropping a coconut adds a million to your bonus but costs a clean hole-in-one route.
- Strobing Jackpots (status) — lit: During the plain multiball, jackpots strobe around the hook target, volcano, saucer and right ramp, and a strobing shot is a live jackpot near five million. Banging the caged captive ball in the top corner ratchets that value higher and pads your bonus at once. · then: Grow the value on the captive ball first, then leave a single jackpot standing -- taking the last one pays a three-hundred-million super and relights the whole set for another lap.
Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Take the free stuff first. The plunge skill shot spots the cheapest hole in one there is, both outlanes are permanently lit for another, and the volcano opens the golf modes. Above all, lean on the catch-all flippers -- trap every return and set up rather than swinging blind. — Skill Shot Hole In One, Holes In One, The Five Modes
- Building — Work the nine holes into their multiballs and clear the five golf modes for the big score target. Feed the captive ball whenever it is in reach -- it is the least demanding source of points here, and every hit quietly inflates the jackpots you will collect later. — Play The Nine Holes, The Five Modes, Multiball, Feed The Captive Ball
- The big one — The ceiling lives in the storm multiballs. Reach the fourth round of holes for Anything Goes at fifty million a shot, park the spare balls on a flipper, and loop the centre lane over and over. That total is paid only when the ball drains, so guard it and never nudge hard enough to tilt. — Anything Goes, Raining Cats And Dogs, The Storm Loop
Does Tee'd Off have an action button?
No button beyond the basics on this 1993 Gottlieb — two catch-all flippers, a manual plunger, and a small upper flipper fed by the right ramp. The catch-alls are the feature that actually matters: they hold nearly anything that comes back, and every huge score on this machine is built on trapping a ball and looping one shot.
Goals in Tee'd Off
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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The plunge skill shot spots a hole in one. That is the cheapest hole in the game and it costs you nothing but a careful launch, so take it on every ball.
Reward: One hole in one
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The whole game is a round of golf. Nine holes, hit strictly in numerical order, and three shots spot them: the volcano covers 1, 6 and 9, the right ramp covers 2, 4 and 8, and the saucer covers 3, 5 and 7. Finishing the ninth starts a headline mode.
Reward: A multiball or storm mode at the ninth hole
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A separate counter from the nine holes, and a valuable one. Four ways in: the skill shot, the centre lane with every coconut still standing, a lit Mean Hole, and either outlane — always lit for it. Seven of them awards an extra ball and nine lights Quickpick.
Reward: Extra ball at seven, Quickpick at nine
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Nine holes in one lights the Mean Hole for Quickpick, a straight choice between lighting a special and starting a lightning storm. Very few players ever bank nine, which is what makes it worth knowing about.
Reward: Light Special, or start a lightning storm
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Five modes, all started at the volcano when it is lit. The first time round it is the volcano itself that relights mode start; after that it is the right ramp. Play all five and the big score target lights, and no more modes can start that ball.
Reward: Big score target after all five
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Spell SKINS by repeating the volcano, then choose: take ten million and let the machine call you a chicken, or gamble the whole thing on a shot it picks at random with twenty seconds to make it. Miss and your score goes to zero.
Reward: 10M, or double, or nothing
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Fifteen seconds to shoot any hole on the machine. Find the gopher and you take thirty million; find nothing and the machine has a few things to say about your golf.
Reward: 30M if the gopher is there
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The shortest and most valuable of the five. The slice target lights for an extra ball and you have fifteen seconds. Know where that target is before the mode starts, because you will not have time to go looking.
Reward: Extra ball
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A repeat-shot mode at the centre lane with a value that starts at five million and climbs with each hit. The centre lane returns to your flipper cleanly, which makes this one of the better modes to be caught in.
Reward: 5M climbing per centre lane shot
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Ten million for every Mean Hole shot, with fifteen seconds on the clock. The post in the lane feeding the top flipper traps the ball so you can line the shot up properly rather than hoping.
Reward: 10M per Mean Hole shot
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The Mean Hole pays a Mystery award when it is lit. The right orbit can also come around into it with Mystery lit, so you have two angles at the same award without ever going near the top flipper.
Reward: Mystery award
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One standup, five letters. Completing SLICE lights a fifty million hurry-up. The same target is where a lit extra ball gets collected, so it is worth learning the angle to it early.
Reward: 50M hurry-up
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Awarded for the first and third completion of the nine holes. It is two balls unless you launch the second one straight into the Mean Hole, which buys you a third. Strobing jackpots run about five million each and the captive ball pushes them up.
Reward: 5M jackpots, 300M super jackpot
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Your reward for the second round of nine holes. A three-ball lightning storm where every jackpot shot and the centre lane strobe for twenty five million into a running total. The total pays at the end of the ball, so a tilt throws all of it away.
Reward: 25M per shot, paid at end of ball
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The fourth round of nine holes lights the Mean Hole, and shooting it starts the storm again at fifty million a shot. Same rules as Raining Cats And Dogs, double the value, and after this the whole sequence starts over.
Reward: 50M per shot, paid at end of ball
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Spell GOPHER on the roulette wheel to start a three-ball multiball where the centre lane and the volcano each pay twenty million on the spot, no conditions attached. The wheel is fed by the centre lane whenever a coconut is down.
Reward: 20M per centre lane or volcano shot
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The captive ball in the top right does two jobs at once: every hit adds to your end-of-ball bonus and every hit during multiball pushes the jackpot value up. It is the cheapest points on the machine and most players ignore it.
Reward: Bonus and jackpot growth
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Each coconut drop target adds a million to your end-of-ball bonus, but knocking any of them down converts the centre lane from a hole in one into a Gopher wheel spin. Decide which you are chasing before you start swinging.
Reward: 1M bonus per coconut, or wheel access
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Every big score on this machine comes from the same pattern. Start any multiball except the plain one, trap two balls on the right flipper, and loop the centre lane with the third. The catch-all flippers hold everything the volcano and the centre lane send back.
Reward: The machine's entire scoring ceiling
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