In alternate shot you could never tee off with 3 players you have to have 4 to play.
The deal in blitz that the OP mentioned is a flaw. When someone comes into the room and cancels, it locks up the tee off option. I have found that if you are the one setting up the game you can cancel that fourth player and it will reset. If you didn't start the game you pretty much have to wait till you get four.