GB2048082A - Golf Tee - Google Patents

Abstract

A golf tee has a flange secured to its stem. The flange is located such that when the tee is pushed into the ground with the flange flush to the ground surface, a golf ball seated atop the tee is located at an optimum height for use with a conventional driver. The flange is provided with a visual indicator which assists the golfer using the tee in making a good swing at the ball. The stem may be provided with at least one barb for holding the tee in the ground during impact between the head of the driver and the tee. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Golf Tee This invention relates to a golf tee which is used when hitting a golf ball with a golf driver.

Most golfers encounter the difficulty of not knowing exactly how high to tee a golf ball for use with a driver. On their first pass or swing at the ball they may sweep completely below the ball and produce a skied shot because the ball has been teed too high. The next time they pull out the driver they overcompensate by teeing the ball too low so that they top the ball. It is only by chance that they may find a good height for teeing the ball.

Professionals generally agree that in order to get a good consistant shot and produce maximum results with a driver, approximately half the golf ball should be located above the face of the driver when it is grounded. However, even a professional golfer relies upon visual inspection to determine if the positioning of the ball is correct.

When using visual inspection, there is little or no likelihood of consistently and accurately teeeing the ball to the right height from drive to drive.

Some golfers realise that the head should remain still throughout the entire golf swing.

However, this is much easier said than done.

Furthermore, not only should the head remain still, but when the golfer is taking his stance he should locate his head behind the ball and it should remain there throughout the swing.

Although a golfer may feel as if he has kept his head behind the ball, the head usually slides by the ball, producing a pulled or shanked shot.

Over the past few years, the cost of golf tees has increased considerably. During the course of a round, a golfer usually loses a number of tees. The tees fly off into the rough or somewhere down the fairway as a result of impact with the driver.

According to the present invention there is provided a golf tee having a head for seating a golf ball, a stem for supporting the head and a flange secured to said stem, the bottom of the flange being spaced from the top of the head such that when the stem is forced into the ground with the bottom of the flange flush to the ground surface, approximately half of the golf ball atop the tee is located above the hitting face of a grounded golf driver, said flange having a diameter which is less than the diameter of the golf ball and being provided with a visual indicator. The flange is positioned such that when it is flush with the ground surface a ball seated atop the tee is located at an optimum height for use with a golf driver. The location of the flange is determined in accordance with the size of the face of the driver as well as the size of a conventional golf ball.

The flange is provided with a visual indicator or marking and the diameter of the flange is less than the diameter of the ball atop the tee, so that the visual indicator is located below the ball and inwardly of its periphery to a person looking straight down at the ball. The tee is placed in the ground such that the visual indicator is located at the rear of the flange in sight of the golfer. By maintaining sight of the indicator, throughout the entire golf swing, the golfer will be assured of keeping his head behind the ball.

According to a preferred form of the invention, the stem is provided with at least one barb located below the flange. This barb engages the ground around the stem and sandwiches the ground between the barb and the flange to prevent any upward movement of the tee due to the natural resilience of the earth thereby maintaining the golf ball at the optimal height. It also resists withdrawal from the ground during impact between the tee and the driver.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows to scale the use of a preferred form of the golf tee according to this invention with a conventional golf driver and a conventional golf ball, Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view looking down on the golf tee used in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view looking down on the basic form of a golf tee according to this invention, Fig. 4 shows a golfer during his backswing, Fig. 5 shows the golfer of Fig. 4 setting his stance and using the golf tee according to this invention, Fig. 6 shows the golfer of Figs. 4 and 5 after impact between the driver and the golf ball, and Fig. 7 shows a golfer and method of use of the tee according to this invention.

As mentioned above, in order to effectively and consistently use a golf driver, approximately half the golf ball should be located above the hitting area or face of the driver. Figs. 1 and 2 show a tee generally indicated at 1 provided with a head 3, a stem 5, and a flange 7 fixed to stem 5 and having a hole 46 through the flange. Seated atop tee 1 is a golf ball 1 7 which is to be driven by a golfer using driver 21. Driver 21 includes head 23 provided with hitting face 25.

Tee 1 is forced into the ground G until base 9 of flange 7 is level with the ground surface. The diameter of the flange which acts as a stop essentially prohibits further insertion of the tee into the ground. It will be noted that when the tee is properly inserted into the ground the equator 19 of ball 1 7 is approximately level with the upper edge of the hitting face of head 23 when driver 21 is grounded.

The arrangement and location of flange 7 provided on tee 1 is best explained having reference to Fig. 2. Tee 1 is especially adapted for use with a conventional men's driver. According to the leading 1 5 golf club manufacturers the height of hitting face 25 of a conventional men's driver is generally -1-5/8". This dimension may occasionally vary by +1/16". The diameter of a standard North American golf ball is 1-11/1 6".

Therefore, in order to properly locate golf ball 1 7 the base 9 of flange 7 is located from 1 3/1 6n to 1 5/1 6" from the top of head 3 of tee 1. The range given above takes into consideration any slight variations that might be encountered. Tee 1 is slightly depressed at area 4 of head 3 for purposes of maintaining the golf ball atop the tee.

However, area 4 is only depressed to the extent that it prevents rolling of the golf ball and therefore does not affect the positioning of the flange.

The European golf ball may be slightly smaller than the North American ball by about 1/8 of an inch in its diameter. This requires that the European ball be raised by about 1/1 6 of an inch relative to the North Americal ball in order to locate the smaller ball with its centre at the top of the hitting face. Accordingly, the flange is moved down the stem by about 1/1 6 of an inch so that it is located from 14/16" to 1 inch from the head of the tee.

The driver shown and described in Fig. 1 as mentioned above is a conventional men's driver.

Also available on the market are conventional women's drivers which have a slightly smaller club head, making them lighter and more suitable for use by women. The hitting face on a women's driver which is smaller than the hitting face of a men's driver is approximately 1-3/8" in height.

However, a woman uses the same size golf ball as a man. Therefore, in order to locate a conventional golf ball such that half of it is located above a women's driver when grounded, the stop flange is located slightly higher on the stem than described above with the base of the flange located approximately 9/16" from the top of the head of the tee, for North American balls and about 10/1 6" from the top of the tee for the small European ball. When working with either the men's tee or the women's tee, hole 46 is located rearwardly with respect to the desired flight of the ball when inserting the tee in the ground. The purpose for the rearward placement of the hole will be explained having reference to Figs. 4-7.

A problem in maintaining the optimum height of the golf ball may result from the natural resiliency of the ground penetrated by the tee stem which tends to force the tee upwardly such that the flange does not remain flush with the ground surface. However, the problem is overcome by the provision of barbs 48 and 52 which are located below ground level. During insertion of the tee, the pointed end of barb 52 penetrates the earth as the tee is plunged downwardly. The earth surrounding the portion of the stem which supports the tee rebounds again due to its natural resilient properties, to engage shoulders 50 and 54 of barbs 48 and 52 respectively so that the barbs resist upward movement of the tee from the ground. There is, in effect, a sandwiching of the ground between the flange and the barbs locking the tee in place.

Furthermore, on a good drive where the contact is primarily between the ball and the face of the driver, the tee should remain in the ground or travel only a small distance down the fairway so that it is easily retrieved.

As will be appreciated, only one barb is required to provide resistance against upward movement of the tee from the ground.

Furthermore, the barb need not be provided at the very end of the elongated stem. It could be located anywhere along the stem below flange 7 such that it engages the earth surrounding the stem when the tee is forced into the ground up to the flange.

Tee 60 shown in Fig. 3 is similar to tee 1 shown in Fig. 2 with the exception that it is not provided with any barbs below the flange which are not required under certain circumstances such as for use in wet or non grassy areas where the ground is relatively non-resilient. Tee 60 does, however, include head 62, stem 64 and flange 66 provided with drilling 68.

The golfer shown in Figs. 4 through 7 could, of course, use either of the tees shown in Figs. 2 or 3. However, for purposes of discussion, it is assumed that he is using tee 1 as shown in Fig. 2.

Prior to taking the stance as shown in Fig. 5, the golfer forces tee 1 into the ground until the base 9 of flange 7 is level with the ground surface. The golf ball is positioned atop the tee and is located such that approximately half the ball is above the face of the driver when the driver is grounded as shown in Fig. 1. Upward movement of the tee is prevented by barbs 48 and 52 which sandwich the ground between themselves and the base of the flange locking the tee in place and maintaining the ball at the optimum height.

In order to make effective use of drilling 46, the tee is rotated such that the drilling is turned to the rear of the tee along the desired line of flight of the ball or slightly toward the golfer's rear foot. As will be seen from Fig. 1 , the diameter of the golf ball is much greater than the diameter of the supporting flange. As mentioned above the diameter of the conventional golf ball is approximately 7/16", so that the drilling is not only located below the golf ball but also inwardly of its periphery to a person looking straight down at the ball. Referring to Fig. 7, it becomes quite apparent that the golfer's head must be positioned behind the ball during the setting up of the stance in order to see drilling 46. Furthermore the head must remain in this rearward position throughout the swing prior to impact between the driver and the ball in order to maintain sight of the drilling.

Fig. 5 shows the recommended location of the ball with respect to the golfer's stance when using a driver. The ball is positioned parallel to or slightly behind the forward foot of the golfer. In order to hit the ball properly it should be swept off the tee high into the air without skying the ball. At the same time, the ball should have a great deal of overspin to produce maximum distance. As can be seen from Fig. 1, when the ball is correctly positioned through the use of the present tee it will be hit on the upswing of the driver accomplishing both of the above desired results.

This is in contrast to a shot produced from an iron in which the ball should be hit on the downswing to produce backspin on the ball.

It will again be apparent from Fig. 5 that the golfer's head is located behind the ball relative to the direction of travel of the ball. As shown in Fig.

4, the back swing is initiated by turning the shoulders such that the forward shoulder is located approximately over the rear knee of the golfer. During the backswing the head does not move from the initial set-up position and the golfer focuses on the drilling and more specifically on the grass below the ball through the drilling in the flange.

The downswing is initiated by throwing the lower body out at the hole while at the same time keeping the head and shoulders behind the ball.

Should the upper-body move past the ball prior to impact the golfer will come off the shot which generally results in a hook or a slice. The golfer can assure that his head does not move past the ball by maintaining sight on the drilling through the flange. If the golfer's head does move forward during the downswing the line of sight to the drilling is cut off by the portion of the golf ball overhanging the flange so that the golfer is aware that he has made a bad swing at the ball.

As shown in Fig. 6, tee 1 remains in the ground after the drive, again due to the provision of the barbs below the stem so that the golfer does not have to waste time looking for his tee somewhere down the fairway or in the rough.

It is to be understood that the drilling could be replaced by any type of visual indicator visibly located on the flange such as a dot on the upper surface of the flange. During the swing the golfer could concentrate on this dot.

The length of the stem below the stop flange will vary in accordance with the overall length of the tee. A good suggested tee length is approximately 1-7/8", so that a substantial portion of the stem is located below the flange to provide adequate support for the tee. The stem should be strong enough to resist breakage of the tee should the club face come in contact with the tee during impact. A suggested diameter for the stem would be approximately 3/16". As mentioned above the diameter of the flange is approximately 7/1 6" thereby providing an effective stop on the stem of the tee. The flange is approximately 3/32" thick so that it is not easily broken when the tee is forced into the ground.

These dimensions can of course vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

The tee could be made from any suitable material such as wood or plastic. The tee according to this invention when made from wood is shaped in the same general manner as conventional wooden tees wherein a wooden dowel is rotated in a lathe and cut to the desired shape while rotating on the lathe. As will be appreciated, the shape of the present tee lends itself very nicely to conventional practice.

Furthermore even though the tee is provided with a flange and may be provided with one or more barbs it is made from the same amount of starting material or dowel as a conventional tee and therefore is comparable in cost to a conventional tee. The visual marker may be provided on the flange after the tee has been cut to its desired shape.

The tee according to this invention eliminates the guesswork of correctly positioning a golf ball with respect to a grounded driver. When the tee is provided with a visual indicator on the flange, the golfer using the tee must set up with his head in the correct position and maintain his head in that position throughout the entire golf swing in order to see the visual indicator. Therefore the golfer should develop a much more consistent swing with his driver.

In cases where the tee is additionally provided with barbs on the lower end of the stem the golfer should not waste time looking for tees, and the likelihood of losing the tee is significantly reduced.

Though various preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the

Claims (11)

claims. Claims

1. A golf tee having a head for seating a golf ball, a stem for supporting the head and a flange secured to said stem, the bottom of the flange being spaced from the top of the head such that when the stem is forced into the ground with the bottom of the flange flush to the ground surface, approximately half of the golf ball atop the tee is located above the hitting face of a grounded golf driver, said flange having a diameter which is less than the diameter of the golf ball and being provided with a visual indicator.

2. A golf tee according to Claim 1 including barb means located beneath the flange on the stem.

3. A golf tee according to Claim 2 inciuding two barbs provided below the flange near the tip of the stem.

4. A golf tee according to Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said visual indicator consists of a drilling through the flange.

5. A golf tee according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the bottom of the flange is located from 13/16" to 1 inch below the top of the head.

6. A golf tee according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the base of the flange is located approximately 9/16" to 10/16" below the head.

7. A golf tee according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the flange is circular in cross section and corresponds in size to the head.

8. A golf tee according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tee is constructed of wood.

9. A golf tee according to any one of Claims 1 to 7 when constructed from plastic.

10. A golf tee according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the shape of the tee is such that it is produced by conventional tee manufacturing techniques.

11. A golf tee constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.