US3459107A

US3459107A - Means for simulating the rough on a golf course

Info

Publication number: US3459107A
Application number: US588919A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert I Anderson; Donald E Bayne
Original assignee: Brunswick Corp
Current assignee: Brunswick Corp
Priority date: 1966-10-24
Filing date: 1966-10-24
Publication date: 1969-08-05
Anticipated expiration: 1986-08-05

Description

s- 1969 R. l. ANDERSON ETAL $459,107

I MEANS FOR SIMULATING THE ROUGH ON A GOLF COURSE Filed Oct. 24. 1966 United States Patent US. Cl. 94-7 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mat for simulating the rough on a golf course including a backing having an upper surface from which a plurality of bristles project, the bristles having their lengths varied over a substantial range and their dimension transverse to the direction of elongation being varied over a substantial range.

Currently, in the game of golf, and particularly in conjunction with driving ranges, golf practice devices and indoor golf games, mats are used to simulate the lie on the fairway of a golf course. Such mats provide the advantage of fairly realistically simulating the lie on the fairway of the golf course and do not require the degree of maintenance that would be required in maintaining a corresponding lie on actual turf. Furthermore, where such mats are used in conjunction with indoor golf games or indoor practice devices, they provide the additional advantage of providing a realistic simulation without causing the attendant janitorial problem due to divots that would be present if an actual turf type of lie were to be used.

As far as is known, no means have been provided to simulate the lie in the rough on a golf course. The failure of the prior art to provide a rough simulating mat requires driving ranges and golf games to either omit the provision of a rough type of lie or provide a rough type of lie on actual turf. In the case of indoor golf games and practice devices, the rough type of lie has been omitted because the use of a rough type lie on turf causes the above mentioned janitorial problem due to divots which may also foul up the data acquisition equipment commonly used in indoor golf games.

In the case of driving ranges, actual rough type lies on turf are generally not provided because of the necessity of devoting a significant amount of space for the provision of such a lie. Furthermore, with the relatively heavy traffic on driving ranges, the maintenance required in providing an actual rough type lie on turf would be so great as to render it substantially economically impractical.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to provide a means that simulates the lie in the rough on a golf course.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a simulated rough type lie that is maintenance free.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a rough simulating means having a plurality of elongated elements some of which are stiffer than others and support means for supporting the elements.

A further object is the provision of a rough simulating means formed of a plurality of elongated elements, some of which are longer than others, and a support means for supporting the elements.

A still further object is the provision of a mat for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course that is comprised of a backing member, a plurality of tufts projecting upwardly from the backing member with each tuft being comprised of a plurality of elongated bristles of substantially circular cross sections that have their diameters varied, some of the bristles having a diameter of about 0.028 inch and others of the bristles having diameters ranging from 0.008 inch to 0.018 inch, some of the bristles having a length of about 4 /2 inches while others of the bristles have a length of about 1 /2 inches.

Yet another object is the provision of a rough simulating means such as that set forth above further including a means defining a tee area and a means for securing the rough simulating means in the tee area.

Another object is the provision of a method for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course comprising the steps of placing a brush-like mat having bristles of varying stiffness and varying length that project from a backing in a position at a tee area with the mat located on its backing so that the bristles project upwardly therefrom and anchoring the brush-like mat in the position in the tee area.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the use of one environment of a rough simulating means made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of an exemplary embodiment of the rough simulating means; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken approximately along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

An exemplary embodiment of a rough simulating means made according to the invention is illustrated in the environment of a tee area, generally designated 10, shown in FIG. 1. Specifically, the rough simulating means comprises a mat 12 having a front side 14 and a rear side 16 secured in the tee area 10 such that the front side 14 faces the intended direction of flight of a shot struck from the tee area 10 as represented by an arrow 18.

A ball 20 rests on the mat 12 so that it may be hit by a golfer 22 swinging a golf club 24 to provide impetus to the ball 20 in the general direction of the arrow 18.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the specific nature of the construction of the mat 12 will be described. The mat 12 is comprised of a base 26 made of a suitable material such as wood or butyl rubber, may have a thickness of about three-quarters of an inch, and which is formed in the general shape of a square having a length of about twelve inches per side. If desired, the length per side of the base 2 6 may be increased or a plurality of the bases 26 may be oriented in a side by side configuration to provide a larger mat.

Suitable bores 28 are provided in the base 26 to receive securing means such as screws 30 which are used to secure the base 26 to the tee area 10. Alternatively, the bores 28 and the securing means 30 may be omitted and the base secured in the tee area 10 by means of nesting the base 26 in a relatively shallow depression having dimensions that substantially correspond to the dimensions of the base 26.

A plurality of tufts 32 each comprised of a plurality of bristles 34 are mounted in the base 26 so as to project upwardly therefrom in approximately a right angle. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention each of the tufts 34 is comprised of ninety-four bristles having a circular cross section. About four of the bristles 34 have a diameter of 0.028 inch and have an exposed length of about 1 /2 inches while the remaining ninety of the bristles 34 comprising each tuft 32 have diameters of 0.008 inch, 0.014 inch and 0.018 inch and are equally mixed so that there are about thirty bristles of each type, each having an exposed length of about 4% inches.

The above mentioned parameters are merely examplary of one set of specific values that may be used in fabricating a rough simulating mat according to the teachings of the invention. In general it has been found a variation of bristle diameter up to approximately 350 percent of the diameter of the smallest bristles and a variation in length up to approximately 300 percent of the length of the shortest bristles will produce acceptable results. Of course, there may be substantial deviation within the above ranges and, for that matter, outside of the ranges due to tolerance levels in the manufacturing of the bristles and in the ability to maintain bristles of a length at the design parameters. When using currently known manufacturing techniques, the tolerance levels may increase or decrease the ranges by perhaps as much as 75 percent and, accordingly, the ranges given are intended to encompass variations due to such tolerance levels.

Preferably, the tufts are formed of a plastic material such as nylon which may be dyed green for realism. If desired, other materials could be used in place of nylon. In this respect, it is generally preferable to avoid the use of metallic materials in that metallic bristles would tend to mar the head of a golf club swung at a ball resting on the bristles.

The manner in which the tufts 34 are mounted on the base 26 will now be described in conjunction with FIG. 3. Specifically, there is provided a plurality of bores 40 arranged in the general configuration illustrated in FIG. 3. The ends of the tufts 34 are received within the bores 40 so that the tufts project upwardly from the base 26. If necessary, an adhesive may be used to secure the tufts 34 within the bores 40.

The bores 40 are arranged on straight lines and have their centers spaced a distance of about 0.20 to 0.25 inch. The adjacent straight lines on which the bores 40 are located are arranged so that the bores 40 are aligned as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that in the actual rough on a golf course, a golf ball will nest relatively deeply within the grass forming the rough. As a result, the club head of a club swung at a ball nesting in the rough will generally contact the grass before encountering the ball. In fact, generally speaking, blades of grass will be interposed between the face of the club head and the ball and while most of the kinetic energy of the moving golf club will be transmitted to the ball, the fact that there is grass interposed between the face of the club and the ball will preclude a clean contact between the two. Thus, a ball hit from the rough will generally not have a back spin imparted thereto by the club because of the absence of a clean contact and the slickness of the grass and the trajectory of the ball will differ from that of a ball that is cleanly contacted.

The fact that grass is often interposed between the face of the golf club and the ball and the uneven nature of the rough on an actual golf course may cause more grass to be interposed between the club head and one point of contact of the ball therewith than at another point of contact of the ball with the club thereby causing a wedging action which will produce unpredictable variations in the direction of the flight of a ball from the rough.

It will also be recognized that the texture of the grass in the rough is extremely uneven because of the uneven nature of the rough and therefore may offer uneven resistance to the passage of the club through the rough along the face of a club to cause the club to twist as it is striking the ball in the rough to produce unpredictable variations in the direction of the flight of a ball from the rough.

Also, the relatively stiff nature of the grass in the rough and the fact that the grass is contacted by the club before the club meets the ball will cause the club to move the grass slightly which in turn may move the ball slightly before the club contacts the ball. When such action occurs, the ball will not be contacted by the club at precisely the desired point in the arc of the moving club and as a result, the actual flight of the ball may deviate substantially from that intended by the golfer.

Finally, it will be appreciated that the nature of the rough is generally such that the deeper the club head must penetrate into the rough to properly strike the ball, the more resistance the grass offers to the passage of the club head therethrough so that when a ball is deeply nested in the rough, the increased resistance of the grass to the passage of the club head will dissipate a greater amount of the kinetic energy of the club head thereby ultimately lowering the velocity of the ball hit therefrom and accordingly decreasing the yardage obtained on the s ot.

The manner in which a mat 12 made according to the teachings of the invention simulates the above described action of the rough for a golf shot will now be described. The relatively long length of the longer of the bristles 34 permits a golf ball to nest at least as deeply with the mat 12 as illustrated in FIG. 2. As a result, if a golfer intends to cause the leading edge of the club to pass underneath the ball as would be the normal case, he will necessarily have to contact some of the bristles 34 before contacting the ball 20 so that bristles 34 will be interposed between the face of the club head and the golf ball. As a result, there will not be a clean contact between the club head face and the ball and the usual back spin imparted to the ball by the club will not materialize so that the trajectory will differ from that of a ball that is cleanly contacted by the club.

Because of the varying diameter of the bristles 34, it will be appreciated that a bristle 34 may be interposed between the club head and one point of contact of the ball therewith that is thicker than a bristle or bristles 34 interposed between the club head and the ball at another point of contact therewith to cause the above mentioned wedging action to produce an unpredictable variation in the direction of the shot.

Furthermore, the variation in diameter of the bristles 34 causes certain of the bristles to be stiffer than others which gives the mat an uneven texture so that it will offer uneven resistance to the passage of the club head along the face thereof that may be suflicient to cause the club to twist in the golfers hand thereby causing the resultant shot to be off line.

The inherent resiliency of the bristles coupled with the relatively long length may also cause bristles 34 contacted by the club to move the ball slightly before the latter is contacted by the club so that the ball will not be contacted by the club at the desired point in the arc of the latter thereby raising the possibility of substantial deviation of the actual flight of the ball from that intended by the golfer.

Finally, the varied length of the bristles 34 will cause a club head that passes relatively deeply through the mat 12 to contact more bristles 34 than would be the case if the club passed through the mat 12 at a relatively shallow depth. Because the club head will contact more bristles 34 when it passes relatively deeply through the mat, more resistance will be offered to the deep passage of the club head as would be the case if the shot were being played from the actual rough.

Having described specific embodiments of our invention for exemplification purposes, we do not wish to be limited to the details set forth, but rather, to have our invention construed in accordance with the following claims.

We claim:

1. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course comprising a backing member; a plurality of tufts projecting upwardly from said backing member, each said tuft being comprised of elongated bristles of substantially circular cross section and having their diameters varied, each tuft having about four bristles having a diameter of about 0.028 inch and ninety bristles having a diameter of about 0.008 inch, 0.014 inch and 0.018 inch in equal proportions, some of said bristles having a length of about 4 /2 inches while others of said bristles including said four bristles, have a length of about 1 /2 inches.

2. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course comprising: a backing member; and a plurality of elongated, bristle-like elements secured to and projecting upwardly from said backing member, some of said elements being significantly stiffer than others of said elements and some of said elements being significantly longer than others of said elements, the shorter ones of the elements also being the stiffer ones of the elements.

3. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course according to claim 2 wherein the stiifer ones of said elements have a significantly greater dimension transverse to the direction of elongation of the elements than the less stifi ones of the elements.

4. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course according to claim 3 wherein said dimension transverse to the direction of elongation of at least some of the stiffer ones of said elements is on the order of about twice the dimension transverse to the direction of elongation of at least some of the less stiff elements.

5. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course according to claim 2 wherein the length of the longer ones of said elements is on the order of a plurality of lengths of the shorter ones of the elements.

6. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course comprising: a backing member; and a plurality of elongated, bristle-like elements secured to and projecting upwardly from said backing member, some of said elements having a significantly greater dimension transverse to the direction of elongation of the elements than others of the elements whereby said some elements are stiffer than said other elements, said other elements being longer than said some elements, the length of said other elements being on the order of a plurality of lengths of said some elements.

7. Means for simulating the lie in the rough on a golf course according to claim 6 wherein said transverse dimension is varied up to approximately 350% of the transverse dimension of the elements having the least transverse dimension, and the length of said other elements being varied up to approximately 300% of the length of said elements.

8. Means for simulating a lie in the rough on a golf course comprising: a backing member; a plurality of elongated bristle-like elements secured to and projecting upwardly from said backing member; some of said elements having a dimension transverse to the direction of elongation of the elements of about twice that of others of the elements whereby said some elements are stifier than said other elements, at least some of said other elements being at least twice as long as said some elements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,970,959 8/ 1934 Gauntlett.

3,343,843 9/1967 Stanko 94 -7 XR 3,350,092 10/1967 Maki.

1,591,095 7/1926 Meyer 273176 JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 27333