WO1993009857A1 - Golf course and golf course equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A golf course for playing a game of 18 holes, comprises a small number of tees (1-8) and a small number of greens (A-D) arranged so that any of a plurality of different rounds of 18 holes may be played, with the lines of play (L) of the different holes in any selected round crossing each other. Thus, a game of golf can be played, fully comparable to that played on a conventional 18 hole golf course, but the course occupies substantially less land.

Description

Golf Course and Golf Course Equipment

This invention relates to golf courses and to equipment for golf courses.

The game of golf is widely played and conventionally comprises 18 "holes" situated in respective putting "greens" and the use of a hard ball which is struck with one of a selection of 14 "clubs" from one of a sequence of "tees" towards and into each hole in turn. The lowest number of "strokes", to achieve the "putting" of the golf ball into all 18 holes in sequence, is generally the basis of formulating the score and determining the winner of the game: the game is usually played by two, three or four players using one ball each or sharing one ball in a team. Various versions of the game are played, viz. "Stroke play", "Match play", "Better ball", etc. The rules are generally those defined by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. The "longest" club is usually the "Driver" (Number one wood) and with this the ball can be struck a distance of up to or over 300 yards (274 metres) depending on the skill of the player and the prevailing conditions. For full golf of championship standard, a "standard scratch" of 72 strokes would be taken to complete the game, but golf courses can be designed with standard scratch ratings of lower or higher number. It follows that a full 18- hole golf course will have a playing distance easily up to 6000 yards (5.5 km) and even occasionally over 7000 yards (6.4 km). Full golf courses conventionally occupy well in excess of 150 acres (60 hectares) of land and a number of games can be played simultaneously as the players follow the preceding games around the course. It is not unusual to find thirty games in play at any one time. Conventional golf courses require a major investment because of the large amount of land used and such land areas are usually situated well outside conurbations. The commitment of such land areas of this one amenity - particularly where land is scarce - requires a careful balance of supply and demand factors, traffic flow, related activities and general public facilities particularly where commercial returns on the investment must be subject to market criteria. According to the present invention there is provided a golf course which retains the attributes of the full 18-hole game of golf but which occupies a relatively very small area of land. By this invention, a standard scratch 72 golf course can be constructed on 10 acres (approx 4 hectares) although a better course of standard scratch 68 may be preferred on such an area. Full golf courses can be designed in areas as small as 2.5 acres (standard scratch 54) and an optimum standard scratch 72 on 12 acres with no upper limit on the land employed. Furthermore, several such courses, can be "nested" so that a complex of many courses can be constructed on a given area of land to achieve optimum playing throughput. In general, only one game at a time is played on the course, in accordance with this invention, but this invention includes a variant for the play of several games in continuous synchronism: the invention provides control and monitoring equipment for the latter variant.

The essence of the invention is to provide a minimum of greens (3, -4, 5 or more) which, with an appropriate number of tees all so pitched and distanced, and in combination with land sculpture and other hazards or natural topography, as will provide at least 18 playing holes which are all sufficiently different from each other as both to maintain interest and enjoyment and to demand the use of several or every golf club. The preferred arrangement is for tees to be situated on the perimeter of the course with greens (which may have one or more holes) set in from the perimeter sufficiently to render insignificant the number of shots going "out of bounds" in normal play. The invention also provides other advantages in that there are fewer delays in play (no waiting for others, less ball loss) , a choice of hole-playing combinations to suit mood, weather, skill level and the optimum use of land and other resources, improved efficiency of maintenance, upkeep and security systems. Players are never very far away from the clubhouse and different practice situations are close to hand. Several golf courses in accordance with the invention may be constructed on a single site or on linked sites, to optimise land use. A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of one embodiment of golf course in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagram to explain the manner in which individual play lines may be divided;

FIGURE 3 is a view of part of the golf course of Figure 1; and FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a complex comprising a number of golf courses juxtaposed in a contiguous manner.

Figure 1 shows a symmetrical arrangement of four greens (A - D) and eight tees (1 - 8) with a general diagrammatic representation of "hazards" H (these may be sand traps, "bunkers", water hazards, banks, trees or other obstructions). There is a single central fairway system F, which may comprise a single fairway area or a number of such areas close together. The central fairway system F is surrounded by "rough" . Figure 1 assumes, for illustration, generally flat terrain although this would only rarely be the case. More usually the land would be "sculpted", filled, trenched or built in such a way as to enhance the variety and challenge of play. Also the example sequence of play does not illustrate the use of alternative tees as "forward" (ladies) tees or as "medal" tees. Furthermore the figure shows "straight-line" play whereas "dog¬ legs" and other bends would normally be incorporated. However, the mathematical formulation of play lines, whilst more complex with these other variants, follows the same general example. In the example shown in Figure 1, each green has two tees near to it: in general at least one green (preferably most greens) will have at least two adjacent tees. Preferably most, if not all, tees are situated at or adjacent the boundary P of the course.

It will be seen from the example shown in Figure 1 that there are notionally 4 x 8, i.e. 32 possible play lines L (each play line L extending from a tee to a green) . In this example, the play from a tee to the nearest green would not be viable as a full golf hole: therefore the viable play lines number 4 greens x the 6 more remote tees, i.e. 24 viable holes. These are: 1A, IB, 1C, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4C, 4D, 5A, 5C, 5D, 6A, 6B, 6D, 7A, 7B, 7D, 8A, 8B, 8C. From this design group of holes, the 18 most suitable for the given conditions, event, etc. are selected. The following sequence gives a conventional start and finish "from the club house" for the "outward" and "inward" nines.

Bracketed holes are "short" (par 3) , i.e. "across" the site and avoiding the fairway F. Others are "along" the site and using the fairway F: underlined are par 5, remainder are par 4.

Outward nine: 1A, 3C, (6D) , 8B, 5C, 7A, 2C, 7B, 4D. Inward nine: 8A, (2B) , 4C, 6A, 3D, (1C) , 6B, (5A) , 2D. Spares holes in this example: IB, (3B) , (8C) , 5D, (7D) , (4A) .

Within the foregoing combinations, various mathematical rules can be applied to design the golf course.

The design of a golf course exploits the standard characteristics of the different clubs: the longer and heavier the club, the greater the distance the ball is hit. One club (the putter) is reserved for the two putting strokes on the green allocated to each hole played. Two other clubs (the sand and pitching wedges) are used mainly for following over-played and under-played approach shots or for recovery from trapped or erratic shots and occasionally for very short holes. It follows that, for a full game of golf, the distances between tee and green for each hole played should be so divided up as to use combinations of at least the remaining 10 different golf clubs in reaching the greens from the tees. Figure 2 shows how the distance is divided (by hazard location and club hit distance) into different zones. The table shows the distances from tee-to-green in terms of the number of approach strokes for a "par" (standard scratch) 72 course (a "par" 3 hole allows 3 strokes, 2 of them as putts on the green, i.e. 1 approach stroke) .

Hole Sequence Approach H.G.

1 1A 2 Xl 21

2 3C 3 x2 yl z2

to the

(intermediate) target which is forced by the course design if the player is to obtain the par number of strokes. There are thus (in this example) 14 values for "x" (the tee-to-fairway shot) , 4 values for "y" (the fairway-to-fairway shot) and 18 values of "z" (the shot to the green) . If the "unused" hole combinations are included, the full choice of H.G. is Xl6, y4, z24. The central fairway system F is an important component of the golf course of this invention and may be constructed on several levels and with appropriate cross-grades or longitudinal-grades. Unlike the hazards H, the fairway F is provided to give the greatest assistance to the player by providing a good "lie" for the succeeding shot. Therefore the fairway, like the green, is a "target". The principles of perspective are employed in the golf course so that the size of the target, when undertaking each shot, varies with the angle (and elevation) presented from the tee or lie. Figure 3 shows an example of alignment for par 4 and par 5 holes.

Given the formulated distance of hit for each of ten clubs (i.e. 9 "bands" of distance beyond the greatest standard distance with the shortest club) it is possible to calculate the position, type and class of each hazard to force the use of every club notwithstanding the small land area of the golf course. It is, of course, also possible to calculate the course design so as to use a more limited selection of clubs. In practice, many playing lines will be "dog-legs", there will be different ground levels and gradients, and various hazard dimensions and types will be employed. It is virtually essential to use computers to deal with all this in the design and construction of golf course in accordance with this invention.

Because the combinations of holes played and the designation of tees and greens differ from conventional

("sequential play") golf, the golf course of this invention requires score cards of different form. Several different score cards can be used on any one course depending on the game, (hole) selection or event.

The construction techniques used for the courses of this invention enable advantageous use of new concepts of construction, operation and maintenance. For example, the linking of centralised water, access, drainage, lighting, electric and other security alarms, surveillance equipment and other services.

A further specific example of such integration is for "intensive" or "synchronous" golf as may be played on a golf course of the invention. Whereas the golf course of the invention gives a game nearest to conventional golf if only one game is played on each such course at any one time, it is possible to have a number of games played "synchronously". The advantage - where it is socially or commercially desirable - is that the playing throughput is vastly increased. By way of example, a specific embodiment of this aspect of the invention is now given.

On a course with four greens as in the foregoing example, it is notionally possible to play four games simultaneously. In the interests of safety and to obtain an efficient use of the golf course, a number of special procedures are indicated. The games are envisaged as taking place continuously (possibly day and night) and therefore players will start and finish (according to a time allocation or booking) at any number of points around the play circle. The following table lists the starting points for four games at each set of hole sequences. It will be noted that all 24 hole combinations are used in this example and the starting point can be anywhere in the cycle providing that the "slot" is vacant. The games then rotate in sequence with players leaving and joining according to their booking of the course. Synchronous Golf Game 2

3B 5C 7D IB 4C

6D 8B 5A 3C 7B

5D 1A 2B 4D 8A

2C 6B 4A 3D 1C

7A 2D 8C

6A

In the above game, tee-to-green sequences are played synchronously.

For the safe and efficient operation of these games a number of rules and/or controls are needed. These are aimed at both safety and order.

The first rule is that all players must be on their respective tees before teeing off. They will only tee off if their line of play is clear (because some play lines will cross other tees) . To facilitate this a system of indicators is provided by this invention. The indicators will usually be automatic but may be manual (e.g. flip-boards) and by way of example a specific embodiment is described.

At the start of the sequence a warning light is displayed at each tee, together with an indication pointing out the next target. The presence on a tee of each set of players (game or match, team or individual) is sensed by pressure pads, light beams, proximity sensors, security badges etc. at the tee. The players signal when they are ready to play (by push- button or by standing in the driving position on the tee) . Vacant tees are automatically by-passed. When all players have signalled their readiness, the "green light" is given, usually to all at the same time but if one play line crosses an occupied tee within range, the "green light" for that one play line will be locked out until all players have left that tee. The second shots (par 4, 5 and strays) will be played in the usual convention starting with the furthest from target (green) and with players waiting or standing aside. Having played through the central fairway, players proceed to complete the holes as in conventional golf, each aiming for their own targets.

On the greens, the lifting of the flag from the hole is sensed and signifies the arrival of the game to that point and, after putting out, the replacement of the flag is sensed and signals completion of that sequence. These signals are then interlinked with the "ready" and "go" signals for the next sequence. An indicator is provided adjacent each green, to indicate the next tee in the sequence.

The signals may be monitored centrally by a "Starter" who can allocate new games to an available tee (and hold the play while the new players join the cycle) . The cycle can

(electronically) be altered to suit the players (ladies, juniors, medal competitions, etc.) . The control system can be linked with or include security (trespasser, equipment theft) measures and with the starting and stopping of pumped water systems or other special effects.

The scores can be entered into a scoreboard system for general or local display and for exciting "leader board" movements during synchronous competitions where results progress simultaneously (and under similar weather conditions) on a number of games rather than waiting for one match after another to reach the club house. These advantages can be combined by providing a number of golf courses of the invention in one complex on a single site, or on linked sites under coordinated management, with the result that the play throughput compared with conventional sequential-play golf courses can be vastly increased. For example, thirty championship matches can take place simultaneously on less than 100 acres of land (less for shorter courses) - around half of that needed for conventional sequential play golf. Furthermore, the golf courses of this invention may be built on unused or unusable areas of a conventional sequential-play golf course.

For optimum land use, where larger contiguous areas of land are available, several golf courses of this invention can be juxtaposed. The "nesting" patterns can be of any convenient shape or of different shapes for different length courses. Notionally, triangles, squares, rectangles and hexagons will interlink without land wastage. Because play is generally inwards from peripheral tees, the tees may be common between adjacent courses so giving further land savings while observing safety requirements. Figure 4 shows a nesting pattern considered ideal for the longest (standard scratch 72) courses with greatest density: four courses Cl, C2, C3 and C4 are shown.

The invention also provides for the location of viewing platforms and/or television towers so as to command a view of substantially all of the play or of different areas of the course (e.g. greens and fairway) where there is frequent activity. These facilities may be combined with a club house and other amenities and/or access roads or tracks suitable for electric and other vehicles, movement of spectators and pedestrians.

Maintenance of the golf courses in such complexes is considerably eased both by the standardisation of the supervisory equipment and because each course can be "booked" out of play for mowing and other maintenance. This is convenient for all and virtually eliminates interference between players and ground staff.

Other features of this invention relate to ancillary equipment. For example, if 16 players occupy one course, the golf balls must be easily distinguishable e.g. by colour- coding. Lightweight protective clothing and headgear is to be recommended.

It will be noted that in the golf course of the invention has the following features:

1) Most if not all tees are situated at the boundary of the course facing inwards;

2) Each green is situated forwards of the adjacent tees such that the arc of play may normally pass over that green when aimed at a distant green;

3) Greens are spaced inwards from the boundary but generally close to the boundary, which encloses an area which is generally preferred longer than it is wide;

4) A single fairway "system" or "complex" is provided generally in the middle of the course and provides the fairway for all par 4 and par 5 holes (usually effectively replacing 12 fairways on a conventional course) ; and

5) The number of different holes played is not determined by the number of holes constructed but the number of holes played can be selected so as to play a conventional number of holes in accordance with the accepted rules of golf and its variants.

Claims

Claims

1) A golf course for playing a game of 18 holes, the course comprising substantially fewer than 18 tees (1-8) and substantially fewer than 18 greens (A-D) , arranged so that any of a plurality of different rounds of 18 holes may be played, with the lines of play (L) of the different holes in any selected round crossing each other.

2) A golf course as claimed in claim 1, in which, in each selectable round, the lines of play (L) for the 18 holes are all different.

3) A golf course as claimed in claim 1 or 2, having a scratch or par rating in the range 54 to 90.

4) A golf course as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the greens (A-D) and most of the tees (1-8) are arranged outwardly of a central fairway zone (F) .

5) A golf course as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the greens (A-D) are situated inwardly from a boundary (P) of the course.

6) A .golf course as claimed in any preceding claim, in which most or all of the tees (1-8) are situated at or adjacent the boundary (P) of the course.

7) A golf course as claimed in any preceding claim, in which there are 3 to 6 greens (A-D) .

8) A golf course as claimed in any preceding claim, in which at least one green (e.g. A) has at least two tees (e.g. 2,3) adjacent thereto.

9) A golf course as claimed in any preceding claim, having a number of hazards (H) located so as to vary the target distances between different lines of play (L) for different strokes to render the use of a range of golf clubs necessary or desirable.

10) A golf course complex which comprises a plurality of individual golf courses (e.g. Cl to C4) each as claimed in any preceding claim.

11) Control and monitoring equipment for a golf course or golf course complex as claimed in any preceding claim, the equipment comprising means for monitoring the progress of play, means for each tee to signal players to play or stop and to indicate selectively the green to which they should play, and means for each green to indicate selectively the next tee to which the players should proceed.