Abstract:
A method for playing an interactive computer processed golf tournament in real time via the Internet. The method includes the steps of registering users via the Internet and storing the user name, address, age, telephone, credit card data and club number on a library file. The method includes scheduling named tournaments, registering users via the Internet as contestants in one of the named tournaments including, assigning the user a position within a flight of a first round of the named tournament, and storing the assigned position on the library file. Participating contestant logins are accepted via the Internet prior to each named tournament. Participating contestants are provided with a scorecard display for the assigned flight including a tournament name, a countdown clock, one or more contestant scores, a cursor, and a message area. User inputs are accepted in real time via the Internet from each of the participating contestants in turn for each of the holes wherein each input determines a random score for the hole. A winner of each of the flights is determined based on a total of the random scores. Each winner is assigned to a position in a successive flight in a successive round and the process is repeated until the last championship round. Playing a championship round includes determining a plurality of championship round winners based on the random scores and awarding prizes to the championship round winners.

Description:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention a method for playing an interactive computer processed golf tournament is provided. The method includes the steps of registering users via the Internet by receiving a user name, address, age, telephone and credit card data, verifying the user age is at least 21 years, validating the user&#39;s credit card data, providing the validated user with a unique club number, and storing the user name, address, age, telephone, credit card data and club number on a library file. The method includes scheduling named tournaments, registering users via the Internet as contestants in one of the named tournaments including, assigning the user a position within a flight of a first round of the named tournament, and storing the assigned position on the library file. Participating contestant logins are accepted via the Internet prior to each named tournament. Participating contestants are provided with a scorecard display for the assigned flight including a tournament name, a countdown clock, one or more contestant scores, a cursor, and a message area. User inputs are accepted in real time via the Internet from each of the participating contestants in turn for each of the holes wherein each input determines a random score for the hole. A winner of each of the flights is determined based on a total of the random scores. Each winner is assigned to a position in a successive flight in a successive round and the process is repeated until the last championship round. Playing a championship round includes determining a plurality of championship round winners based on the random scores and awarding prizes to the championship round winners. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0002]    [0002]FIG. 1 shows tournament round and flight configuration;  
         [0003]    [0003]FIG. 2 shows the tournament registration library file record structure;  
         [0004]    [0004]FIG. 3 is a tournament scorecard display format for all flights;  
         [0005]    [0005]FIG. 4 is an exemplary initial greeting message;  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 5 shows tournament entry instructions;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 6 is an exemplary registration validation message;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 7 shows exemplary tournament operational instructions;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 8 shows exemplary tournament day instructions;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 9 shows typical messages during tournament;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 10 is an example of a first player score and display highlighting;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 11 is a completed scorecard example;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 12 is an exemplary flight winner message;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 13 is an example of a championship round display;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 14 is a golf tournament system block diagram;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 15 is a representation of flight module configuration;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 16A is a flow diagram of registration functions;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 16B is a flow diagram of status functions;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 16C is a flow diagram of tournament scoring functions; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 16D is a flow diagram of championship round functions. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]    Introduction  
         [0022]    Described herein are embodiments of an interactive (real time computer processed) golf tournament system by which golf tournaments are played nationwide by means of a golf tournament integrated “system” installed on a server computer and made available to the worldwide web (Internet). The “system” consists of integrated hardware and software installed at a particular site location which processes all tournament events from initial player tournament registration, collection of entrance fees, the determination of winners to the payment of prizes. The system is a turnkey operation and can be located at more than one site to handle more than one tournament simultaneously (for example, five different tournaments at the same time on the same day of the week). This would require a different website for each tournament. More than one website can be installed based on demand (number of registrants per tournament within a particular geographical area, i.e. continental U.S., Japan, etc.)  
         [0023]    The system is self-contained and can be sold, installed and maintained on an international basis. However, in the continental United States, the preferred approach is to install and operate the system as a commercial venture by one company, however, partnerships with Internet companies (for example, AOL, Earthlink, etc.) are also possible to facilitate development, installation and operation of the system.  
         [0024]    Each tournament will have a commercial sponsor who will provide the prize money ($50,000 minimum). In return, the sponsor will have the tournament named after the sponser (for example the “Wal-Mart Challenge”) and will receive free advertising on the website during the duration of the tournament (from the time of initial registration through the end of the tournament, Monday through Sunday). In addition, the sponsor may, at its option, provide discounts to all tournament players. This is done by providing discount coupons to all entrants by either downloading them to the entrant&#39;s site for printing or by mail. If the sponsor is a retailer, this could provide additional sales and a means by which the prize money is recovered, either partially or fully.  
         [0025]    Tournaments are arbitrarily limited to 10,000 players although the system is designed to handle more or less than this number of players. This number is a matter of convenience and economics (cost and expected profit). For example, if one tournament is held each week and the entrance fee is either $20.00 or $25.00 per contestant, the yearly revenue would be:  
         [0026]    (52 Tournaments)×(10,000 Players)×($20 Fee)=$10,400,000.00  
         [0027]    (52 Tournaments)×(10,000 Players)×($25 Fee)=$13,000,000.00  
         [0028]    The system consists of the highest quality hardware and software available to minimize any downtime. An in-depth reliability, maintainability, availability (RMA) analysis is required to predict system failure rates and downtime. Since only one tournament is envisioned per week with an operating time of one hour maximum per tournament, this equates to only 52 operating hours per year per site for the complete system. The registration (sign-up) subsystem experiences more stress since it operates continuously until the registration file (library file) is complete for one tournament. However, since the subsystem is separate from the tournament playing subsystem, no difficulties are anticipated during the tournament. All subsystems are “burned in” prior to the initiation of tournament operations to identify faulty components. Usually, if a failure occurs, it occurs early in the operational life of a system. Any failures experienced during system ‘burn in’ should be analyzed for design deficiencies and design improvements made if required. System operational life is expected to be at least 25 years minimum.  
         [0029]    Operational Processes and System Procedures  
         [0030]    As shown in FIG. 1, the System is normally configured to accept up to 10,000 entrants (players)  10  nationwide per tournament  12 . Each tournament  12  consists of four (4) rounds  14 ,  16 ,  18 ,  20 , and each round consists of ten players per flight  22 . Assuming that 10,000 players have entered a tournament, round one will consist of 1,000 flights of ten entrants; the flights are played simultaneously. After the first round  14 , the winners of the 1,000 flights will compete in the second round  16 . Winners from flights one through ten of round one will be flight number one  14  in round two  16 , winners from flights  11  through  20  of round one will be competitors in flight two of round two, etc. Therefore, round two  16  will consist of 100 flights of ten players each for a total of 1,000 contestants. After the second round is completed, the winners will compete in round three  18 . Round three  18  will therefore consist of ten flights of ten players each. Flight one will consist of the winners of flights one through ten of round two, etc. Round four  20  is the final championship round and will consist of the ten winners from round three in a championship flight  24 . Prizes  26  will be given to the top four finishers  28 , places one through four, although this could vary from tournament to tournament. Consolation prizes, such as golf balls, may be given to the remaining entrants in the championship round.  
         [0031]    A tournament  12  is configured to be completed in a specific time period. For example, a tournament will be completed within 60 minutes from the start based on the following exemplary tournament time allocations:  
         [0032]    Four seconds per player input/output (for example, three-second player response and one second system response, i.e. number of strokes per hole calculation and display, and player selection).  
         [0033]    Four minutes between rounds one and two, two and three, and three and four for a total of 12 minutes for resolution of ties and setting up the next round.  
         [0034]    Four rounds of 18 holes each.  
         [0035]    Therefore:  
         [0036]    a) Four seconds/player/hole×ten players=40 seconds  
         [0037]    b) 18 holes×40 seconds=720 seconds=12 minutes/round  
         [0038]    c) Four rounds×12 minutes per round=48 minutes  
         [0039]    d) Three four-minute gaps between rounds=12 minutes  
         [0040]    e) Total 60 minutes [48+12, c) and d) above] 
         [0041]    The above time allocation is typical and is shown as an example only. Other time allocations can be developed. For example, there may be an intermission after the first nine holes are played during which time advertisements may be displayed for the sponsers of the tournament.  
         [0042]    The time selected for a tournament to start must accommodate different time zones. Therefore, for convenience, tournaments will typically be held in geographical areas comprising a single time zone to avoid confusion, however, more time zones, for example three, can be used. The three hour time zone primarily applies to the continental United States.  
         [0043]    Tournaments can be held all over the world with proper site location. It is anticipated that tournaments will be held within the geographical boundaries of a particular country due to issues such as legality, politics, taxes, etc., although international competitions can be held by agreement. Europe is an example of a location for international competition, or an international tournament could be held with the winners of individual country tournaments with the site location selected by mutual agreement. For convenience, it is expected that tournaments will be held on a weekend (preferably Sunday). For example, a tournament can be held on a Sunday afternoon and, in the continental United States, 4 pm EST would be a typical starting time of a tournament, although other starting times can be used. For example if two tournaments are held on the same day at the same website, one could be held at 3 p.m. EST and the other at 5 p.m. EST. This would have the beneficial effect of doubling the weekly income.  
         [0044]    In order to enter tournaments an individual will connect to a website running a registration subsystem from his/her home computer. The website will preferably be available 24 hours each day, Monday through Saturday. The contestant wil receive a message on his screen with instructions on registering as a user of the system in order to receive a user identification (club number) to be used in future tournament events. The information to be provided by the prospective contestant will include but not be limited to:  
         [0045]    Name  
         [0046]    Address  
         [0047]    Telephone number (including area code)  
         [0048]    Social Security number (if required for income tax purposes)  
         [0049]    Credit card information (type, number and expiration date)  
         [0050]    Certification of being at least 21 years old.  
         [0051]    Upon credit card number validation and processing, a message is sent to the entrant&#39;s computer that the entrant&#39;s registartion has been accepted and a user club number is provided for use in future tournaments, or a message is returned to the entrant that his registration has not been accepted. Also, upon acceptance, the user&#39;s information is entered into a tournament library file.  
         [0052]    To enter a specific tournament  12  as a contestant, a user will connect to a website running a tournament at which time he/she will either be informed that the tournament is filly subscribed and cannot accept any more contestants, or he/she will be asked to provide a user club number. Information related to the procedure to be followed on the date of the tournament will also be included in the message. The user&#39;s information will be retrieved from the tournament library file according to the user club number provided. The contestant is assigned a number and position within a flight  22 . The flights  22 , and positions within them, will be filled in order, i.e. flight one, position one, flight one, position two, etc. until all flights and positions are filled.  
         [0053]    When the library is filled, an “all filled” message, or message to that effect, is activated on the message screen and no further entries are accepted. After the tournament, the winning positions are entered into the tournament library file. All file information is transferred to a history file and retained as a historical record of the tournament.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 2 shows the structure of the tournament library file  30 . The file includes a tournament name  32 , flight number  34 , position within the flight  36 , user identification number  38  and contestant information  40  which includes the information entered in the above-described registration.  
         [0055]    On the day of the tournament, each contestant must log in at least five minutes prior to the start of the tournament by providing the above-described user club number. Upon log-in, a set of simple tournament instructions will be displayed on the contestant&#39;s screen, the contestant&#39;s club number is automatically matched to the tournament library file and the number is verified that it exists in the file. Upon verification, the contestant is sent a display which is a flight scorecard along with a flight number and his name in one of the contestant slots. This is his/her position in the assigned flight  22 . A representation of the display is shown in FIG. 3 and partially described here and further described below with respect to contestant messages and displays.  
         [0056]    The display  42  shows the golf game layout  44  (i.e. par 3,4 and 5 holes), the contestant&#39;s name  46 , the contestant&#39;s position  48  in the round, and a cursor  50  which illuminates to indicate the player to play the hole. In a preferred embodiment, the possible scores (number of strokes) a player can receive are as follows: one through six for par 3 holes, two through seven for par 4 holes, and three through eight for par 5 holes.  
         [0057]    This represents scores from an eagle through a triple bogie for any hole. This is a typical range of scores per hole, however, any numerical range can be used. The range selected represents realistic scores one can obtain on a golf course and minimizes the possibilities of ties in a flight. All displays available to a contestant are further described below.  
         [0058]    At the start of a tournament, hole one in the hole number section  52  will be highlighted and the cursor  50  on the left of the first listed contestant (number one) will be illuminated. In one embodiment, contestant one has three seconds to depress the “enter” key on his/her computer keyboard. All other contestants, the remaining nine, are “locked out”, i.e. if a contestant other than the one that has the illuminated cursor next to his/her name depresses the “enter” key on his/her computer keyboard, nothing will happen. If contestant number one depresses the enter key within three seconds, a signal is sent to a random number generator which selects a number based on the “par” value of the hole. This number is entered into a score totalizer for this contestant and the number is displayed on the screen for all flight contestants to observe in a score area  54 . The score area  54  includes an out total  56  for the first nine holes, an in total  58  for the last none holes and an overall total  59  for all holes.  
         [0059]    In an alternate embodiment, instead of the contestant having three seconds to depress the “enter” key, the system will display a number of golf balls (not shown), five for example, and each golf ball will correspond to a randomly generated number. The contestant will have three seconds to select a golf ball with a pointing device such as a mouse, and the number associated with that ball will be used in place of the random number described above. The three second time limit is arbitrary as previously described.  
         [0060]    When the cursor illuminates next to contestant number two, contestant number two has three seconds to depress the enter key on his/her terminal keyboard, or select a golf ball, and the same process is repeated for contestant number two. The process is than repeated for contestants three to ten, and for the remaining  17  holes. Hole number two will be highlighted when this hole is played and the process will continue for the remaining holes. If a contestant does not depress the enter key, or select a golf ball, within three seconds after the cursor illuminates, that contestant is given the highest score possible for that hole (six for a par three hole, seven for a par four hole, and eight for a par five hole). In addition, if a person does not log in prior to the tournament, that person will forfeit the entrance fee and will receive the maximum score for each hole in the round.  
         [0061]    At the completion of the first round, the scores of all the contestants will be totaled and displayed. The contestant with the lowest score will be highlighted and a message displayed with instructions for the next round. The display for all the losing contestants will be terminated and they will automatically be disconnected from the system.  
         [0062]    If a tie occurs at the end of a round within a flight the scores of the tied players will be highlighted and their names retained on the scorecard. All other players will be eliminated along with all scores. A sudden death hole-by-hole process for the two or more finalists will commence at hole number one when the cursor illuminates next to the first player&#39;s name. The players depress the enter key to start the sudden death process. The player with the lowest score on the first hole will win the round. If a tie occurs on the first hole, the process will continue on hole number two until the tie is broken and a winner identified.  
         [0063]    All flight winners will stay on line for the start of the second round. The system will automatically construct the second round flights by assigning the 1000 winners of the first round to the 100 flights of the second round. The second round will be played in the same manner as the first round. At the completion of the second round, the system will automatically construct the third round of flights by assigning the 100 winners of the second flight to the 10 flights of the third round. At the completion of the third round, the final championship round (fourth round) will be constructed automatically by the system by inserting the winners of the ten flights of the third round into the final score card. The final round is played in the same manner as rounds one, two and three. At the end of this round the first second, third and fourth place winners will be identified and the prizes distributed.  
         [0064]    Messages and Displays  
         [0065]    Various messages and displays are generated by the system before and during the tournament. These are shown in sequence from FIG. 4 through FIG. 13. When a contestant first connects to the website, he/she will receive a greeting message  60  as shown in FIG. 4 along with a description of the tournament procedures, the entry fee, and any other significant information. If the person wants to enter the tournament, he/she clicks on the “yes” box and the entrance instructions  62  appear as show in FIG. 5, or a message will appear that the tournament is fully booked and no other entries are being taken. The entrant inputs the information requested (club number) in the area provided and, if all information is validated as correct, a validation message  64  will be sent that the person has been entered into the tournament as shown in FIG. 6. At this point, a operational instruction message  66  is sent as shown in FIG. 7, which includes instructions to be followed on the date of the tournament.  
         [0066]    When the contestant enters the website on the day of the tournament, a status message  68  is displayed as shown in FIG. 8. Once the instructions are followed, the scorecard related to the round one flight to which the contestant has been assigned (refer to FIG. 2) will appear on the player&#39;s screen. The scorecard format is shown in FIG. 3. Any round one messages will be included below the scorecard. Typical messages  70  are shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0067]    The time remaining to the start of the tournament is shown by a countdown clock  72  in the upper left-hand corner in this example. When the clock reaches 00:00 minutes:seconds, the first player and hole number one will be illuminated and the player will have three seconds to press the “enter” key, or select a golf ball, to receive a score for the first hole  74  as shown in FIG. 10. When player number two illuminates, the same process is followed until the tournament is completed. A completed scorecard is shown in FIG. 11 along with a message for the winner  76  of the flight as shown in FIG. 12. The process continues for the remaining rounds. The championship round is shown in FIG. 13.  
         [0068]    Functional Description and System Architecture  
         [0069]    As shown in FIG. 14, the Golf Tournament System consists of four main subsystems: the Telecommunication Subsystem  80 , the Registration System  82 , the Operational System  84  and the Control System  86 . Top-level block diagrams of the Golf Tournament System subsystems are provided in FIG. 14.  
         [0070]    The Telecommunication Subsystem  80  is the primary interface between the Golf Tournament System and the contestants. It is a high-speed signal multiplex/routing system that allows two way simultaneous communications between all 10,000 tournament players and the Golf Tournament System.  
         [0071]    The Registration Subsystem  82  processes and validates contestant entry information. It establishes the Tournament Registration Library File (data format shown in FIG. 2), provides the interface between the System and the credit card billing module, and provides the basic structure for allocating the contestants to the flights for the first round. The contents of the Library file will be archived after the tournament for historical purposes.  
         [0072]    The Operational Subsystem  84  controls the game process for each round on a per-flight basis. Each flight has its own control module; there are 1,000 control modules  88  as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 in the total system to handle 10,000 players simultaneously. The flight control modules  88  process the contestant&#39;s inputs and activate the random number generators, produce the flight displays and determine the flight winners. The configuration of the Flight Module  90  is shown in FIG. 15.  
         [0073]    The Control Subsystem  86  is the master controller or central processor of the system. It provides the interfaces between all subsystems and included modules and controls all game functions. Function diagrams related to system operation are shown in FIG. 16A-D.  
         [0074]    While the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments by way of illustration, many modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.