Golf ball teeing device

Resilient arcuate fingers attached to a handle partially encircle and support a golf ball. The golf ball is then placed on a golf tee without bending over and the teeing device is slid out from under the ball. An alternative embodiment retrieves golf balls from water hazards and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Most golfers, in order to polish driving skills, repetitively practice 
driving golf balls from a fixed tee. Golf driving ranges are available in 
which, for a fee, the golfer is given a container holding a number of golf 
balls and access to the tee and range. He then tees up each ball on the 
tee; and drives it down the range. 
It has been observed that the repetitive stooping over to pick up each golf 
ball from the container and to place it on the tee is tiring and the 
resulting muscle soreness detracts from the joy of practice. 
Some golf driving ranges offer fixed devices which tee up the golf balls 
one at a time. Fixed devices of this sort are expensive as evidenced by 
the higher fees charged by golf driving ranges offering them. The prior 
art does not disclose a portable device adapted to teeing up a golf ball 
without stooping over. 
Golfers also suffer balls which come to rest in locations where they can be 
seen but not reached in water, through fences and under low objects. The 
prior art contains nets and scoops on extensible handles for reaching such 
balls. Nets and scoops fail to positively secure the ball once engaged and 
often allow the ball to again fall. The well known perversity of inanimate 
objects practically guarantees that the dropped ball will come to rest in 
a new location which is unseeable and/or unreachable even with the aid of 
a device for picking it up. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The instant invention teaches a golf ball teeing device with two arcuate 
spaced-apart fingers attached to and directed generally at right angles 
from a handle. The fingers are spaced apart leaving an aperture between 
them smaller in cross section than the diameter of the great circle of a 
golf ball. The fingers are each connected to a resilient subshaft. The two 
resilient subshafts are connected to the shaft of a substantially rigid 
handle. 
To pick up a golf ball, the arcuate fingers are suspended over the ball 
with the center of the aperture aligned over the center of the ball. The 
arcuate fingers are then pressed down over the ball. Due to their 
resilience and the resilience of the subshafts, the arcuate fingers are 
spread apart to accommodate the maximum diameter of the golf ball, then 
resume their former spacing below the waist of the golf ball. When the 
handle and attached arcuate fingers are then raised, the golf ball is 
supported and carried by the arcuate fingers. Alternatively, the arcuate 
fingers may be inserted below the waist of the golf ball without pressing 
them down over its maximum diameter. 
The golf ball supported by the arcuate fingers is suspended over, then 
lowered onto a golf tee. The golf tee engages the golf ball in its lower 
hemisphere through the opening in the spaced-apart arcuate fingers. As the 
arcuate fingers are lowered still further, the golf ball becomes 
independently supported atop the tee. The arcuate fingers of the teeing 
device are then slid out from under the ball while the shaft of the tee 
passes through the space between the arcuate fingers. 
In an alternative embodiment of the device useful for picking up golf balls 
from water, through fences and the like, the lower part of the sub-shafts 
are given a reverse bend which brings the arcuate fingers into the 
vicinity of and spaced away from the upper part of the sub-shafts. When a 
ball is supported by pressing the arcuate fingers over it, as previously 
described, it remains firmly captured between the arcuate fingers and the 
upper part of the sub-shafts. To increase the reach of the device, a 
telescoping handle may be employed.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment 
Referring to FIG. 1, the golf ball teeing device 10 is shown suspended over 
a bucket 12 containing a plurality of golf balls 14. The bucket 12 is 
shown resting near a mat 16 containing a tee 18. Arcuate fingers 20, 20a 
are attached to the end of a shaft 22 by subshafts 24, 24a. The spacing 
between the arcuate fingers 20, 20a is smaller than the great circle 
diameter of a golf ball 14. The subshafts 24, 24a are preferably of 
springable resilient material such as steel or semi-rigid plastic. The 
arcuate fingers 20, 20a are pressed down over one of the balls 14 in the 
bucket 12. Due to the resilience in the subshafts 24, 24a, the arcuate 
fingers 20, 20a are enabled to move apart to pass the great circle 
diameter of the golf ball 14, then move together below the golf ball 14. 
When the teeing device 10 is raised, the arcuate fingers 20, 20a support 
the golf ball 14 and raise it with them. It is not necessary to use care 
in positioning the arcuate fingers 20, 20a over a particular golf ball 14 
in the bucket 12. Instead, it has been found that merely stabbing the end 
of the teeing device 10 into the bucket 12 is usually effective to capture 
one of the golf balls 14 therein. 
When a golf ball 14 is supported on the teeing device 10, it is transferred 
over the tee 18 and lowered thereon. 
As more clearly shown in FIG. 2, the arcuate fingers 20, 20a support the 
golf ball 14 leaving a lower portion 26 of the golf ball 14 exposed in the 
space between them. 
The tee 18 has an opening or depression in its top end adapted to 
supporting the golf ball 14. The example tee 18 shown, often seen in 
commercial golf driving ranges, consists of a vertical rubber cylinder 28 
having an axial hole 30. The golf ball 14 is placed on the top of the 
rubber cylinder 28 and rests centered in the axial hole 30. 
The shaft 22 is preferably a hollow metal cylinder and the ends of the 
subshafts 24, 24a are preferably inserted into the cylinder and secured 
there by depressing the shaft 22 upon them as at 32. The subshafts 24, 24a 
may optionally be joined together, as by the hairpin loop 34 shown dashed 
in FIG. 2. When the shaft 22 is flattened upon the hairpin loop 34, the 
metal may be pressed into an inward groove 36 between the subshafts 24, 
24a to prevent their withdrawal. Further penetration of the shaft 22 may 
be prevented by ridges or external bends in the subshafts (not shown). 
FIG. 3 shows the manner of flattening and grooving the shaft 22 about the 
subshafts 24, 24a. Other forms of shaft 22, such as solid metal, plastic 
or wood, and other methods of attachment such as adhesives, nails, rivets, 
screws or clamps may be substituted without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the inventive concept. 
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the subshafts 24, 24a extend parallel to 
the axis of the shaft 22. The subshafts 24, 24a are joined at bends 38, 
38a of approximately 90.degree. to connecting pieces 40, 40a. The 
connecting pieces 40, 40a also shown in the embodiment in FIG. 4 are 
joined to the arcuate fingers 20, 20a at bends 42, 42a of less than 
90.degree.. The arcuate fingers 20, 20a are shaped to curve about an axis 
substantially parallel to the shaft 22. The arcuate fingers terminate at 
44, 44a leaving a gap 46 of at least 1/4 inch between them. The gap 46 is 
useful to allow the passage of the tee 18 when withdrawing the teeing 
device 10 after the ball 14 is balanced on the tee 18. 
The embodiment in FIG. 2 has the axis of the shaft 22 laterally displaced 
from the center of the ball 14 resulting in a slight imbalance. A balanced 
embodiment may be made which has the axis of the shaft 22 passing through 
the center of the ball by making additional bends in the subshafts which 
displace the shaft 22 axis to coincide with the center of the ball. 
The alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 5 has lateral arcuate bends 52, 52a. 
The lateral arcuate bends 52, 52a resist the tendency of a ball 14 to roll 
out from under the arcuate fingers 20, 20a while attempting to capture it 
with the teeing device 10. The lateral arcuate bends 52, 52a are inclined 
upward and outward from the axis of the arcuate fingers 20, 20a at an 
angle which allows them to rest against the surface of the golf ball 14. 
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment for picking up a golf ball at a distance. In 
this embodiment, bends 50 and 50a of approximately 90.degree. in the lower 
part of the subshafts 24, 24a brings the arcuate fingers 20, 20a into 
spaced-apart relationship with the upper parts 28, 28a of the subshafts. 
The spacing between the upper parts 28, 28a and the arcuate fingers 20, 
20a is such that, once a golf ball is socketed in the arcuate fingers, the 
upper parts 28, 28a prevent it falling out. The reach of the device may be 
improved by making the shaft 22 telescoping. 
It will be understood that the claims are intended to cover all changes and 
modifications of the preferred embodiments of the invention, herein chosen 
for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute departures from 
the spirit and scope of the invention.