Golf tee placement and retrieval device

A tee placement and retrieval device is attached temporarily to a golf club handle by an elastomeric cup. The device has a container with a lateral slot for receiving a tee, a slot in an elastomeric retainer for temporarily holding the shank of the tee, and an off-center pressure member for driving the tee. The tee is retrieved by pulling the tee head with the retainer.

This invention relates generally to an accessory used in playing golf, and 
more particularly to an accessory which is useful in placing and 
retrieving a golf tee. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The game of golf requires bending or stooping to insert a tee into the 
ground at the beginning of each hole, and then bending or stooping to 
retrieve the tee after driving the ball. Insertion of the golf tee 
sometimes requires considerable force because of the hardness of the 
ground. Older golfers or those with back problems have difficulty in 
bending or stooping to place and retrieve the tee. This has lead to a 
number of suggestions in the prior art for devices to place and retrieve 
the tee, without bending or stooping. 
Tee placement devices are disclosed in a number of patents, of which the 
following are exemplary. 
______________________________________ 
Patent No. 
Title Inventor Issue Date 
______________________________________ 
2,609,198 
Device for Setting Golf Balls 
Armstrong Sept. 2, 1952 
and Tees 
3,206,197 
Golf Ball Tee Handling Tool 
Miotke Sept. 14, 1965 
3,889,946 
Portable Adjustable Tee and 
Setecka June 17, 1975 
Ball Positioning Device 
4,313,604 
Golf Tee and Ball Stick 
Baxter Feb. 2, 1982 
Device 
4,466,650 
Golf Ball and Tee Handling 
Roedel Aug. 21, 1984 
Tool 
4,526,369 
Golf Aid Phelps July 2, 1985 
4,714,250 
Golf Ball and Tee Setter 
Henthorn Dec. 22,1 987 
4,819,938 
Golf Ball and Tee 
Hill Apr. 11, 1989 
Placement and Retrieval 
Tool 
4,951,947 
Golf Ball Teeing Device 
Kopfle Aug. 28, 1990 
5,310,177 
No-Bend Golf Device 
Conrad et al. 
May 10, 1994 
5,540,432 
Golf Tee and Ball Setter 
Keller July 30, 1996 
______________________________________ 
Most of the aforementioned prior art involves a side insertion slot to 
laterally insert and temporarily hold the tee while it is located in the 
proper place on the ground, and means to press the top of the tee into the 
ground with force directed downward along the axis of the tee. 
The aforementioned devices also are characterized by elongated handles 
attached to the tee driving tool, many having operating mechanisms 
extending through or along the elongated handle. 
It would be desirable to have a tee placement and retrieval device which is 
simple in construction and does not require a permanently attached handle 
which has to be carried in the golf bag. 
It would also be desirable to have a tee placement and retrieval device 
which is simple, requiring no moving parts and reliable in operation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A golf tee placement and retrieval device for utilization with a separate 
elongated member to place and retrieve a golf tee having a circular head, 
a shank smaller in diameter than the head extending along an axis, and a 
tip, the device comprising a tee container having sidewall portions 
arranged to contain the tee head and a portion of the tee shank, the 
sidewall portions defining a tee insertion opening for laterally receiving 
the tee head and shank portion, a tee retainer disposed inside the 
sidewall portions, having yieldable portions defining a lateral slot 
communicating with the tee insertion opening, the lateral slot being of a 
width such that the yieldable portions yield to laterally receive and grip 
the tee shank portion to temporarily hold it in place in the tee 
container, a tee driver comprising a pressure member disposed in the tee 
container and adapted to contact the tee head at a location laterally 
offset from the tee shank axis on a side thereof toward the tee insertion 
opening, so as to force the tee shank away from the tee insertion opening 
as the tip of the tee is inserted, and temporary attachment means 
connected to the tee container and adapted for connection to the end of 
the elongated member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIGS. 1-5 of the drawing, an improved golf tee placement 
and retrieval device is shown generally at 2 comprising a tee container 4, 
a tee retainer 6, a tee driver 8 (FIG. 3), and an elastomeric cup 10 
serving as temporary attachment means. 
The tee container 4 is a cylindrical member with a circumferential sidewall 
12. A tee insertion opening 14 is cut in the sidewall with a wide section 
14a which will accommodate the head of a tee and a narrow section 14b 
which will accommodate the shank of a tee when it is inserted laterally 
into the tee container. 
In order to retain the tee temporarily, the tee retainer 6 comprises a 
yieldable insert 16 with a lateral slot 18 cut in the insert and having an 
opening aligned with the shank entry opening 14b. 
Closing off the upper end of the tee container 4 is a tee driver 8 
comprising a support flange 20 and a pressure member 22. In accordance 
with one aspect of the present invention, the pressure member 22 is a flat 
surface inclined with respect to the axis of the tee holder, with the 
lowest side of the inclined surface disposed laterally on the side of the 
tee container axis on which is located the tee insertion opening 14 and 
the opening of the lateral slot 18. 
A threaded member 24 is connected to extend from the center of flange 20 
extending along the tee holder axis. 
As seen in the top view of FIG. 4, flange 20 is contained in the bottom of 
an elastomeric cup 10 with threaded member 24 exposed. The cylindrical tee 
holder 4 extends through a hole in the bottom of cup 10. The elastomeric 
cup 10 has a circumferential flexible sidewall 26, which is adapted to fit 
and clasp an ordinary golf club hand grip. The diameter of the threaded 
member 24 is sized to fit easily within the hole normally found in the end 
of such a golf club handle. 
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawing, the golf tee placement and 
retrieval device 2 is shown in two different modes of use, with two types 
of elongated members. In FIG. 6, portions of a golf club handle are seen 
generally at 28 having a hand grip 30. The hand grip end is inserted 
inside the walls 26 of the elastomeric cup 10, the threaded member 24 
extending into the hole in the end of the golf club handle. If the golf 
club handle has no hole in the end, the threaded member 24 may be removed. 
The elastomeric cup serves as a temporary attachment means for utilizing a 
golf club to operate the device. 
In FIG. 7, an alternate elongated member comprises a hollow rod 32 with a 
threaded receptacle 34 at one end thereof. The internal threads of 
receptacle 34 are adapted to fit the external threads of the threaded 
member 24 for temporarily attaching the device 2 to the end of the 
elongated rod 32. In this case, the threaded member 24 acts as a temporary 
attachment means. 
Reference to FIG. 8 of the drawing shows the operation of the preferred 
embodiment of the invention. Device 2 is shown in cross section, and the 
outlines of a golf club handle 36 and a golf tee 38 having a circular head 
38a, tapered shank 38b and tip 38c, are shown in phantom line. The golf 
tee placement and retrieval device is placed over the end of the golf club 
handle 36 with the end thereof resting against the flange 20. The 
elastomeric walls 26 grip the club handle, retaining the device 2 on the 
golf club handle. The tee 38 is laterally inserted into the tee container 
4 and raised so that its head 38a abuts the inclined wall 22. The tee 38 
is retained in place by the gripping action of the yieldable sides of slot 
18 on the tee retainer. Tip 38c of the tee is located and downward force 
applied on the golf club handle 36 without the necessity of bending or 
stooping. The downward force exerted is applied to one side of the tee 
axis due to the shape of pressure member 22. This causes the shank 38b of 
the tee to tend to rotate counterclockwise and move toward the retainer 
wall 16 and away from the opening 14 where it might become dislodged. 
Therefore, tee 38 is firmly held as it is inserted into the ground. 
To retrieve or move the tee while it is still in the ground, the user 
merely moves the device laterally so that the tee head enters opening 14. 
Upward movement of the device causes the tee head 38a to lodge against the 
retainer insert 6 above slot 18 and continued application of upward force 
withdraws the tee from the ground. 
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 9 and 9a. A tee 
container 40 comprises a cylindrical side wall with a cutout 42 providing 
a tee insertion opening. Rather than an elastomeric tee retainer, a spring 
clip 44 with two spring fingers 44a, 44b is supported by attachment 46. On 
the upper end, a tee driver 48 with flange 50 is held within an 
elastomeric cup 52. Tee driver 48 includes a pressure member 54 with an 
abutment extending downwardly and offset from the axis toward the tee 
insertion opening 42. The operation is as previously described. 
The invention permits easily inserting and removing a golf tee without 
bending or stooping and has no moving parts. It can be carried in the 
golfer's pocket, in a golf bag or attached to the handle of a spare club. 
While there has been described what is considered to be the preferred 
embodiment of the invention, other modifications will occur to those 
skilled in the art, and it is desired to secure in the appended claims all 
such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the 
invention.