Indoor Golf Apparatus

Apparatus for practicing golf, in particular the chipping aspect. The apparatus may be provided as a portable installation or permanent installation for events or entertainment. The apparatus is ideally suited for golfers who cannot attend a full golf course in all weather conditions or prefer to practice their chipping. Raised structures provide chipping and bunker surfaces with the cup as the target. The apparatus is arranged to return the ball to the golfer after every shot.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to golf, in particular indoor golf for practice or entertainment purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The game of golf can be seen as comprising three phases: driving, chipping and putting. There exist driving ranges and putting greens as well as numerous miniature practice aids for improving various aspects of the game. For example there are novelty golf cups surrounded by artificial grass to practice putting or virtual reality systems for simulating actual golf strokes into a video game overlay.

There also exists permanent installations, such as mini golf and crazy golf to practice the putting aspect. The chipping aspect of the games is rarely practiced. Additionally the conditions in some parts of the world make it too hot or too cold to play year-round and the players may find it difficult to play a full game of golf, especially in such conditions. The present invention addresses these shortcomings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for indoor golf comprising: a raised structure having a playing green on a top surface, a golf cup in the playing green and return conduit connected to the golf cup and running through the raised structure; and a vertically extending background partially wrapped around the raised structure, leaving an opening at one side, wherein the playing green and return pipe are sloped towards the opening.

Further aspects of the invention are set out below and in the appended claims. Thus preferred embodiments of the invention enable golfers to practice chipping in events and indoor environments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the accompanying figures, apparatus are disclosed for practicing golf, particularly chipping, which may be provided at an indoor installation or as a portable installation for events. As seen inFIGS.1,2, and3a golfer chips from a chipping mat20set back from a chipping green11, which is surrounded by a bunker12which itself is surrounded by a backdrop5. There is a golf cup15set into the chipping green11and connected to a return conduit17. The return conduit, chipping green and bunker are all sloped back towards an opening in the backdrop to return the ball to the golfer. Thus the golfer can attempt to sink the ball with a chip directly into the golf cup without having to retrieve their ball or have the ball go beyond the backdrop.

The chipping green (aka playing green) provides the playing surface, on which the ball ideally lands and rolls into the cup. If the shot misses, the balls rolls back on the green or falls over onto the bunker surface and rolls back therefrom. The playing green may be any soft, textured material, such as carpet or artificial grass. This provides the desirable speed and bounce expected from a real golf experience.

The playing green is the top surface of a first structure that is raised off the ground and inclined from a high rear portion sloping towards a lower front portion at the opening. The surface need not be flat or monotonic. The surface may also slope left, slope right, be humped, or slope partly backwards. In each case, a missed shot returns the ball to the player at the opening. The playing green need not be sloped so as to directly return the ball along its surface; it may be sloped towards the bunker region along which the ball is returned to the opening. The bunker is also sloped towards the opening to return chips show that entirely miss the green or roll from the green to the bunker.

The bunker region (second structure) at least partially surrounds the playing green, providing the equivalent of a bunker in golf where a bad shot would end up, either directly or after rolling off the green. Thus the bunker surface may be lower than the abutting portion of the green to provide a distinctive result and stop bad shots becoming sunk shots by luck.

The top surface of the bunker may be soft to deaden a ball's bounce. It may be textured and colored to resemble a real golf bunker, e.g. using sand or sandpaper to resemble a sand bunker. The bunker surface is not a playing surface and is made from a different material than the playing surface, so that the ball moves differently over it.

The background (aka backdrop) provides a barrier to restrict long balls from going beyond the apparatus' footprint. The background generally surrounds the bunker and or green leaving an opening at one side, i.e. the front where the golfer plays. The background vertically extends from the ground to a sufficient height to block balls, preferably at least 2 m high. It may even extend to the ceiling of the building and be suspended therefrom. The background in plan view may be a simple regular geometric shape, e.g. flat walls or semicircles. Preferably the background shape conforms to the outer perimeter of the raised structure to provide a more natural, flowing contour. The background may be connected to or at least abut the sides of the raised structures. This provides strength to the overall structure and prevents the ball getting lost in a gap.

The background may be a flexible sheet material, such as vinyl held into place by guy wires to the surrounding building or by a rigid frame6. The frame may comprise plural interconnected poles connected at corners of the sheet to provide the rigidity needed to not only hold up the background but also withstand heavy-hit balls. The frame is preferably collapsible and the background sheet rollable in a roll for transport.

In one embodiment, the frame is a banner stand and the background is made from plural banners connected at their edges to surround the raised structures. Alternatively the playing green, the sand bunker and the wall backdrop may be made from a rigid material, such as wood or metal, and assembled together.

In one embodiment, the background comprises a printed image4on a side facing the opening and golfer. Thus the background serves the secondary purpose of providing an image to the golfer, such as scenery typical of golf courses, advertising, or information about the current event. The printed image may be a thin flexible layer, such as vinyl, canvas, paper or card. There may be attachment means on the background structure to removably attach the image, so that a variety of images can be interchanged or to collapse for transport. These attachments may be hook and loop, clips, snaps or other common attachments.

The standard golf cup size is 4.25″ (108 mm) but in preferable embodiments is much larger. This has been found to improve play as the golfer needs to sink the ball in a single shot, compared to regular golf where stroke count defines your score. The cup is preferably greater than 4.5 inches, more preferably greater than 6 inches, most preferably between 6 and 11 inches (152 mm to 279 mm).

As shown inFIG.7A, the bottom of the golf cup15may be connected to a return conduit17, being directed and sloped to return the ball back towards the opening and the golfer. The conduit may be a pipe or simply defined by channels formed into the bulk of the raised structure10. This may be made by removing material in the foam body22or leaving a gap between supports in the structure. The return conduit should be sufficiently larger than the golf balls to be used, preferably at least 50 mm.

As shown inFIG.8, there may be one or more secondary golf cup targets attached to the wall backdrop with varying heights off the playing surface, each mounted at different locations. The number of golf cups may vary as well. This increases the options for the player to chip towards. These additional cups are attached the background, preferably by an arm32, rather than flush with the playing green like the primary cup15. As shown in the detail ofFIG.7B,7C, these secondary cups30may connect to a funnel31and thereafter drop onto the sloped surfaces to return to the player. The base of the cup may have a soft, shock absorbing material to prevent the ball from bouncing back out, for example vinyl layer or soft nylon or polyester netting. The funnel's sloped sides help capture the ball and swirl it downwards to the bunker. Flag16is present but out of the way of the shot.

The raised structure can be made from one or more physically separate pieces and then butted together for use. This can ease manufacturing and transport. For example, the bunker piece(s) may be separate from the playing green piece, but having matching contours at the sides where they meet.

FIGS.5A,5B, and5Cillustrate the geometry and construction details of an example raised structure. A platform22is contoured to the desired shape of the green, with beams23underneath to raise the platform. Pipe17attached to cup15and is mounted underneath the platform The platform is covered by artificial turf to make the green11and fringe24. These platforms may be made from wood for strength or foam for sculptability and portability.

FIGS.6A,6B, and6Cillustrate the geometry and construction details of an alternative raised structure. Here the beams23are lateral and the return conduit17slopes sideways towards the bunker.

The structures are preferably made of lightweight materials, such as high density foam, plastic or cardboard. Thus a bulky3D raised structure10can be easily formed to any shape, while being light enough for on-site moving or portability between sites. These structures may also be made from heavier materials such as plywood and sheet metal, lending itself better to fixed installations, allowing for durability and even enabling people to walk on them. The cup and return pipe may be made from plastic tubing and pipe.

Several such chipping apparatus may be part of a golf course, potentially as a permanent installation set up in a building for continual play. This may mimic a 9-hole or 18-hole course by differing the chipping apparatus, in at least one of: raised structure slope, playing green contours, playing green area, number of secondary cups, or background image. For example, an indoor golf course may have a left-slop green, a right-sloping green, a smaller bunker, a larger bunker, a square green, a circular green, etc. Several different types of playing greens are provided for efficiency of space and may be connected at the edges at abutting openings in the frame6to prevent the ball disappearing therebetween. The frames of neighboring backgrounds may be fastened together. Here the background may be made of heavy materials or connected to the building.

In an alternative embodiment, the apparatus is part of a temporary installation provided at an event, such as a wedding, party or corporate event. In this case, the apparatus is preferably lightweight, collapsible, and modular. Unlike novelty golf practices that are handheld, the present embodiment provides a substantial structure to replicate real golf chipping. For example, the playing surface may be raised 30 cm and be 200 cm×100 cm in plan view. The bunker region may extend 100 cm around the playing surface.

A chipping mat20may be provided separate from the chipping area. The mat provides at least one, preferably two, foot mat areas connected to a second playing green. This green may also be carpet or artificial grass from which the ball is initially placed, either on a tee or directly on the playing surface. The foot mat area(s) are sized to accommodate the golfer's feet and comprise a textured surface for grip and comfort.

Terms such as “top”, “side”, “front”, “proximate”, “below,” “above,” “upper, are used herein for simplicity in describing relative positioning of structures of the apparatus, as depicted in the drawings or with reference to the ground. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated with respect to preferred embodiments and preferred uses thereof, it is not to be so limited since modifications and changes can be made therein as understood by those skilled in the art.