A GOLF PRACTICE NET

Abstract: A golf practice net has a body (10) of funnelled form, supported to taper from a fairly large mouth (14) at the front to a small rear opening or target area (15) to which driven golf balls are aimed, those entering the target area (15) falling through a conduit (16) to a receptacle (26), those missing the target area (15) rolling down the bottom (12) of the net, which slopes down from the target area (15) to the mouth (14), to return to a position convenient to the golfer practising at the net.

Description: Title: "A GOLF PRACTICE NET" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1 ) Field of the Invention This invention relates to .a golf practice net . (2) Brief Description of the Prior Art It is well-known for golfers to make use of practice nets for practising driving, such a net usually being of large size erected vertically on poles to arrest the driven golf balls, which fall to the ground at the bottom of the net and are subsequently collected for re-use. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention has been devised with the general object of providing a golf practice net which may be relatively small and capable of being erected on a fairly restricted area, and which incorpor- , ates a target area, golf balls which are driven into the target area being discharged to a position for convenient ' recovery, those failing to strike the target area being automatically returned to a position convenient to the golfer practising at the net. Other objects which may be achieved in preferre embodiments of the invention are to provide such a golf practice net which is simple and economical to manufact¬ ure, convenient to erect for use and readily dismantled to compact form for storage or transport. With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides broadly in a golf practice net including a body of pliable material, such as open mesh fabric; support means for supporting the body to assume a funnelled tubular form with an open mouth at the front and diminishing in cross-sectional area to a restricted target area at the rear, the bottom part of the body inclining downwardly from the target area to mouth; and a conduit leading down from the target area to convey golf balls gravitationally therefrom. Other features of the invention will become apparent from the follow¬ ing description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In order that a preferred embodiment of the invention may be readily understood and carried into practical effect, reference is now made to the accomp¬ anying drawing showing in perspective a golf practice net according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The golf practice net includes a body 10 which may suitably be made of a pliable open-mesh fabric of a plastics material, the body being made of sections shaped and joined to form a top 11, bottom 12 and sides 13- The body as a whole is funnel-shaped, or of tubular form diminishing from a large mouth 14 at the front to the rear of the body, where there is a-small opening or target area indicated in broken outline at 15. From the target area 15 there leads a tubular conduit 16, which may suitably be made of the same material as the rest of the body. A rope 17 is secured about the edges of the mouth 14 of the body, at the top 11, at the sides 13 and at the bottom 12 which is off-set to the rear relative t the sides 13 of the net. The practice net is supported by two front pole 18 and two rear poles 19 which may be of metal tube, eac made in sections interconnected releasably for convenienc in transport and storage. The rope 17 secured across th front of the net top 11 is secured to and tensioned between the tops of the two front poles 18, the front edges of the sides 13 are tied or otherwise secured to the poles 18, and the rope 17 along the rearwardly off¬ set front edge of the net bottom 12 is engaged by, and tensioned between, two pegs 20 driven into the ground. OMPI The two front poles 18 are stayed by adjust¬ able guy-ropes 21 frow the tops of the poles to pegs 22 driven into the ground. The two rear poles 19 are crossed, and secured to and tensioned between their upper 5 ends is a rope at 23 fixed across the top of the target . area 15 of the net. The poles 19 are stayed by adjustabl guy-ropes 24 (of which one only appears in the drawing) from the tops of these poles to pegs 25 driven into the ground. 10 The practice net is thus supported with its mouth 14 held to substantially rectangular form, its rearwardly convergent top 11, sides 13 and bottom 12 being held fairly taut, the bottom 12 sloping down from the target area 15 at the rear to the ground at the front 15 The tubular conduit 16 depending from the target area 15 is arranged to lead into a bucket 26 or other suitable . container. ■■ A golfer, using the practice net for practising driving, drives golf balls, from a position in front of 20 the net mouth 14, into the net, aiming to drive them into the target area 15. The golfer may make use of an approp riately located hitting mat or artificial tee indicated a 27. Golf balls driven into the target area 15 will 25 enter the conduit 16 and descend gravitationally through it and into the bucket 26. Any balls which fail to enter the target area 15 will be readily decelerated by the par of the resiliently pliable net which they strike, and wil roll down the inclined net bottom 12 and so back to a 30 position convenient to the practising golfer for re-use. The practice net, being of compact form, may be quickly and easily erected on a small area and, by pres¬ enting a fairly small target area and clear indication when this area has been struck by a driven golf ball, it 35 will be found of great assistance to a golfer in improving -4- his driving accuracy. The net may be quickly and easily dismantled and folded for storage or transport after releasing the guy-ropes and separating the poles into their releasably interconnected sections. If desired, trie golf practice net may be a fixed installation, the front and rear poles being fixed vertically, for example, in suitable concrete footings without guy ropes being required; and it may be preferred that a shade cloth awning should extend forwardly from the top 11 of the net, and side curtains extend forwards from the net sides 13, these being supported for a further pair of fix-έd poles in front of the poles 18. Instead of the bucket 26, the bottom of conduit 16 may be releasably closed by any suitable clip, so that the conduit itself serves as a receptable for releasably holding golf balls which have been driven into the target area. The foregoing and many other modifications of constructional detail and design are considered to lie within the scope of the invention hereinafter claimed.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A golf practice net including: a body of pliable material, support means for supporting the body to assume a funnelled tubular form with an open mouth at the front and diminishing in cross-sectional area to a restricted target area at the rear, the bottom part of the body inclining downwardly from target area to mouth, and a conduit leading down from the target area to convey golf balls gravitationally therefrom. 2. A golf practice net according to Claim 1 wherein: the body is of open-mesh fabric. 3. A golf practice net according to either of the preceding claims wherein the support means include: a pair of'front poles between which the top of the mouth is tensioned and to which the sides of the mouth are attached, and a pair of rear poles between which the top of the target area portion of the body is tensioned. 4. A golf practice, net according to any one of the preceding claims wherein: the conduit leads down into a receptacle for golf balls. 5. A golf practice net according to Claim 4 wherei the receptacle consists of the lower part of the conduit, its bottom releasably closed by a clip. 6. A golf pract e net according to any one of the preceding claims wherein: a canopy is supported to extend forwardly fro the top of the body. 7. A golf practice net substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Inventors: PETTERSEN DUDLEY DARELL, PETTERSEN, DUDLEY, DARELL
Applicants: PETTERSEN DUDLEY DARELL, PETTERSEN, DUDLEY, DARELL
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A63B69
IPC codes: A63B63