GOLF SCORECARD

Abstract: A golf scorecard adapted so that a plurality of matches may be played concurrently on a course having fewer than eighteen tees and greens arranged so that any of a plurality of different rounds of holes may be played with the lines of play of the different holes in a round crossing each other. The scorecard comprises a display including identification of a first hole of a round, identification of the tees of subsequent holes in the round and indicia identifying the sequence of greens of the round. The indicia comprise a sequence of a number of different indicia, with each different indicium corresponding to a particular green, and in which the same indicium does not repeat in the sequence within a predetermined number of indicia of the sequence.

Description: Golf Scorecard This invention relates to a golf scorecard, particularly but and not exclusively, to a golf scorecard for use on a golf course having a reduced number of tees and greens compared to conventional 18 hole golf courses. Golf courses typically have 18 holes laid out sequentially. Such golf courses require large areas of land, typically 150 acres (60 hectares), and so may not be practicable where land area is at a premium. Reduced area 18 hole golf courses have been developed. These have less than 18 tees and 18 greens. The holes of the course are provided by not playing from one tee exclusively to one green, but rather re-using the tees and playing to different greens with the lines of the different holes crossing over each other. In this way a full 18 different holes of golf can be played but in a reduced area. On conventional golf courses, matches are played concurrently following each other sequentially around the course. However, on a reduced area course, as the tees and greens are re-used, concurrent matches cannot be played unless the sequence of the tees and greens used by the different matches is coordinated to avoid conflict. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf scorecard adapted so that a plurality of matches may be played concurrently on a course having fewer than eighteen tees and greens arranged so that any of a plurality of different rounds may be played with the lines of play of the holes in a round crossing each other, wherein the scorecard comprises a display including: identification of a first hole of a round; identification of the tees of subsequent holes in the round; and indicia identifying the sequence of greens of the round, in which: the indicia comprise a sequence of a number of different indicia, with each indicium corresponding to a unique green, and in which the same indicium does not repeat in the sequence within a predetermined number of indicia of the sequence. A scorecard includes a card which indicates relevant data about the course, such as length and par of the holes, and a card on which a player can record the score for the round of golf. The scorecard includes an indication of a selected first hole of a round. The first hole of a round is nominal in that a plurality of the different possible holes of the course may be selected to be the first hole of any particular round, depending on the sequence of holes in that round. The sequence of holes to be played in the round is also defined on the card by indicating which tees are to be used for subsequent holes. The green to be used with a tee, to define one of the holes of the particular round, is indicated by means of a sequence of indicia. The indicia may be symbols or colours. A sequence of symbols or colours indicates the sequence of greens which constitute the sequence of holes to be played in the round. In this way one match does not interfere with another match on the course as the sequence of symbols or colours is predetermined so as to prevent matches clashing. This is achieved by ensuring that a particular match does not re-use a green within playing a certain predetermined number of greens. The predetermined number is determined by the actual number of greens on the course The scorecard may also define a start time for the first hole. By providing different matches with different start times, a number of matches can play concurrently on the course without interfering with each others games . Preferably the number of different indicia is four and the predetermined number is three. This allows a minimal number of greens to be used while still allowing a full round of 18 different holes to be played. Preferably the last indicia in the sequence corresponds to a green adjacent a clubhouse to ensure that all matches finish at the clubhouse. Preferably there are six indicia in the sequence. By making the total number of indicia in the sequence six, i.e. having only six holes in the round, the scorecard provides a modular form of golf to be played in fixed units of time, for example one hour. This also permits a continuous flow of matches around the course in which players can chose to play six, twelve or eighteen different holes and playing them in the order determined by the sequence of indicia. A set of two scorecards may be used together in which the sequence of indicia of a first scorecard and the sequence of indicia of a second scorecard define a sequence for a round of golf having twelve different holes. A set of three scorecards may be used together in which the three sequences of indicia define a sequence for a round of golf having eighteen different holes. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a golf course for playing a round of a number of different holes, comprising fewer than eighteen tees and greens, arranged so that a plurality of different rounds of holes may be played, and in which each of the greens has an associated device which indicates an indicium uniquely corresponding to a respective green. The number of different holes may be eighteen. The number of different holes in a round played on the course may be eighteen as for conventional courses. However, rounds having fewer than eighteen or greater than eighteen different holes are also envisaged. By providing a device identifying the unique, different indicium for each green, a golfer will easily be able to identify which is the next green to aim for as indicated by the sequence of indicia on the scorecard. The associated device may be a coloured flag. Flags are already used to mark the pin position and so having different coloured flags for each green would be a simple method of indicating the unique corresponding colour of each green. Alternatively, coloured, directional signs at the different tees around the course may be used to indicate the colour of the green towards which they are pointing. Alternatively, symbols may be used on flags or directional signs to indicate the corresponding respective green. A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example, but not in any limiting sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1(a) -(c) show a diagrammatic plan view of a reduced area golf course and the lines of 18 holes of a round of golf for which the scorecard can be used; and Figure 2 shows a scorecard in accordance with the invention for use on a reduced area golf course. With reference to Figures 1(a)-(c), there is shown a reduced area golf course generally designated by reference numeral 100. The golf course has a club house, 20, and eight tees, 21-28. The golf course also has four greens A, B, C, & D. Also shown are the lines, 1-18, of 18 different holes which constitute a particular round of golf on the course. With reference to Figure 2, there is shown a scorecard, generally designated by reference numeral 200, for use on a reduced area golf course as shown in Figures 1(a) -(c). The scorecard carries data relating to the holes of the round of golf such as the length of the hole, 201, and the par for the hole 202. The scorecard is in three parts 203, 204 and 205. The first part of the scorecard, 203, includes an identification of a selected first hole of the round. The first hole is constituted by tee 21 and green A. Each of the greens has a different colour uniquely associated with it; red for green A, blue for green B, yellow for green C and white for green D. The scorecard also has an identification, 206, of a tee for the subsequent holes of the round; i.e. holes 2-18 corresponding to tees 26, 23, 22, 28, 25, 21, 24, 27, 22, 25, 24, 21, 28, 23, 26, 22, & 23 respectively. The scorecard also has indicia identifying the sequence of greens of the round in the form of a colour coded indication, 207, of the sequence of greens of the round. The colour coded indication comprises a sequence of different colours indicating the sequence of greens in the round, e.g. for the first six holes of the round the colour sequence is red, blue, white, yellow, red & white corresponding to greens A, B, D, C, A, & D respectively. The particular sequence of colours and hence greens is chosen so as to ensure that when more than one match is being played concurrently on the course, the matches will not interfere with one another by trying to use the same greens or tees. This is achieved by ensuring that the same colour does not appear in the sequence within three colours of the sequence; i.e. there are always two different colours, separating the same colour in the sequence. This has the effect of ensuring that a match does not return to a green before having played on two different greens as will be explained later. The use of the scorecard by three different matches playing an 18 hole round of golf concurrently on the same course, as shown in Figures l(a)-(c), will now be described. By appropriately staggering their starting times three different matches can be played without interfering. A first match starts its round at hole 1 by teeing off at, e.g. 9:00 a.m., from tee 21 to red green A. By 9:10 the first match has completed the first hole and can start the second hole of its round by teeing off from tee 26 to blue green B, as indicated by the colour coded sequence on the score card. Simultaneously a second match can start the first hole of its round by teeing off from tee 21 to red green A. At 9:20 the first and second matches will have completed their respective holes and a third match can begin their round by teeing off from tee 21 to red green A, while the first match tees off from tee 23 to white green D as indicated in the colour coded sequence on their scorecard and the second match can tee off from tee 26 to blue green B as indicated by the colour coded sequence on their score card. The three matches can then proceed without interfering as the colour coded sequence of greens prevents different matches from playing onto the same green. This is achieved by ensuring that no colour repeats within any three consecutive colours of the colour coded sequence; i.e. a first colour is always separated in the sequence by two dissimilar colours which are different to the first colour. It should be noted that only a single scorecard colour coded sequence is required in order to define the holes of the round of golf and prevent the matches from interfering. Different rounds of golf can be realised by changing the colour coded sequence. Each part 203, 204, 205 of the scorecard takes approximately one hour to play; i.e. ten minutes per hole. The green of the final hole of each part of the scorecard is chosen so that it is a green near to the club house. In this way a golfer can chose to play a round consisting of only 6 holes of golf and still finish near the club house rather than on the far side of the course away from the club house. Each section of the scorecard 210 constitutes a scorecard in its own right so that a golfer can chose to play a 6, 12 or 18 hole round, depending on the amount of time the golfer has available. Further owing to the modular nature of the six hole scorecards, a golfer can start a round at hole 1, 7 or 13 by fitting into the timing of the matches already being played on the course. The indication of the first hole of a round on a scorecard is nominal in that tee 21 and blue green B would be the first hole ("hole 7") of the round of a match starting using the second part, 204, of the scorecard, whereas tee 21 and red green A ("hole 1"), or tee 21 and yellow green C ("hole 13") could also constitute the first hole of a round depending on when a match fits into the sequence. The colour coded sequence allows golf to be played in units of time, in the case of six holes by the hour, and all matches start from the same tee, i.e. tee 21. In the first hour, 3 matches can play starting at staggered ten minute intervals and playing holes 1 to 6 in the same order. The start time of the first hole and of the subsequent holes may be printed on the card so that a match can keep to schedule. One match follows the other round the course guided by the colour coded sequence. The matches could start at e.g. 8:00 a.m., 8:10 a.m. and 8:20 a.m.. Hence the first match completes its six hole round at 9:00 a.m., the second at 9:10 a.m. and the third at 9:20 a.m. The second hour will allow another three matches to play, but this group of three matches must play holes 7 to 12, once again with ten minute staggered starting times, and with matches 4, 5 and 6 following on from the end of matches 1, 2 and 3 respectively; in this example at 9:00 a.m., 9;10 a.m. & 9:20 a.m. The third hour will allow a further three matches to take place. These matches must play holes 13 to 18, once again in the order indicated by the colour coded sequence on the scorecard, one match following the other and at ten minute intervals. On the fourth hour the sequence repeats, i.e. matches play holes 1 to 6 and so on throughout the day. This sequence enables any match no matter when they start to play 6 holes in one hour, 12 holes in two hours or 18 holes in three hours and ensuring that if a match selects to play 12 or 18 holes all the holes would be different (i.e. they would not play the same 6 holes twice within a 12 or 18 hole round) . If a match started at 9:00 a.m. playing holes 7 to 12, it would then play holes 13 to 18 at 10:00 a.m. and hole 1 to 6 at 11:00 a.m. With reference to Figures 1(a) -(c) there is shown a reduced area golf generally designated by reference numeral 100. Each of the greens has a different colour corresponding uniquely to it. The colour of a green is indicated by a device associated with the green. At its simplest this device is a pin flag of the same colour as the colour corresponding to the green as used on the scorecard. Alternatively, or additionally, coloured directional signs could be provided on the tees and/or around the golf course to indicate the direction of the different coloured greens. Symbols could be used instead of colours. Alternatively, different coloured symbols could be used.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A golf scorecard adapted so that a plurality of matches may be played concurrently on a course having fewer than eighteen tees and greens arranged so that any of a plurality of different rounds may be played with the lines of play of the holes in a round crossing each other, wherein the scorecard comprises a display including: identification of a first hole of a round; identification of the tees of subsequent holes in the round; and indicia identifying the sequence of greens of the round, in which: the indicia comprise a sequence of a number of different indicia, with each indicium corresponding to a particular green, and in which the same indicium does not repeat in the sequence within a predetermined number of indicia of the sequence . 2. A scorecard as claimed in claim l, in which the scorecard also defines a start time for said first hole. 3. A scorecard as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the number of different indicia is four and the predetermined number is three. 4. A scorecard as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the indicia are colours. 5. A scorecard as claimed in any preceding claim, in which there are six indicia in the sequence. 6. A set of two scorecards as claimed in claim 5, and in which the sequence of indicia of a first of the two scorecards and the sequence of indicia in a second of the two scorecards define a sequence for a round of golf having 12 different holes. 7. A set of three scorecards as claimed in claim 5, and in which the sequence of indicia of a first scorecard of the three scorecards and the sequence of indicia of a second scorecard of the three scorecards and the sequence of indicia of a third scorecard of the three score cards define a sequence for a round of golf having eighteen different holes. 8. A golf course for playing a round of a number of different holes, comprising fewer than eighteen tees and greens, arranged so that a plurality of different rounds of holes may be played, and in which each of the greens has an associated device which indicates an indicium uniquely corresponding to a respective green.

Inventors: DEVERE JOHN, DEVERE, JOHN
Applicants: DEVERE JOHN, DEVERE, JOHN
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A63B71
IPC codes: A63B67, A63B69, A63B71, A63C19, B42D15