Abstract:
A golf flagstick with telescoping sections displays patterns, colors, or other visual indicators on sections. A given visual indicator may be displayed by extending a section or hidden by retracting the section. By extending and retracting combinations of specific sections, linear sequences of visual indicators corresponding to different hole positions on a golf green may be displayed to distant golfers, assisting the golfers in aiming drives to optimize ball placement.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application claims priority from provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/529,089, filed Dec. 15, 2003 by the same inventor. 

   BACKGROUND 
   A golfer usually approaches a hole by first driving the ball toward the green from a considerable distance. Ideally, the ball would bounce and roll into the hole on the first stroke. As this rarely occurs, most golfers settle for trying to place the ball on the green close enough to the hole to sink the next shot with a single putt. 
   Since a hole may be difficult to see from a distance, golf courses may offer assistance in the form of a numbered flagstick placed in each hole. However, even the location of the flagstick on the green may from a distance be hard to gauge with enough precision to optimize ball placement. For example, if a given hole is on the left rear portion of a green, a drive toward the center may force the golfer to putt repeatedly and earn a poor score. Instead, the golfer may wish to drive the ball slightly harder and somewhat to the right of the hole to avoid falling short or missing the green altogether while obtaining good ball placement. 
   The golfer&#39;s effort may be facilitated by encoding information on hole position in the appearance of some object on the green. The flag and flagstick, being already present and visible for some distance, are convenient choices. Some courses have attempted to encode distance information in the flag itself, using different flags for near, medium, and far hole positions. However, this system requires at least three different flags for each hole and still provides no information on right or left hole position. A convenient flexible system for providing both range and direction information could improve a golfer&#39;s game while minimizing course maintenance work and expense. 
   SUMMARY 
   The present invention provides such a system in the form of a golf flagstick with a plurality of sections that telescope outward from within each end of a central tube. Locking mechanisms allow the position of each section to be temporarily fixed with respect to adjacent sections. A visual indicator, usually a pattern or a color, is displayed on at least a portion of the outer surface of the central tube. The same visual indicator may be displayed on at least a portion of the surface of at least one of the sections telescoping from each end of the central tube. Other telescoping sections display different visual indicators. Since a visual indicator on a telescoping section is visible only when the telescoping section is extended, and since each telescoping section may be independently extended from or retracted into a larger section, many different linear sequences of visual indicators may be displayed along the length of the flagstick simply by extending and retracting selected sections. When sequences of visual indicators are preselected to correspond to hole position on a golf green, a flagstick of the present invention may be easily adjusted to display hole position information at a distance. 
   All of these features and advantages of the present invention, and more, are illustrated below in the drawings and detailed description that follow. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an elevation view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with all sections fully expanded. 
       FIG. 2  shows an elevation view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with three visual indicators displayed. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  shows an elevation view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with all sections fully expanded. The apparent diameters of the sections in  FIG. 1  are greatly exaggerated relative to their apparent lengths to clarify the relationships of the components, whereas the invention in use would typically appear more like a series of telescoping wands of any length needed to provide a flagstick of desired total length. The sections utilized in this embodiment are concentric hollow cylinders, but triangular, square, hexagonal, octagonal, U-channel, and many other cross-sectional shapes may be employed. The sections may comprise aluminum, plastic, fiberglass, or any other suitable material known in the art. 
   In the embodiment of  FIG. 1  a tubular central section  100  has a visual indicator  102  displayed on its outer surface and an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameters of cooperating sections  110 ,  115 . The visual indicators in  FIG. 1 . are shown as line patterns for clarity of reproduction. In use, however, preferred visual indicators would be colors, perhaps used in conjunction with patterns. Any visually distinctive indicator that may be applied to or manufactured as part of a section will suffice. The central section  100  is long enough to receive both cooperating sections  110 ,  115  when they are fully retracted, thereby concealing the visual indicators  117 . 
   Smaller diameter sections  120 ,  125  are similarly received and concealed by larger sections  110 ,  115 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 1  these sections  120 ,  125  display the same visual indicator  102  as the central section  100 , but other visual indicators could be displayed instead. A portion  132  of a top section  130  displaying a visual indicator  137  is received by and may be concealed within a larger cooperating section  120 . Another portion  134  of the top section  130  displays no visual indicator and always remains extended beyond the cooperating section  120 . In  FIG. 1  grommets  140  provide a convenient means for attaching a flag, although swivel wires, snap locks, and any other known flag attachment means may be used instead. 
   Each section may be temporarily locked to cooperating sections by a variety of known means. The preferred embodiment in  FIG. 1  shows a cylindrical cam  123  affixed to an end of the top section  130  by a machine screw  122 . Since the outer diameter of the cam  123  is slightly smaller than the inner diameter  121  of the cooperating section  120 , axially twisting the top section  130  with respect to the cooperating section  120  temporarily locks the two sections together at any chosen point within their range of travel. Similar cam locks may be used between all sections. Alternatively, sections may be locked together by pins, snap rings, levered cams, spring-loaded balls in detents, threaded collars screwed down onto tapered threads, or any other known means for locking two telescoping sections together. 
   A portion  136  of a bottom section  135  displaying a visual indicator  137  is received by and may be concealed within a larger cooperating section  125 . Another portion  139  of the bottom section  135  displays no visual indicator and always remains extended beyond the cooperating section  125 . A ferrule  145  provide a convenient means for affixing the flagstick within a hole and may include an a cup, b cup, h ferrule, hexagon, and any other known flagstick mounting means. 
     FIG. 1  shows three distinct visual indicators  102 ,  117 ,  137  displayed on six sections  110 ,  115 ,  120 ,  125 ,  130 ,  135  of decreasing diameter that symmetrically telescope outward from the central section  100 . While this embodiment provides a simple and adaptable flagstick, more or fewer sections and visual indicators may be used as desired. Different numbers of sections and visual indicators, as well as different section diameters and/or visual indicators may be used above and below the central section. Sections may increase or alternate in diameter and/or telescope only in one direction. 
     FIG. 2  shows an elevation view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with three visual indicators displayed. With the top section  130  fully extended, two cooperating sections  110 ,  120  fully retracted, a lower section  115  fully extended, and a cooperating section  125  and the bottom section  135  fully retracted, the pole displays only an upper visual indicator  137 , the always-visible indicator  102  on the central section  100 , and a lower visual indicator  117 . This combination of visual indicators in a specific linear sequence of display positions can denote many kinds on information. With the ferrule  145  inserted in the hole and a flag  147  attached to grommets  140 , the flagstick of  FIG. 2  may communicate to a distant golfer the area of the green where the hole is located. 
   A large number of sequences may be displayed by the flagstick of the present invention, limited only by the number of sections and visual indicators. Nine distinct sequences are sufficient to communicate hole position on a green, respectively Front Left (FL), Front Center (FC), Front Right (FR), Middle Left (ML), Middle Center (MC), Middle Right (MR), Back Left (BL), Back Center (BC), and Back Right (BR). Table 1 shows possible color/position sequences corresponding to these hole positions. Many other combinations of color, position, and pattern could be used to the same effect. 
   
     
       
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 1 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
               BL 
               BC 
               BR 
             
             
                 
             
             
               Top white 
               Top blue 
               Top blue 
             
             
               Middle white 
               Middle white 
               Middle white 
             
             
               Bottom blue 
               Bottom blue 
               Bottom white 
             
             
                 
             
             
               ML 
               MC 
               MR 
             
             
                 
             
             
               Top blue 
               Top white 
               Top red 
             
             
               Middle white 
               Middle white 
               Middle white 
             
             
               Bottom red 
               Bottom white 
               Bottom blue 
             
             
                 
             
             
               FL 
               FC 
               FR 
             
             
                 
             
             
               Top white 
               Top red 
               Top red 
             
             
               Middle white 
               Middle white 
               Middle white 
             
             
               Bottom red 
               Bottom red 
               Bottom white 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   The resulting system is adaptable and simple to use. Suitable visual indicators are selected and regions for their display are defined on the flagstick. The number of discrete states to be communicated is determined; in this case, nine possible hole positions. A distinct combination of visual indicators and display positions is defined for each state. The actual position of a hole on a specific green in determined and the flagstick is adjusted to display only the distinct combination of visual indicators and display positions defined for this hole position. The flag may be attached, the flagstick is placed in the hole, and the golfer proceeds. 
   The principles, embodiments, and modes of operation of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing specification. The embodiments disclosed herein should be interpreted as illustrating the present invention and not as restricting it. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the range of equivalent structure available to a person of ordinary skill in the art in any way, but rather to expand the range of equivalent structures in ways not previously contemplated. Numerous variations and changes can be made to the foregoing illustrative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.