Abstract:
The present invention relates to a disc toss putting game and method of playing the game. The game involves the use of a game target, at least one disc for tossing at the game target, at least one golf ball, and at least one ball striking implement such as a putter. The game is played by one or more players who initially place the game target at a desired location. Then, each player tosses his disc at the target. The location where each player&#39;s disc lands determines where each player must putt from, if required, to complete the hole. The players can continue to repeatedly play the same hole or can move the target to other locations for different holes. The game target can have markings which make it easy for the players to determine where to putt a ball from and the game may include a mat with markings to facilitate target and ball placement and to identify the disc tossing location.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a disc toss putting game and method of playing the game. The game involves the use of a game target, at least one disc for tossing at the game target, at least one golf ball, and at least one ball striking implement such as a putter.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention relates to a disc toss putting game and method of playing the game. The game involves the use of a game target, at least one disc for tossing at the game target, at least one golf ball, and at least one ball striking implement such as a putter. The game is played by one or more players who initially place the game target at a desired location. Then, each player tosses his disc at the target. The location where each player&#39;s disc lands determines where each player must putt from, if required, to complete the hole. The players can continue to repeatedly play the same hole or can move the target to other locations for different holes.  
         [0004]     The game target can have markings which make it easy for the players to determine where to putt a ball from and the game may include a mat with markings to facilitate target and ball placement and to identify the disc tossing location.  
         [0005]     More particularly, the present invention comprises a disc toss putting game including a game target having an inclined face and a back member extending downward from a top edge of the face, the face having an opening therein; at least one disc, said at least one disc being sized such that it can be received entirely within said opening; and at least one golf ball. Most preferably, the inclined face has a length of about 12 inches and a width of about 12 inches; the opening has a diameter of about 3 inches, is centered along the face width, and centered along said face length at a location about 7½ inches from a front edge; and where the back member has a height of about 2 inches. Most preferably, the disc has a diameter of about 2 inches. The game target is preferably made of a magnetically attractive material and the disc includes a magnetic material, such as being a vinyl coated flexible magnet. The game target can include a plurality of distance arcs and distance indications on the face, the distance arcs and distance indications indicating distance from the opening. The game can also include a playing mat having a length and a width and having a plurality of distance lines and distance indicators. Even further, discs and golf balls can be color coordinated.  
         [0006]     The disc toss putting game is played by placing a game target at a desired location, the game target having a face with an opening therein; deciding a player playing order; each player tossing a disc from a disc toss location toward the game target, the disc being sized such that it can be received within the opening; determining if the disc tossing results in the disc: (1.) being received entirely within the opening thereby resulting in a hole score of one; (2.) being received on the face of the game target with at least a portion of the disc overlapping the opening thereby resulting in a hole score of two; (3.) having at least a portion being received on the face of the game target but with no portion overlapping the opening thereby resulting in a partial score of one and requiring putting from a first location; or, (4.) being received without any portion of the disc on the face of the game target or within the opening thereby resulting in a partial score of one and requiring putting from a second location which is the location where said tossed disc stops; and, putting a ball from the first location until the ball is received within the opening, if said tossed disc had at least a portion thereof received on the face of the game target but with no portion of the disc overlapping the opening, the number of putts being added to the partial score of one to determine a hole score; or putting a ball from the second location until the ball is received within the opening, if the tossed disc had no portion of the disc on the face of the game target or within the opening, the number of putts being added to the partial score of one to determine a hole score. Preferably, the first distance for putting is related to how far the tossed disc is from the opening, the first distance being greater the further the tossed disc is from the opening. Then, if desired, with or without moving the game target, the player or players can repeat the tossing step, the determining step, and the putting step as many times as desired with each player&#39;s hole scores for all of the holes played being added to determine a total hole score. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  shows the game target and playing area for the game of the instant invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  shows a top plan view of the game target of the instant invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  shows a rear end view of the game target;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  shows a front end view of the game target;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a left side view of the game target;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  shows the game target and playing area where the playing area includes a playing mat; and,  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  shows the game target face where the face includes distance markings.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]     With reference to  FIGS. 1-7 , the game and method of playing the game of the instant invention is shown. The following designations are used:  1 —playing area/mat;  2 —golf ball;  3 —disc toss location;  4 —possible hazard location;  5 —distance lines on mat;  6 —distance indications on mat;  10 —game target;  12 —top face of game target;  13 —distance arcs on game target face;  14 —opening in top face of target;  15 —distance indications on game target face;  16 —back member of game target;  17 —bottom edge of face  12 ;  18 —top edge of face  12 ;  20 —disc; M 1 —represents location where disc could land where disc misses the game target; M 2 —represents location where disc could land on the face of the game target but not overlapping opening  14 ; M 3 —represents location where disc could land where a portion of the disc overlaps opening  14 ; M 4 —represents disc being received entirely into opening  14 ; d—the distance “x” in inches from the edge of the disc to the edge of opening  14 ; and, D—the distance “x”, but in feet instead of inches, from the front edge of the game target to the golf ball  2 .  
         [0016]     The playing area  1  for the game could be any area in any location. The game can be played anywhere. A flat surface, an undulating surface, or any other surface could be used. For example, the game target  10  could be placed at one end of a room and a disc toss location  3  identified distant from the target  10 . As an example, the disc toss location  3  could be about 10 feet in front of target  10 , or closer or further depending on the skill or wishes of the players. The surface where the game is played could be covered by a rug or anything else. The disc toss location  3  could even be at the top of a set of stairs and the target  10  could be located at the bottom of the stairs. Location is totally up to the imagination of the players.  
         [0017]     The game target  10  can be left in one location and played multiple times by the players, such as eighteen times to complete a round of golf. Also, after the players all complete a hole, the target  10  can be moved to a different location for the next hole.  
         [0018]     Playing area  1 , as shown in  FIG. 1  could be an additional playing mat  1 , such as, for example, a piece of outdoor-type green colored carpet as is shown in  FIG. 6 . The mat  1  could be about 12 feet long and 3 feet wide and include a plurality of distance lines  5  and distance indicators  6 . The distance indicator “0” is where the bottom edge  17  of the game target  10  is placed. As shown, the distance lines  5  and distance indicators  6  are every foot from the “0” indicator to the “10” foot indicator. The word “TOSS” can be on mat  1  behind the “10” foot indicator so that the “10” foot indicator is the disc toss line  3  and the word “TOSS” indicates where a player is to be when he tosses his disc  20  at game target  10 .  
         [0019]     With particular reference to  FIGS. 2-5 , the game target  10  is preferably constructed of a light weight steel. Game target  10  has a face  12  which has preferable length and width dimensions of 12 inches by 12 inches. A hole or opening  14  is located on the face  12 . Preferably opening  14  is centered left to right on the width of face  12  and is slightly above center from the bottom edge  17  to the top edge  18  of face  12  on the length of face  12 . Assuming a 3 inch diameter opening  14 , opening  14  would preferably have a center 7½ inches from the bottom edge  17  of face  12  and start 6 inches from the bottom edge  17  and ends 9 inches from the bottom edge  17 , which is 3 inches from the top edge  18 .  
         [0020]     The game target  10  also has a back member  16  which gives target  10  a height at its back or rear. When the target  10  is made from a steel sheet, the back member is formed by bending down, for example, a 2 inch portion of the steel sheet so that it would be transverse to a level surface on which target  10  is placed. In this situation, you would start with a 12 inch by 14 inch steel sheet to form the target  10 . The back member  16  allows the face  12  of the target  10  to slope downward from top edge  18  to bottom edge  17  and has the opening  14  raised so that it can receive a disc  20  or a ball  2 .  
         [0021]     The game is provided with a plurality of discs  20 . In the case where target  10  is made of steel or other magnetically attractive material, then the discs  20  preferably include magnetic material. For example, each disc could be a vinyl coated flexible magnet. The vinyl material for each disc  20  could be a different color so that the players can identify their disc  20 . Each disc  20  should have a diameter less than the diameter of opening  14  so that the disc  20  can be received entirely within the opening  14 . With a 3 inch diameter opening  14 , each disc  20  could, for example, have a 2 inch diameter.  
         [0022]     The game is played by each player taking a disc  20  and going to the identified disc toss location  3 . On the first hole, the players can decide who has “honors” and thus gets to be the first to throw the disc. On subsequent holes, as with regular golf, honors will go based on scores on the previous hole or holes.  
         [0023]     The player with honors tosses his disc  20  at the target  10 , followed in turn by the other players. All player discs  20  can be thrown at the target before any putting occurs or each player can sequentially throw his disc  20  at target  10  and then do any putting as detailed below to complete the hole before the next player tosses his disc  20 .  
         [0024]     There are four possible areas where the disc can land. These areas are identified by M 1 , M 2 , M 3 , and M 4  and determine the initial putting locations, if any. If a player tosses his disc  20  into opening  14  and it is received totally within opening  14 , location M 4 , then the player scores an “ace” or a 1 on the hole and does not have to putt a ball  2  on that hole. If a player&#39;s disc  20  lands at a location M 1  not touching the target  12 , then the player will place his ball  2  at the exact location M 1  where his disc  20  lands and putt from there. The disc toss counts 1 stroke and each putt adds another stroke, so the player&#39;s score for the hole will be 1 (disc toss) plus the number of putts it takes the player to putt the ball  2  into opening  14 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , location M 1  is to the left of target  12 . With the slope of target  12 , the player will have to putt the ball to a location in front of the target  12  and then putt the ball toward opening  14 . Assuming that the player can putt the ball  2  into opening  14  in 2 putting strokes, then the player&#39;s score for the hole will be 3.  
         [0025]     A player tossing his disc  20  can wind up at two areas on target face  12 —where the disc  20  overlaps a portion of opening  14 , but is not received totally into opening  14 , and where the disc  20  is touching at least a portion of face  12  but does not overlap a portion of opening  14 . The non-overlap location is identified as location M 2  and the overlapping location is identified as location M 3 . In the overlapping situation where the disc  20  is at location M 3 , the player is awarded a “gimmie” putt, so the player&#39;s score for the hole will be a 2, 1 stroke for the disc toss and 1 stroke for the gimmie putt. In the non-overlapping situation where the disc  20  is at location M 2 , the player will determine the shortest distance between the edge of the player&#39;s disc  20  and the edge of opening  14 . This distance is identified by “d” in  FIG. 1  and is, for example, measured in inches. Looking at  FIG. 1 , we will assume that the disc is about 2½ inches from the opening  14 . The player rounds the measurement up to the next whole number, or 3 in this situation. Then, the player will go a distance D in feet, being the rounded up distance d. For example, where the disc was 2½ inches from opening  12 , the player places a golf ball  2  the distance D, or 3 feet, from the front edge  17  of the target  10  and putts toward opening  14 . The player&#39;s score for the hole will be 1 (disc toss) plus the number of putts it takes the player to putt the ball  2  into opening  14 . If the player putts the ball into the opening  14  in 1 stroke, then his score for the hole will be a 2.  
         [0026]     If the players want a greater challenge, instead of putting from a distance D, where D, in feet, is the rounded up distance d, in inches, the players can double or triple the putting distance. For example, where the rounded up number is 3, the player can be forced to putt from 6 or 9 feet from edge  17  instead of from 3 feet.  
         [0027]     Also, the players can incorporate sand trap areas or other hazards like a lake, which could result in the player being penalized and having a higher score on the hole. For example, assume that a player putts from 3 feet in front of the target  10 . If there is a water hazard  4  identified behind the target  10 , if the player on his first putt putts too hard and the ball  2  goes over the target  10  and over top edge  18 , then the player is in the water hazard. The player would take a stroke penalty and again putt from the same spot as the first putt. Assuming that the player made that putt (ball  2  into opening  14 ), then the player&#39;s score for the hole would be a 4, 1 stroke for the disc toss, 1 stroke for putt one, 1 stroke for the water hazard penalty, and  1  stroke for the made putt.  
         [0028]     The game target  10  can also include distance arcs  13  and distance indicators  15  on the face  12  as seen in  FIG. 7 . These distance arcs  13  and indicators  15  mean that the player does not have to measure how far he is from opening  14  to determine where to putt from. The player simply sees where the closest piece of his disc  20  is to opening  14  and reads the indicator  15  for that arc  13 . That tells the player how many feet to putt from. For example, a disc  20  is shown on face  12  in  FIG. 7 . That disc  20  is over 3 inches but less than 4 inches from opening  12  at its closest edge. The indicator  15  for that arc reads “4”. That tells the player that he is to putt from 4 feet for his second stroke. As seen in  FIG. 6 , the ball  2  is placed at the “4” foot line indicator  6  and the player putts ball  2  toward opening  14  in target  10 .  
         [0029]     If desired, the game can be provided with a plurality of discs  20  and golf balls  2  which are color coordinated. For example, golf is often played in foursomes. As such, the game could include a blue, white, red, and black disc  20  as well as a blue, white, red, and black golf ball  2 .  
         [0030]     The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom for modifications can be made by those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.