Patent ID: 8430769

Claim:
A golf tee comprising a substantially conically configured ball support component having an apex, a base opposite the apex, and a longitudinal center line passing through the apex at a substantially right angle to the base, said base terminating at a substantially circular edge having a predetermined configuration and predetermined dimensions to configure the edge into a support surface with a minimal area that is less than approximately than 45 square millimeters contacting a teed up golf ball, said ball support component including an inwardly tapering external sidewall that at one end terminates at the circular edge in a manner that substantially avoids formation of a land that interferes with the movement of a club head through a golf ball teed up on said tee, said edge encompassing a central truncated conically configured recess with a depth substantially no greater than 3 millimeters and formed by an inwardly tapering internal sidewall having a sufficient height that a teed up golf ball rests on the edge with a spherical segment of the ball projecting into the recess but offset from the internal sidewall, the recess being sufficiently deep so that less than 1 percent of the surface area of a golf ball makes contact with the edge when the ball is teed up, and said edge being rounded and having a width that is substantially no greater than 3 millimeters and a radius of curvature substantially from 0.75 to 1.25 millimeters, said rounded circular edge having an outer diameter substantially from 8.5 to 11 millimeters and an inner diameter substantially from 4 to 7 millimeters and a height substantially from 1 to 2 millimeters, said base having an outside diameter substantially from 8.5 to 11 millimeters, with the distance from the edge to the apex being substantially from 8 to 12 millimeters, and an elongated, solid shaft member extending from the apex along the longitudinal center line and comprising a resilient material, said shaft member having a pointed free end and an opposed end connected to the apex, a length substantially from 20 to 100 millimeters, a width less than 2.75 millimeters, and a substantially uniform cylindrical cross-sectional configuration along said length, said shaft member thereby breaking or bending as a club head moves through a teed up golf ball to provide a resistance to such movement approaching zero, said shaft member breaking 90 percent of the time a golf ball teed up thereon is struck while executing a tee shot with a club head velocity of 70 miles per hour at impact.