It has long been recognized that the key to any game involving athletic ability is practice by the person wishing to become skilled in that game. In the game of golf, this is especially true because of the many variables involved and the necessity of the player to develop very definite skills in several different major areas of the game. In order to practice the game of golf, especially if one is to develop a proper swing for a stroke which is to be utilized on the golf course, the person wishing to practice normally has to practice out of doors at a driving range or at some other suitable location entailing a large area which is necessary for the practice. There are a number of games which can be practiced indoors pertaining to golf, but these are normally limited to the development of the putting stroke.
Practice facilities are also known utilizing the so-called full strokes in which a player hits the ball into a large net so that the full stroke can be practiced. However, in such an instance, only the actual stroke is practiced, and the results of that practice cannot be easily determined because there is no down range scoring mechanism to indicate the results of a proper or improper swing. There have been devised some rather elaborate practice devices which attempt to simulate the game by projecting upon a screen, golf course holes from tee to green to which a person practicing drives the ball from a mat and then the results of the drive are registered electronically by reading several variables involved to simulate an outdoor golf course.
As can be seen, all of the prior art games have certain limitations in that they either do not simulate the total game or game segments properly or that the expanse necessary is out of the reach of the player desiring to practice at home.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved game for the practice of an important segment of golf.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game by which a player may practice the game of golf in an indoors or outdoors environment of limited space and at reasonable cost.
Another object of the invention is to provide a game which may be played by one or more players simulating an eighteen hole golf course which also allows a player to develop competitively the all important chipping and pitching golf stroke.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a game in the form of educational, teaching and learning facilities for the game of golf to help a player develop highly competent up and down skills that are transferrable to the player's regular golf game.