Golf apparatus.

(Application filed Apr. 24, 1901.)

Sheets—Sheet I.

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THE MM wm» »' WOTO·'-'™’·. W»™· »· ^cPatented Nov. 12, 1901.

No. 686,265.

E. CROWE. GOLF APPARATUS.

(Application filed Apr. 24, 1901.) (No Model.)

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THE NOARIS PETERS CO. PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON. D. C.

United States Patent Office.

EYRE CROWE, OF BANBURY, ENGLAND.

GOLF APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,265, dated November 12, 1901.

Application filed April 24,1901. Serial No. 57,168. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Eyre Crowe, a subject of the King of England, residing at Fernleigh, Oxford road, Banbury, in the county of Ox5 ford, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Golf Apparatus, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and io use the same.

This invention relates to golf-playing devices; and the object thereof is to provide means to enable a player to ascertain whether when striking at the ball he is doing so ac15 curately, and so enable him to .correct any faults in his stroke, a further object being to provide an apparatus or device for this. purpose which is so constructed that it can be used in any confined space that is large 20 enough to allow a golf-club to be swung.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated 25 by the same reference characters in each of the views, and in which—

Figure 1 is a side view showing the apparatus which I employ and the method of using the same; Fig. 2, a plan view thereof; Fig. 3, 30 an end view; Fig. 4, a side view of a ball which I employ; Fig. 5, a side view of a golfclub and an attachment which I employ; Fig. 6, a plan view thereof; Fig. 7, a front view thereof, and Fig. 8 a side view of the 35 attachment removed from the club.

In the practice of my invention I provide an apparatus of the class specified, which consists of a board a, on which is fixed a raised strip a², covered with matting or like material 40 and at the end of which is secured a spring b, over which is passed a strip of leather which is drawn tight, so as to somewhat compress the spring, and said strip is secured by means of a clamp c.

The ball d may be made of wool or some soft material, so that it will not do damage in a Toonij and is placed on a tee d², adjacent to and on a line with the spring b, and said tee is made of somewhat elastic material, such as 50 bristles or rubber, so that after the club has passed the tee the bristles or rubber will spring back into positionj and the tee may be made adjustable as to height by means of a setscrew d³, which passes through one side of the support thereof. The teed² may be placed 55 on either side of the spring b or directly under it, and in the latter case, which is the one shown in the drawings, the material of the tee projects above the spring at each side and does not interfere with the action of the 60 spring.

Secured to the shaft of the club e, adjacent to the head e² thereof, is a clamp f, provided with a spring-marker/², which projects first horizontally to the left of the shank of the 65 club and is formed into a spring-coil/³, and then projected backwardly and to the right to form a spring-arm f⁴. The end of the spring is covered with leather or like material, and the spring-arm f⁴ passes through a 70 guide f^B, secured to the clamp /, and the clamp e may be adjusted as to height on the shank of the club.

Secured to the board a and to the end thereof to the left of the tee is a sloping board g, 75 and when the player is ready for operations the leather on the spring b and on the shoe /⁵ is chalked or smeared with some marking fluid, and on striking the ball with the club the snring b will make a mark across the sole 80 of the head of the club, while the spring-arm /⁴ will leave a mark along the board g, and by the direction and position of these marks the player will know whether he has made the stroke accurately or not. The spring-arm /⁴ 85 of the marking attachment/³ exerts a pressure on the bottom of the guide/⁶, so that it is already in tension when the end of it touches the board g, and this prevents the vibration of the spring-arm and insures a firm clean 90 mark however lightly the spring-arm may touch the board, and for the same reason the spring b is compressed by pulling the leather strip b² and clamping it tightly.

When metal clubs are used, the heads of 95 which have narrower soles, I increase the width of the bottom of said heads by means of a false sole made of a thin metal plate or the like, as shown at lb in Figs. 5 to 8, and this metal plate is provided at the front edge 100 with a flange h² and with a neck h^s, which passes up around the heel of the head of the club and is provided with a clamp h⁴, by means of which it is secured to the shank h,⁵ of the

686,265 club, the head of the club being shown at 7i⁶, and by means of this construction the head of the club or the sole thereof is provided with greater space on which the line will show.

The ball which I employ is also provided with a U-shaped depression in the bottom thereof, as shown at d² in Fig. 4, so that it will clear the spring 7i; otherwise the marking chalk or fluid might be rubbed off by the pasio sage of the ball over said spring.

It will be understood that the club/and marking attachment/⁸ are used in connection with the club and club attachment. (Shown in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive.)

This apparatus is simple in construction and operation and perfectly adapted to accomplish the result for which it is intended, and it will be apparent that changes therein and modifications thereof may be made with20 out departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.