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US 2003/0191547 A1Published application
Golf game management system
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorKevin C. Morse
Life of this patent
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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorKevin C. Morse
Estimating the term…
A golf game management system for maintaining golf course, player, and golf ball location information includes a central computer having a first CPU and a mobile interface unit having a second CPU. A course database is connected to the first CPU and includes golf course records. A player database is also connected to the first CPU and includes a plurality of individual player records. The central computer and mobile interface unit each include a transmitter and receiver for exchanging database information, the mobile unit having a memory for storing requested records and a display for displaying them. The mobile unit includes a GPS receiver for determining its current geographic location and means for correlating that location with a digital map of a selected golf course. The system includes a golf ball having a receiver and sound generator that is energized upon receiving a signal from the mobile interface unit.
A golf game management system for use by a golfer playing a round of golf with a plurality of golf clubs, said golf game management system for acquiring golf course, player, and golf ball location information upon demand by a golfer during game play, said system comprising:
A golf game management system for acquiring golf course, player, and golf ball location information upon demand by a golfer during game play, said system comprising:
A golf game management system for use by a golfer playing a round of golf with a plurality of golf clubs, said golf game management system for acquiring golf course, player, and golf ball location information upon demand by a golfer during game play, said system comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
Balls with special arrangements
Electric or electronic controls for exercising apparatus of preceding groups; Controlling or monitoring of exercises, sportive games, training…
Displays, user interfaces and indicating devices, specially adapted for sport equipment, e.g. display mounted on treadmills: score-keepers or…
Tracking a path or terminating locations: tracking the path or location of one or more users, e.g. players of a game
Term end not estimated
This invention relates generally to electronic information systems and, more particularly, to a golf game management system for managing and providing golf course, player, and golf ball location information to a golfer at a remote location on a golf course.
Golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and is certainly very popular world-wide. Although most golfers play the same course repetitively, they often desire to play other courses while vacationing away from home or while traveling for occupational reasons. When playing a familiar course, a golfer may desire to know what size clubs were used previously relative to a particular golf hole, what scores were previously attained, or other statistics. When playing an unfamiliar golf course, a golfer may desire detailed information about the layout or topology of the golf hole including distance information.
Several systems have been proposed in the art for measuring the distance between a tee or golf ball and a golf green, cup, or other landmark. Other systems have been proposed for tracking player performance statistics. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing systems still do not provide a portable interface unit that can remotely manage golf course, player, and golf ball location information.
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a golf game management system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a mobile interface unit as in FIG. 1 in use in locating a golf ball;
FIG. 3 is one representative view of a display portion of the mobile interface unit;
A golf game management system 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7 of the accompanying drawings. The golf game management system 10 includes a central computer server 20 having a central processing unit (“first CPU”) 22 (FIG. 7). A transceiver 24 having a transmitter and receiver is operatively connected to the first CPU 22. A memory 26 is also connected to the first CPU 22. A course database 28 is stored in the memory 26 and includes at least one golf course record containing a plurality of individual data fields. The data fields of each golf course record include a digital map representation of a particular golf course as well as information pertinent to each hole of the particular golf course such as, but not limited to, GPS geographic coordinates defining the actual physical boundaries of the golf hole, distance between the tee and the green, cup, hazards, etc. The exact geographic coordinates of a golf hole are such that they can be correlated with exact and actual GPS geographic coordinates of a mobile interface unit as will be described in more detail later. Data fields may even store the flag placement on any given day. Therefore, the course database, and a digital representation of each golf hole in particular, may be updated daily. A plurality of golf records corresponding to a plurality of golf courses may be stored in the course database of the central server 20. In fact, golf records representing golf courses from around the country or world may be included in the course database so that a user may obtain information that will be helpful in playing any desired course.
A player database 30 is also stored in the memory 26 of the central server 20 (FIG. 7) and is thus connected to the server CPU 22. The player database 30 includes a plurality of player records, each record containing a plurality of individual data fields having data indicative of individual player statistics. The data fields of a particular player record are associated with a particular golf course selected from the golf course database. These player statistics may include, but are not limited to, previous club selections for each golf hole associated with the selected golf course, previous distances a ball was hit relative to each hole associated with the selected golf course, previous and average scoring for each hole associated with the selected golf course. Obviously, many other golf statistics may be kept as data fields for each player record. It is understood that the course and player databases may be accessed from remote computers using the Internet or other network access means.
The central server transceiver 24 is capable of receiving signals requesting selected course or player records. The first CPU 22 is programmed to recognize these signals and to retrieve the requested signals from the respective databases in memory 26. Then, the first CPU 22 is capable of directing the server transceiver 24 to transmit these signals into the ambient air. These signals will hereafter be referred to as first and second signals so as to represent a requested golf course record and a requested player record, respectively.