Vented golf tee

Abstract

A shortened unitary golf tee includes a pointed base portion for insertion into the ground and a hollow body portion for receiving a golf ball. The body portion includes a side wall defining an inner cavity and a ball receipt surface which substantially surrounds a first aperture extending into the inner cavity. The side wall also defines a second smaller aperture, or vent, extending through the side wall into the inner cavity. Regardless of the location of the second aperture, if air is allowed to flow freely into the inner cavity, it is thought to minimize the effects of depressurization between the golf tee and an accelerating golf ball departing the golf tee so that the golf tee tends to remain stationary and the golf ball retains more momentum from the golf club. In the preferred embodiment, the second aperture is located on the top of a short, upward-facing side of the golf tee to reduce the amount of area on the golf tee most likely to be impacted by a club head and to provide a more intuitive means for properly positioning and aligning the golf tee. The second aperture is located in various inventive configurations in alternate embodiments.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.