GB2123303A - Golf board game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a board, a plurality of player's pieces, a pack of "hazard" cards and a plurality of number of spaces along or around the board which a player can move. Each number generating device e.g. a hexagonal prism represents a club and the numbers indicated by each device represent precise lengths of the shot made with that club. Each hole on the board has a ladies' and a gents' tee. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for playing an indoor game The present invention relates to apparatus for playing an indoor game, and particularly, although not exclusively, to apparatus for playing an indoor game which is adapted to represent the outdoor game of golf.

The general principles of the present invention relates to the movement of player's pieces over a playing surface marked to represent a golf course and the progress of the game is controlled by rules which provide for various hazards and eventualities specifically related to the game of golf. However, it is within the scope of the present invention that markings on the board may be different from those specifically representing the game of golf and the hazards and rules of progress of the game may differ either to represent another known outdoor game, or to be an entirely new and independent game.

The outdoor game of golf, as is well known, involves the individual players in striking a respective ball in an attempt to displace the ball from a starting or "tee" position to a final position represented by a hole positioned in the centre of a flat close cropped area of grass known as a "green". The number of strokes taken to displace the ball from the tee to the hole is counted against the player who thus seeks to move the ball in the smallest number of strokes.Placed across the route intended for the ball between the tee and the green, or alongside this route or the green are a number of hazards such as areas of soft sand known as "bunkers", belts of trees, lakes (both artificial and natural) streams and the like and each player experiences a disadvantage, usually increasing his or her number of strokes for that part of the course, if his or her ball should encounter one of the hazards.

In addition to these natural hazards of the course itself there are also inherant disadvantages in the way in which the ball is struck. A golfer has available a range of different clubs having different weights and being made of different materials which, on use, are more or less effective in projecting the ball so that the range of each shot can be varied not only by striking the ball more or less hard, but also by selecting the appropriate club for the purpose. Even having selected the appropriate club the player still has to execute an accurate shot without "slicing" or "hooking" the ball (these terms referring to angular displacement of the ball to either side of its intended line of flight) all the variables are incorporated in the game of the present invention in a simulated or representative form.

According, therefore, to one aspect of the present invention apparatus for playing an indoor game comprising a playing surface, a plurality of players pieces to be moved over the playing surface in accordance with the rules of the game, and a plurality of number generating or selecting devices each operable to generate or select a number from a set lying within a predetermined range whereby, in play, a player can select one of the said plurality of number generating or selecting devices in order to determine the range within which the generated or selected number which will control his move isto lie.

In the game of golf, therefore, the range of numbers controlling individual moves will simulate the selection of a more or less effective club whereas, in other games which the present invention may represent, different range-determining factors may be involved.

Thus, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the playing surface is marked with one or a plurality of routes to be followed by the players pieces during the progress of the game (these routes representing the individual fairways of a golf course) and each route is separated into individual units of distance by surface marking, each unit of distance corresponding to one or a plurality of units of the or a number generating or selecting device. The number generating or selecting device is thus operated, during play, to generate or select a number within the range marked thereon, and the players piece thus moved along the selected route by the number of units represented by the device.

The number generating or selecting devices may be any of the known forms such as cubic dice or tops having marked sectors, although in the preferred embodiment of the invention these devices are in the form of prismatic blocks having numbers marked or otherwise impressed on their surfaces so that generation or selection of a number can be effected by rolling the prismatic block, the generated or selected number being that which is uppermost when the block comes to rest. A plurality of blocks would thus be provided, each having a different range of numbers marked on its faces.The end faces of the prismatic blocks may be coloured or marked with indicia to represent the particular range covered by that block and in the specific example given above of the individual blocks carrying indicia representing the range of movement available from respective golf clubs, the golf clubs represented thereby may be marked on the end face or end faces of the block.

To simulate the known difference between gentlemen and lady players there may further be provided respective sets of number generating or selecting means, one for the use of gentlemen players, to be used in conjunction with associated distanceidentifying indicia provided on the board, and the other for the use of lady players, to be used in conjunction with associated distance-identifying indicia specifically provided for lady players on the board. In this way each fairway is marked with two sets of distance-representing indicia to give the lady players an advantage representative of their lesser strength and therefore their limited ability to strike long shots.The blocks constituting the number generating or selecting means provided for the use of lady players would correspondingly have smaller numbers representing this disadvantage but, take in conjunction with the smaller distances of play for lady players the advantage and the handicap should outweigh one another in the same way as they do for a conventional outdoor golf course.

Once the players ball in a full size golf course had landed on the green there is still the problem of "putting" the ball to the hole and this may be done skilfully, taking only one shot, or may require two, three or even more shots. The representation of this is provided for in the game of the present invention in which the total number of strokes played on a fairway is compounded from the area on the green on which the players piece comes to rest and the number of times the number generating or selecting device has been operated in traversing the distance from a starting position to the final position.For this purpose the green (or objective area in games not representing golf) is marked with a plurality of concentric areas (where the term "concentric" is intended to be taken in its widest sense, not necessarily involving circles, where each boundary of successively larger areas surrounds entirely the inner area but is not necessarily centred on the same centre as the inner area) and the rules may provide that when a player's piece comes to rest in the outer area a further number generator or selector is to be used to determine the final score, whereas fixed scores are assigned to the inner areas.

The prismatic number selector is preferably a hexagonal prism although an octagonal prism could alternatively be provided. Likewise, as referred to above, a cubic die with suitable numbers could be used for this purpose.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the apparatus provided for playing the game of the present invention; Figure2 is a plan view of a part of the playing surface of a board representing the game of golf, the area selected representing one fairway on the board.

Referring now to the drawings, the embodiment shown comprises a playing surface generally indicated 11 marked out as a golf course with a plurality of fairways 12 represented by surface colouration on the board and by a regular array of distance marks on either side of a centre line 13, the distance marks being of equal size on either side of the line 13 but commencing from different starting positions 14, 15.

Although the specific hazards and advantages on each fairway will be different from one another only one fairway will be described in detail herein, with an indication being provided of the possible variation which may be provided over the whole area of the board.

Thus, at the end of the line 13 representing the centre line of the fairway 12 remote from the starting lines 14, 15 there is a target represented by a hole with a representation of the conventional flag provided on full size golf courses, and around this hole are three concentric areas bounded by three respective closed but not circular lines 16, 17, 18. These reference numerals will be used hereinafter to identify the area bounded by the line identified by that reference numeral and the next innermost reference numeral. Thus, the area 18 is constituted by the area bounded by the line 18 and the line 17 and is thus an approximately annular area surrounding the two areas 17, 16. The distance markings 19 continue beyond the target point represented by the hole 20 to accommodate "overshoot" in distance selection.This distance selection is achieved by means of a plurality of rollers 22,23, 24 each of which is in the form of a hexagonal prism having numbers marked on the flat rectangular faces and identification indicia on the hexagonal end faces.

These rollers represent the different types of golf club (although not the individual sizes within these type ranges) that is the "wood" clubs represented by the roller 22, the "iron" clubs represented by the roller 24, and the "pitching wedge" represented by the roller 23.

in a typical example the fairway may be between 300 and 350 years long and the distance markings 19 would thus represent 10 yard intervals between the starting lines 14,15 and the hole 20. The "wood" roller 22 would be marked with 6 numbers in the range 200-250 yards, the "iron" roller 24 is marked with numbers in the range 100-190 yards and the "pitching wedge" is marked with numbers in the range 10-70 yards.

In addition to these markings, the playing surface 11 is also marked with an indication of the hazards to be experienced along the individual fairway concerned. These markings may conveniently be placed alongside the fairway or in an area adjacent to the start lines 14,15. In the specific example illustrated in Figure 2 the hazard for the particular hole is represented as the likelihood of hooking the ball to the left out of bounds and the penalty identified as "play 3 off the tee". This hazard is brought into play if a number 200 is rolled.

In addition to the number selectors 22, 23,24, which are intended for use by gentlemen players, there are also provided three rollers 25, 26, 27 for use by lady players in association with the distance mrkings 19 starting from the starting line 14 which is closer to the green than the starting line 15 for gentlemen players. Correspondingly the numbers marked on the rollers 25,26,27 are smaller and, typically, may be 170-220 yards for the "wood" roller 25,100-160 yards for the "iron" roller 26 and 10-60 yards for the "pitching wedge" roller 27.

In addition to the hazards marked at the beginning of the fairway there may be additional hazards marked as differently coloured areas to represent bunkers, such as the area 28 or the area 29. If a player lands on the line spanning the area 28 this will represent his player's piece or ball having landed in a bunker and the rules of the game provided that for his next stroke instead of rolling one of the number selectors 22 - 24 or 25 - 27 in the case of a lady, one of a stack of hazard cards 30 must be selected, by the conventional practice of taking one "blind" from the top of a face down stack. These hazard cards 30 may be marked with any suitable range of instructions from those representing considerable disadvantages such as "three shots to get out of bunker" to those representing a substantial advantage such as "brilliant shot - holed direct from bunker".

During the normal progress of the game, however, the players will move their player's pieces, representing individual balls (not illustrated) along the respective lines on the fairways until by a suitable selection of the rolers the ball lands within one of areas marked by the concentric lines 16, 17, 18. If the ball lands between the parallel marker lines which pass through the area 16 it is considered to have been holed in one putt, whereas if it lands between the parallel marker lines which span the front and rear edges of the area (but not, of course, between those lines defining the area 16) it is considered to have been holed in two putts.On the other hand, if the player's piece lands outside these areas but between the marker lines defining the area 18 the number of putts taken to reach the hole is selected by means of a roller 31 representing the "putter" and which is marked with numbers from 1 to 3 thereby simulating the possibility of striking a good long put and holing out from the edge of the green or of taking up to three putts to get from the edge of the green into the hole. The number of putts is added to the number of strokes represented by the number of times anyone of the rollers 22,23,24 (or 25,26,27 in the case of lady players) has been rolled in orderto get the player's ball from the start line 14, 15 onto the green.

The game of the present invention has been particularly described with reference to an embodiment set out to be played as a game representing golf. Other games involving the progress of a player's piece along predetermined routes, perhaps simulating motor racing, orienteering or other popular outdoor pursuits may be devised incorporating the novel principles of the present invention whereby the distance which a player's piece is moved each round of the game can be selected within a certain range by choice of the number generating devices to suit conditions existing at that stage in the game, but in which the precise number selected is still somewhat unpredictable or at least not entirely under the control of the player.

CLAIMS (Filed 1 Jul 83) 1. Apparatus for playing an indoor game, comprising a playing surface, a plurality of player's pieces to be moved over the playing surface in accordance with the rules of the game, and a plurality of number generting or selecting devices each operable to generate or select a number from a set lying within a predetermined range whereby, in play, a player can select one of the said plurality of number generating or selecting devices in order to determine the range within which the generated selected number which will contol his move is to lie.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, in which the playing surface is marked with one or a plurality of routes to be followed by the player's pieces during the progress of the game, the or each route being separated into individual units of distance surface marking, each unit of distance corresponding to one or a plurality of units of the or a number generating or selecting device.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1 or 2, in which the number operating or selecting devices are in the form of prismatic blocks having the numbers marked or otherwise impressed on their surfaces so that generation or selection of a number can be effected by rollikng the prismatic block, the generated or selected number being that which is uppermost when the block comes to rest.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3 in which the playing surface is marked with hazards and/or objectives at spaced locations around the board whereby during play it is necessary for a player to select an appropriate range of possible numbers for generation or selection in seeking to gain the objectives and/or to avoid the hazards.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 in which the playing surface is marked on a golf course with units of distance marked along the respective fairways, indicia representing the greens and indicia representing bunkers and other features of a golf course, such as "the rough", trees, lakes, streams, etc.

6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, in which each fairway is marked with two sets of distancerepresenting indicia, and the rules provided that one set of distance markings is to be used by gentlemen players and the other by lady players.

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, in which there are further provided respective sets of number generating and/or selecting means, one for the use of gentlemen players, to be used in conjunction with the associated distance-identifying indicia provided therefore, and the other for the use of lady players to be used in conjunction with the associated distanceidentifying indicia specifically provided for lady players.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, in which the penalties for landing on hazards are contained in a stack of penalty cards marked with the individual hazard concerned.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the total number of strokes is compounded from the area on the green on which the player's piece comes to rest and the number of times the number generating or selecting device has had to be operated in traversing the distance from a starting position and the final position.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 7 to 9, in which the green or objective area is marked with a plurality of concentric areas (as herein defined) and the rules may provide that when a player's piece comes to rest in the outer area a further number generator selector is to be used to determine the final score, whereas fixed scores are assigned to the inner areas.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the number generating or selecting device is prismatic and of hexagonal or octogonal crosssection.

12. Apparatus for playing an indoor game substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (12)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. selection of the rolers the ball lands within one of areas marked by the concentric lines 16, 17, 18. If the ball lands between the parallel marker lines which pass through the area 16 it is considered to have been holed in one putt, whereas if it lands between the parallel marker lines which span the front and rear edges of the area (but not, of course, between those lines defining the area 16) it is considered to have been holed in two putts.On the other hand, if the player's piece lands outside these areas but between the marker lines defining the area 18 the number of putts taken to reach the hole is selected by means of a roller 31 representing the "putter" and which is marked with numbers from 1 to 3 thereby simulating the possibility of striking a good long put and holing out from the edge of the green or of taking up to three putts to get from the edge of the green into the hole. The number of putts is added to the number of strokes represented by the number of times anyone of the rollers 22,23,24 (or 25,26,27 in the case of lady players) has been rolled in orderto get the player's ball from the start line 14, 15 onto the green. The game of the present invention has been particularly described with reference to an embodiment set out to be played as a game representing golf. Other games involving the progress of a player's piece along predetermined routes, perhaps simulating motor racing, orienteering or other popular outdoor pursuits may be devised incorporating the novel principles of the present invention whereby the distance which a player's piece is moved each round of the game can be selected within a certain range by choice of the number generating devices to suit conditions existing at that stage in the game, but in which the precise number selected is still somewhat unpredictable or at least not entirely under the control of the player. CLAIMS (Filed 1 Jul 83)

1. Apparatus for playing an indoor game, comprising a playing surface, a plurality of player's pieces to be moved over the playing surface in accordance with the rules of the game, and a plurality of number generting or selecting devices each operable to generate or select a number from a set lying within a predetermined range whereby, in play, a player can select one of the said plurality of number generating or selecting devices in order to determine the range within which the generated selected number which will contol his move is to lie.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, in which the playing surface is marked with one or a plurality of routes to be followed by the player's pieces during the progress of the game, the or each route being separated into individual units of distance surface marking, each unit of distance corresponding to one or a plurality of units of the or a number generating or selecting device.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1 or 2, in which the number operating or selecting devices are in the form of prismatic blocks having the numbers marked or otherwise impressed on their surfaces so that generation or selection of a number can be effected by rollikng the prismatic block, the generated or selected number being that which is uppermost when the block comes to rest.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3 in which the playing surface is marked with hazards and/or objectives at spaced locations around the board whereby during play it is necessary for a player to select an appropriate range of possible numbers for generation or selection in seeking to gain the objectives and/or to avoid the hazards.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 in which the playing surface is marked on a golf course with units of distance marked along the respective fairways, indicia representing the greens and indicia representing bunkers and other features of a golf course, such as "the rough", trees, lakes, streams, etc.

6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, in which each fairway is marked with two sets of distancerepresenting indicia, and the rules provided that one set of distance markings is to be used by gentlemen players and the other by lady players.

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, in which there are further provided respective sets of number generating and/or selecting means, one for the use of gentlemen players, to be used in conjunction with the associated distance-identifying indicia provided therefore, and the other for the use of lady players to be used in conjunction with the associated distanceidentifying indicia specifically provided for lady players.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, in which the penalties for landing on hazards are contained in a stack of penalty cards marked with the individual hazard concerned.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the total number of strokes is compounded from the area on the green on which the player's piece comes to rest and the number of times the number generating or selecting device has had to be operated in traversing the distance from a starting position and the final position.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 7 to 9, in which the green or objective area is marked with a plurality of concentric areas (as herein defined) and the rules may provide that when a player's piece comes to rest in the outer area a further number generator selector is to be used to determine the final score, whereas fixed scores are assigned to the inner areas.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the number generating or selecting device is prismatic and of hexagonal or octogonal crosssection.

12. Apparatus for playing an indoor game substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.