COMPLETE SPECIFICATION PATENT

GOLF FLAGSTICK ATTACHMENT FOR RETRIEVAL OF GOLF BALLS

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of utilising it known to me:

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

INVENTION TITLE: GOLF FLAGSTICK ATTACH MENT FOR RETRI EVAL OF GOLF BALLS

SPECIFICATION

I n January of 2019 the rules of golf were amended to permit golfers to leave the flagstick in the hole when putting instead of the previous rule which required golfers to remove the flagstick before the ball could strike it. This change in the rules was proposed in order to assist in the speeding up of general play as the flagstick would no longer need to be taken out and replaced for the players in the group in turn.

An unintended consequence of this is that the golf ball is not as easy to retrieve from the hole with the flagstick (1) still in. The ferrule (2) attached to the base of the flagstick (Figure 1) prevents the flagstick from easily being removed while the golf ball is in the hole as the diameter of the flagstick with ferrule fouls the ball on the edge of the putting cup when attempting to remove it. Therefore, instead of being able to remove the flagstick and then remove the golf ball, golfers are instead retrieving their golf ball from the hole while the flagstick is still in place.

Because the flagstick is still in place as golfers retrieve their ball, the golfer invariably causes some damage to the edge of the golf hole itself as there is insufficient room for the hand with the flagstick in place. The 'Golf Flagstick Attachment For Retrieval Of Golf Balls' allows for the golf ball to be removed with the flagstick thereby eliminating the need for the golfer to place their hand in the golf hole.

The 'Golf Flagstick Attachment For Retrieval Of Golf Balls' significantly reduces the damage to the edge of the golf hole as players are no longer required to put their hand (or any other object) into the golf hole to retrieve their ball, it also minimises damage when replacing the flagstick into the hole. Additionally, the 'Golf Flagstick Attachment For Retrieval Of Golf Balls' provides a mechanism for the golfer to retrieve their ball from the hole without having to bend down, or employ any other device, simply by removing the flagstick and retrieving their ball directly from the device at the base of the flagstick.

The 'Golf Flagstick Attachment For Retrieval Of Golf Balls' is designed to clip onto the existing flagsticks currently in use on golf courses throughout the world. The unit comprises of five pieces that clip together to form a complete unit. The pieces are; an inner clip (Figure 2), an outer clip (Figure 3) and three arms (Figure 4). The pieces clip together in a manner as follows; the inner clip (7) around the flagstick (8) immediately above the ferrule, the outer clip (9) over the top of the inner clip and the arms (6) connecting into the horizontal sections of the clips as shown in Figure 5. The device also incorporates a locking mechanism (12) in the inner and outer clips to prevent vertical slippage between the two clips.

The inner and outer clip have horizontal joints (3) on their outer plane with a locking mechanism (14) built in to facilitate the arm's axle (5) clicking into the horizontal joint and remaining captured while still permitting free movement in the vertical along the arm's axle operating as a pivot point. Figure 6 shows the assembled unit with the arms in the near vertical position and Figure 12 shows the unit with two arms in the flat position and one arm in the near vertical position demonstrating the independence of each arm from the other. The horizontal sections of the clips are designed so that the arms freely move in the vertical along the arm axle however are unable to fold downwards beyond the horizontal. This ensures that the golf ball is held in-situ as the flagstick is removed as shown in (10). The placement of a stop on the inner and outer clip (13) provides a resting point for the arm that prevents the arm from moving below the horizontal as shown in (11). The arms are designed to fold in an upward direction allowing the arms to fold up and away from the edge of the golf hole as the flagstick is replaced should the arm make contact with the ground or cup.

The three arms radiating from the central connector are sized to capture the golf ball at the base of the hole and not permit the ball to remain in the hole when the flag is extracted from the hole (Figure 13). The arms are also shaped to retain the golf ball on the arm as the flagstick is removed, thereby enabling the golfer to retrieve the golf ball directly from the arm (Figure 14). The arms are curved in an upward direction along the outer rims (Figure 6) but not overly curved as to promote the arms fouling each other in the event two arms are activated simultaneously.

The arms do not fully fold to a vertical position promoting the arms to fall flat again under the weight of gravity, once the flagstick is replaced, instead of remaining in an upright position. The vertical movement is restricted by the use of a stop on the arm's axle (4). As the arm rotates upwards the stop reaches a point where it makes contact with the clip and is thus prevented from any further vertical rotation. This effectively resets the unit for the next group of golfers.

The unit would ideally be formed through a plastic injection moulding process using an acetal thermoplastic however, other materials may be used. Injection moulding would provide the most cost effective solution and be sufficiently durable and rigid however for aesthetics a stainless steel unit (or similar) may be utilised.

A static device currently exists and is regularly seen on practice putting surfaces however the static device is essentially a solid disc rather than having articulating arms. This results in the solid disc at the base of the flagstick creating more damage to the edge of the hole as the disc does not have an ability to give way to the edge of the hole and therefore deforms the hole edge as the disc pushes down the soil under it.