This invention relates to a hole in one target bowl and specifically to devices for use in golf practice and or co petition.

It is well known to provide various practice areas for golfers and most courses have a practice area where driving can be practiced and possibly where other strokes can be practiced.

There have also been specialist areas for particular forms of golf practice, such as driving ranges where golfers can practice full strokes with various clubs and there have also been practice putting greens which may have a number of holes on which golfers can practice.

Historically these have all suffered from disadvantages in that the balls need to be collected for reuse.

For example a golfer would normally take a bucket of balls to a practice fairway and execute a large number of strokes and then he, or some employee of the club or the golfer would collect the various balls for reuse.

Similarly where a golfer is practicing putting he would normally putt a number of balls towards one or more holes and these would have to be later collected. Also on many driving ranges large numbers of balls are struck and then subsequently col lected.

There have been proposed, in driving ranges, systems where balls can be returned, the systems being based on the range sloping towards a gutter or the like so that most balls which terminate on the range roll towards the gutter and then pass along the gutter under gravity to some remote position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means whereby a golfer can practice shots to a realistic green and

from which the ball will normally be returned to a position where it can readily be collected and, possibly, to a position closely adjacent the golfer.

The invention in its broadest sense includes a practice golf green including a golf ball receiving member located in the green and being in ball transportable connection with a position spaced from the green, the green being formed to slope downwardly to the receiving member, whereby any ball pitched onto the green will pass to the receiving member and be delivered by way of the connection to the position spaced from the green.

The green may be either indoor or outdoor and if outdoor can be made using normal earthworks and if indoor can be fabricated using available sheet materials and may preferably be coated with an artificial grass or the like. Of course outdoor greens can be naturally or artificially grassed.

It is also prefered that the green surround be formed to slope away from the green area itself and to be provided with at least one channel into which balls which do not reach the green are delivered.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practice we shall describe in relation to the accompanying drawings a particular arrangement of the invention, the arrangement being shown as an outdoor green but it is to be appreciated that an equivalent arrangement could be provided indoors.

In the drawings;

Figure 1 is a view partly in perspective and partly cut away showing the arrangement of the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view showing the relative arrangement of the green and its surrounds; Figure 3 is a view partly in section of the ball receiving member; and Figure is a view showing an arrangement having

multiple greens.

Refering firstly to Figure 1 the green 10 is a raised green which slopes downwardly from all sides to the ball receiving member 20.

The green surround 11 slopes away from the green and to gutters 12 and 13 as will be described more fully hereinafter.

It will be appreciated that whilst the illustrated embodiment shows what is effectively a circular green the green may take any required shape and the surround can occupy a smaller or greater area, the size and shape of the green and the surround being dictated by the area in which the green is to be located.

Also, should it be required, the green can be protected by bunkers around the edge thereof.

The green, as mentioned previously can be formed by providing earth works to provide a raised green, the purpose of which will become clear later in this description and the green and the surround can be planted with natural grass or an artificial turf could be used.

Refering to Figure 3 I show the centre of the green 10 and the ball receiving member 20.

The ball receiving member may comprise a truncated cone 21 the upper end 22 of which terminates slightly below the surface of the green and the lower end 23 of which has a flexible pipe or the like 2k connected thereto.

The cone 21 may be located within an outer cone 25 which in turn may be connected to a piping arrangement 26 so that there is, generally, space between the cone 21 and the surround through which water and the like can be drained and which can also provide protection for the flexible tube 24.

Mounted inside the cone 21 there can be a spider or the like 30 which can comprise two, three or more arms which extend towards the centre of the receiving member and which has a socket 31 centrally thereof the socket being of a size as to receive a pole 32 carrying a flag 33.

The spacing between the socket 31 and the wall of the cone 21 and between the arms 30 of the spider are such as to permit a ball to pass therebetween without undue obstruction.

I may provide a removable cap 3 which can be located over the receiving member 20 when the green is not being used to prevent ingress of foreign material therein.

On the green surround 11 I provide one or more open channels, in this particular case two open channels 12 and 13 which generally surround the green and into which balls which do not reach the green will run.

These channels may effectively be flush with the ground surface to permit ready mowing and may, as shown in Figure have extended arms 14 and 15 which terminate in a main channel 27 which may also be associated with the tube 26 coming from the green. The tube 26 and the channel 27 can be of the same diameter and the tube 24 can terminate near the junction of the tube 26 and the channel 27

It will be appreciated that this is an exemplary arrangement only.

Also, as shown in Figure 1 the terminal portion of the surround 16 may be raised relative to the channel 13 so that balls which stike beyond the channel 13 will roll back towards the channel.

Refering now to the lower right portion of Figure 4 I show a green side bunker 35 from which a golfer can pitch to the green 10. s SuUBSTITUTE SHEET

In this arrangement the inner and outer tubes 24 and 26 can terminate in the bunker so that balls which are being returned are returned into the bunker so that the golfer can practice chip shots and/or sandblasting from the bunker with the balls being returned thereto.

In this case the channels 12 and 13 may either themselves terminate in the bunker or may be connected to a tube which passes through the rear bunker wall and so delivers balls to a desired position from the bunker.

It will be seen that the invention provides means whereby various golf shots can be practiced.

For example the invention could provide a longer hole to which a long, medium or short iron could be played, it could provide means whereby chip shots to the green could be played and those which successfully reach the green will be delivered from the ball receiving means and those which don't will enter one of the channels and will be delivered from there, it can provide the possibility of providing bunker whereby the player can practice blasting or chipping from a bunker.

In each case the arrangement can be such that the balls are returned to a satisfactory position.

Where the green is to be used for a number of different types of practice then the ball return may be to some central point from which balls can be readily collected and taken to the required position or, as described in the embodiment it may be prefered that the balls are returned to a position adjacent that from which they are struck so that the player does not have to collect balls.

Whilst the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4 relate to an outdoor arrangement the same invention is readily applicable to an indoor arrangement.

It is preferred if the arrangement is to be provided indoors

that the green be provided with an artificial turf and artificial turf may also be provided in the surrounding areas from whence players will play their strokes.

In this case normally the green would be built up on a base and the ball receiving means and its tube would simply extend downwardly from the green and through a wall of the surround.

The indoor surround may consist of a raised floor, inclined longitudinally from the rear, yet with lateral sloping floor from a peak directly behind the green, being elevated with sloping surround, and some lateral incline out from the peripheral walls to ensure that all golf balls struck to the target green are returned under gravity to a desired delivery area

Further, where an indoor version is being set up I could provide netting on the walls and ceiling to prevent dangerous ricochets of golf balls and I could, if required, arrange a game which necessitates playing balls off the walls or cei 1 ings .

SUBSTITUTE SHEET