Golf Putter Having Functions of Collecting and Returning Golf Ball and Ball Marker to Original Position

The present disclosure relates to a golf putter, and more particularly, to a golf putter with functions of collecting and returning golf balls and ball markers to original positions, which is capable of preventing golfers from bending over or crouching to pick up balls or ball markers.

In general, a golf putter refers to a golf club that is used to roll a golf ball into a hole on the putting green, and an act of hitting a golf ball with a putter is referred to as putting.

Putters are typically divided into blade types and mallet types. The blade type is an L-shaped putter with a thin head and is lightweight, but allows golfers to make various and precise strokes depending on golfers' skill levels. The mallet type is a D-shaped putter with a heavy head, and is heavy and is designed to maintain a stable pose.

In golf, when golfers reach the green, they may use a ball marker to indicate a ball position and pick up the ball before putting, and, after other golfers play or after checking lines, they may return the ball to the original position and then may remove the ball marker.

However, the procedure of indicating a golf ball position with a ball marker and picking up the golf ball, and the procedure of returning the golf ball to the original position and removing the ball marker may require golfers to bend over or crouch several times. These movements may be cumbersome and painful for older golfers, golfers with back or waist injuries or diseases such as arthritis, female golfers wearing short skirts, and golfers who do not like to bend over or crouch for various other reasons.

Related-art technologies present putters which can reduce the number of times a golfer bends over or crouches while putting, and methods of using the same, but related-art putters may have complex putter structures or may be difficult for golfers to use. Furthermore, most of the related-art putters are only designed to lift golf balls, which makes it difficult to return golf balls to the original positions on the green.

The present disclosure has been developed in order to solve the problems of the related-art technology described above, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a golf putter with functions of collecting and returning golf balls and ball markers to original positions, which is capable of reducing or preventing golfer's bending over or crouching.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a golf putter head including a hitting face formed on a front surface thereof, a ball marker storage part formed on one side surface thereof, and a magnet insertion part formed on the other side surface thereof and having a magnet inserted thereinto, and a ball storage part formed on the other side surface, wherein the ball storage part may be configured to pick up a golf ball from the green and to place the ball back to the original position on the green, and includes two arms protruding and extending from a side surface of the putter head, and the two arms have a connection portion formed as an arc and are shaped to curve inwardly and to be close to each other at the ends thereof, allowing the golf ball to be inserted and seated therein, wherein the ball marker storage part is formed on one side surface of the putter head, and the ball storage part is formed on the other side surface of the putter head.

According to an embodiment, there is provided a golf putter head including a hitting face formed on a front surface thereof, a ball marker storage part formed on one side surface thereof, a magnet insertion part formed on the other side surface thereof and having a magnet inserted thereinto, and a ball storage part formed on a rear surface of the putter head, wherein the ball storage part is configured to pick up a golf ball from the green and to place the golf ball back to the original position on the green, and includes two arms protruding and extending from a rear surface of the putter head, and resting grooves are provided on interior surfaces of the two arms to stably rest the golf ball thereon

The use of the putter with the putter head according to an embodiment of the disclosure may, first, reduce or prevent golfer's bending over or crouching when picking up a golf ball and a ball marker from the green and returning them to the original positions.

With a related-art putter, golfers must bend waist or knees to pick up a ball from the green, to place the ball to the original position on the green, place a ball marker on the green, and retrieve the ball marker from the green, and this movement may cause a great deal of discomfort to waist or knees.

However, when using the putter head according to the disclosure, there is no need to bend waist or knees in all the actions of picking up and putting down a ball and a ball marker on the green, so that golfers may enjoy golf for a long time even with physical limitations without strain on body.

Secondly, as described above, by drastically reducing the number of times a golfer bends waist or knees, the golfer's heart rate may be kept steady, which help the golfer improve scores with more stable putting.

In general, each time golfers bend waist or knees to pick up or put down a ball or a ball marker, their heart rate tends to increase by 3 to 20. Repeating this action three or more times may increase the heart rate by more than 20 and make it more difficult for golfers to putt with stability, which ultimately affect their golf score.

Since the golf putting requires very sensitive and precise motions, even a slight increase or decrease in the heart rate may affect the putting, and the putter head according to the present disclosure may prevent the increase in the heart rate, thereby enabling stable putting.

Thirdly, the use of the putter head according to the disclosure may eliminate discomfort caused by golfer's clothing, which is helpful to comfortable and stable putting, For example, when a woman wearing a miniskirt uses the putter according to the disclosure, she may pick up and put down a ball and a ball marker without bending waist or knees, so that she does not have to worry about movement restrictions caused by her clothing, and discomfort caused by the gaze of companions may be eliminated, and hence, there is an effect of putting with a more relaxed mind.

Fourthly, the use of the putter head according to the disclosure may have the effect of reducing putting time on the green. Since 36 strokes are allocated to putting with reference to 18 holes and 72 strokes, golf games take the most time putting on the green.

According to the disclosure, golfers do not need to directly pick up or put down balls or ball markers by bending waist or knees, so that the time spent putting on the green may be reduced, and accordingly, the time spend per round of golf may be reduced, and for golf course management, there is an advantage that more golfers can play golf during the same operating hours.

It will be understood that when an element (‘A’ element) is referred to as being “on” another element (‘B’ element), it does not preclude that a third element is interposed between the A element and the B element. Similarly, when the A element is referred to as being connected (or coupled, secured, attached) to the B element, it means that the A element is directly connected to the B element or is indirectly connected with the B element via a third element therebetween.

In the drawings, thicknesses of elements are exaggerated for effective explanation of technical features. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other components.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The matters defined in the description are provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the exemplary embodiments. However, it is apparent that the exemplary embodiments can be carried out by those of ordinary skill in the art without those specifically defined matters. It is noted that, in some cases, parts that are commonly known and are rarely related to the present disclosure are not described to avoid confusion in describing the disclosure.

are perspective views of a golf putter head according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure as viewed at different angles,is a top view of the putter head, andis a front view schematically illustrating the putter head.

Referring to, the golf putter head(hereinafter, simply referred to as a “putter head” or “head”) may have a hitting faceof a golf ball formed on a front surface thereof, and may have a connection holeformed on an upper portion thereof to be secured to a shaft (not shown). In the following descriptions, a surface on which the hitting faceof the golf ball is formed is referred to as a ‘front surface’, the opposite surface of the front surface is referred to as a ‘rear surface’, and surfaces of the left and the right of the front surface as viewed from the front are referred to as a ‘left side surface’ and a ‘right side surface’, respectively.

A ball marker storage partmay be formed on one side surface (for example, the left side surface) of the putter head, and a ball storage partmay be formed on the other side surface (for example, the right side surface). In addition, the putter headmay have a magnet insertion partformed in a region of the lower surface of the headthat is adjacent to the ball storage part, and a magnet may be attached to the magnet insertion part.

The ball marker storage partmay be formed to place a ball marker on the green, and the magnet inserted into the magnet insertion partmay be to pick up the ball marker from the green. Preferably, the ball marker storage partand the magnet insertion partmay be positioned at distances away from each other on the putter head, and in the present disclosure, the magnet insertion portionmay be formed on a lower portion of the opposite side surface of the surface on which the ball marker storage partis formed, that is, on a lower surface adjacent to the ball storage part.

According to an embodiment, the ball marker storage partmay include a circular baseformed on the left side surface of the putter head, and a vertical direction seating part of an arc shape protruding from a lower portion of the base.

For example, when the ball marker is a coin-shaped ball marker, the golfer may stand up the ball marker and place it on the ball marker storage part. In this case, the front surface (upper surface) of the ball marker may closely contact the surface of the baseand at least part of the side edge of the ball marker may be supported on the seating part. The basemay not necessarily be circular and may have any shape that at least part of the surface of the ball marker closely contacts, and accordingly, in an alternative embodiment, the basemay have a semi-circular shape or a polygonal shape such as a rectangle, a pentagon, or the like.

On the green, the golfer may lower the putter headto the surface of the green with the ball marker loaded in the ball marker storage part, and then may tilt the putter headto release the ball marker from the ball marker storage partand place the ball marker on the green. In this case, when the ball marker the front surface (upper surface) of which is in close contact with the surface of the basefalls onto the green, the ball marker may rotate about 90 degrees and land on the green, so that the front surface (upper surface) of the ball marker faces above the ground.

The magnet insertion partmay be pick up the ball marker from the green. The magnet insertion partmay be formed in a region of the lower surface of the headthat is adjacent to the ball storage part, and may include a magnet. Accordingly, the ball marker on the green may be picked up by placing the magnet insertion partover the ball marker and magnetically attaching the ball marker to the magnetic insertion part.

The ball storage partmay be a member that picks up a ball from the green and places the ball back on the green. The ball storage partmay include two arms,protruding and extending from a side surface (for example, the right side surface) of the putter head.

In an embodiment, the arms,may be integrally formed with the putter head. In an alternative embodiment, the arms,may be fabricated independently from the putter head, and then, may be attached to the putter headby a fastening means such as bolts.

Each of the two arms,may protrude while forming an arc, and accordingly, may have a shape to allow a golf ball to be seated therebetween. In this case, preferably, the two arms,may have such a distance d between leading ends thereof that the leading ends of the arms,do not contact the golf ball when the arms,approach the golf ball placed on the ground.

In an embodiment, a resting groovemay be provided on an interior surface of each arm,to stably rest the golf ball. The resting groovemay be formed by cutting a part of an upper edge of the interior of each arm,.

Golf regulations in some countries may prescribe that components of the putter headshould not further protrude forward than the hitting face, and, to comply with these regulations, the maximum protruding point of the armof the ball storage partin the forward direction may be positioned in line with or further back than the hitting faceof the head, as shown in. However, in an alternative embodiment, regardless of these regulations, the maximum protruding point of the armin the forward direction may be configured to further protrude forward than the hitting faceof the head.

Referring to, the lower surface of the putter headmay be formed to be inclined upwardly toward both sides with reference to the center. That is, the putter headmay be configured such that the center of the lower surface contacts the ground and the left and right sides of the lower surface are spaced apart from the ground when the putter headis placed horizontally on the ground. However, in an alternative embodiment, the lower surface of the putter headmay be horizontally formed.

The arms,of the ball storage partmay extend from the side surface in an upwardly inclined state, and an angle θ formed between the arm,and the ground may be preferably between 5 degrees and 20 degrees. In an alternative embodiment, the arms,of the ball storage partmay extend from the side surface of the putter headin the upwardly inclined state, and may be configured such that a height to the leading ends of the arms,from the ground is between 1 mm and 20 mm when the putter headis placed horizontally on the ground.

According to the above-described configuration, when the golfer tries to pick the golf ball from the green, the golfer may position the putter headto have the arms,positioned beside the ball, and then may tilt the shaft of the putter slightly to the right side of the putter head to make the arms,horizontal to the ground or face more toward the ground, and in this state, may insert the arms,under the golf ball without touching the golf ball and then lift the shaft, thereby easily picking up the golf ball.

In an embodiment, a concave partmay be formed on a side surface (that is, the right side surface of the headin the illustrated embodiment) of the headthat is adjacent to the ball storage part. In this case, a part of the surface of the golf ball seated on the arms,may also be seated and supported on the concave part, so that the golf ball is more stably seated on the ball storage part.

In the illustrated embodiment, the ball marker storage partmay be formed on a side surface (that is, the left side surface) out of the left side surface and the right side surface of the putter headthat is far from the shaft of the putter, and the ball storage partmay be formed on a side surface (that is, the right side surface) that is close to the shaft. Typically, the shaft of the putter is tilted toward the golfer by a predetermined angle (for example, 70 to 80 degrees) so as to help the golfer to make the putting stroke easily, and, since the ball storage partis formed close to the shaft of the golfer, the golfer may easily pick up the golf ball or may place the ball back to the original position on the green.

In the specification, the putter headfor right-handed golfers is illustrated and explained. Therefore, it will be understood that, in the case of a putter head for left-handed golfers, the positions of the ball marker storage partand the ball storage partare reversed, such that the ball storage partis formed on the left side surface of the headand the ball marker storage partis formed on the right side surface, and the magnet insertion partis formed on a left region of the lower surface of the head.

are views illustrating a method of picking up a golf ball using the putter provided with the putter headaccording to an embodiment.

It is assumed that a golf ball B to be picked up is placed on the ground (green). Referring to, the golfer tilts the shaft S toward the golf ball B with the putter headresting on the ground or the headbeing slightly spaced apart from the ground. Accordingly, the arms,of the ball storage partis substantially parallel to the ground as shown in the.

Thereafter, the golfer moves the putter headtoward the golf ball until the golf ball B is positioned between the arms,of the ball storage partas shown in. In this case, since the distance d between the leading ends of the two arms,is wide enough not to touch the golf ball, the headmay be moved toward the golf ball without touching the golf ball B to position the golf ball B between the two arms,.

Next, as shown in, the golfer slightly rotates the putter headso as to make the leading ends of the two arms,away from the ground, with the ball being positioned between the arms,, and accordingly, the golf ball B is supported by the two arms,and seated on the ball storage part.

In this case, when the resting grooveis formed on the arms,, the golf ball B may be more stably seated on the arms,. In addition, in the embodiment where the resting grooveis formed on the arms,and the concave partis formed on the right side surface of the head, the golf ball B may be seated on the resting groove, and simultaneously, may be supported in close contact with the concave part, so that the golf ball B may be more stably seated on the ball storage part.

A method of placing the golf ball back on the ground may be performed in the reverse order of the golf ball picking up method described above. That is, as shown in, the putter headis lowered to the ground with the golf ball being seated between the two arms,. Thereafter, the putter headis tilted toward the right side to put down the golf ball B to the ground (see), and the arms,are retracted sufficiently away from the golf ball B without contacting the golf ball B (see), and then, the headis lifted, so that the golf ball is placed back at the original position on the ground.

According to the present disclosure described above, the golfer may pick up or place the golf ball from or on the ground by using the ball storage partof the headwithout crouching. In addition, the golfer may place the ball marker on the ground by using the ball marker storage partwithout crouching, and may pick up the ball marker from the ground by using the magnet insertion part. Therefore, the golfer may perform putting without bending waist or knees or crouching during the whole putting process on the green, and hence, there is an advantage that even people with some physical limitations may enjoy golf without strains on waist or knees.

is a perspective view of a golf putter head according to a second embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to, the putter headaccording to the second embodiment may have a golf ball hitting faceformed on a front portion thereof, and a connection holeformed on an upper portion thereof to be secured to a shaft. The putter headmay be provided with a ball marker storage partformed on one side surface (for example, the left side surface) as viewed from the front, and may be provided with a ball storage partformed on the other side surface (for example, the right side surface). In addition, the putter headmay be provided with a magnet insertion part formed on a lower surface of the headthat is adjacent to the ball storage partand having a magnet inserted thereinto.

The ball marker storage partmay be formed to place a ball marker on the ground, and may include a seating holein a horizontal direction that is formed one side surface of the headto receive the ball marker at least in part. A golfer may lower the putter headclose to the ground with the ball marker being inserted into the seating holeat least in part, and then, may place the ball marker on the ground by tilting the head.