Golf putting practice apparatus

Abstract

A golf putting practice apparatus includes a frame, a plurality of elongate boards positioned in the frame, the elongate boards being connected by elastic members such as springs, and an artificial green placed over the boards. The heights of the frame and at least selected ones of the boards can be adjusted by frame-height adjusting members and individual board-height adjusting members. The apparatus further includes an acoustic resonator generating a light metallic sound when the golf ball enters the hole cup and a ball retrieval means for discharging the ball near the standing location of the golfer.

1 . A golf putting practice apparatus comprising: 
 a frame having a generally polygonal shape with at least four side walls and four corners, the frame including an opened top surface;    a plurality of elongate members each having a pair of side portions and a pair of end portions, the elongate members arranged in a row and side by side and positioned within the opened top surface of the frame;    at least one elastic member for elastically connecting the plurality of elongate members side by side;    a green member covering above the elongate members and having at least one golf ball receiving hole for practicing golf putting therewith; and    a frame-height adjusting member disposed at each of the corners of the frame for selectively adjusting the height of at least one of the corners of the frame.    
     
     
         2 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one elastic member comprises at least one spring received within a hole formed across the side portions of the plurality of elongate members.  
     
     
         3 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of board-height adjusting members disposed along the side walls of the frame for selectively adjusting the height of the elongate members.  
     
     
         4 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the end portions of at least some of the plurality of elongate members are connected to corresponding ones of the plurality of board-height adjusting members.  
     
     
         5 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the board-height adjusting members each include an actuator, and an elevating member vertically movable by the actuator for adjusting the height of the elongate members.  
     
     
         6 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the actuator of the board-height adjusting members is a rotatable feeder screw configured to move the elevating member vertically upon rotation.  
     
     
         7 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the board-height adjusting members each further includes a vertical guide member for guiding vertical movement of the elevating member.  
     
     
         8 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the elevating member of the board-height adjusting members is formed of two pieces connected together by at least one fastener.  
     
     
         9 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of the elongate members comprise a plurality of engaging portions disposed between adjacent elongate members.  
     
     
         10 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of engaging portions of the elongate members are formed of generally semi-spherical protrusions and grooves generally matching one another.  
     
     
         11 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the frame-height adjusting member disposed at the corners of the frame includes an actuator, and an elevating member vertically movable by the actuator for selectively adjusting the height of the corners of the frame.  
     
     
         12 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the actuator of the frame-height adjusting member is a rotatable feeder screw configured to move the elevating member vertically upon rotation.  
     
     
         13 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the frame-height adjusting member disposed at the corners of the frame further includes a vertical guide member for guiding vertical movement of the elevating member of the frame-height adjusting member.  
     
     
         14 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the vertical guide member of the frame-height adjusting member includes a guide post positioned within a guide hole of the elevating member of the frame-height adjusting member.  
     
     
         15 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the frame-height adjusting member disposed at the corners of the frame further includes a leg member extending vertically from the elevating member of the frame-height adjusting member.  
     
     
         16 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the leg member of the frame-height adjusting member includes a tiltable foot member connected at the lower end of the leg member.  
     
     
         17 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a golf ball retrieval means disposed within the frame for guiding a golf ball entered the golf ball receiving hole and discharging the ball from the apparatus.  
     
     
         18 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a resonator positioned below the golf ball receiving hole of the green member for providing a golf ball dropping sound when the ball enters the golf ball receiving hole.  
     
     
         19 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one elastic member comprises a resilient material connected between adjacent elongate members for the elastic connection of the elongate members.  
     
     
         20 . The golf putting practice apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the elongate members are boards each having a generally flat upper surface.