Golf ball putting game

Abstract

A golf ball putting game adapted for competitive indoor use by several players utilizes a portable elongated track positioned on a flat area, together with a conventional golf putter and balls. The track is fabricated of a material which can be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for play and that has a surface texture suitable for putting golf balls. To begin play, one player putts a ball from a tee end to a far end of the track, followed in order by the remaining players. That order of play is repeated until each player has putted a selected number of balls to complete a round of play. The player who best ball lies closest to the terminal end of the track, within a playing area, wins that round and is awarded one point. A number of subsequent rounds are similarly played and scored to complete a game to determine a winner having the highest number of awarded points.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A golf ball putting game playable by a selected number of players, comprising:
 providing an elongated rectangular track having a tee end and a far end, said track comprising a flexible material that may be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for play, said track being positioned on a flat surface, the surface area within the periphery of said elongated rectangular track forming a rectangular playing area;   providing each player with a golf putting club;   providing each player with a like number of golf balls at the beginning of the game, each player's golf balls being distinguishable in appearance from every other player's golf balls;   initiating play of said golf ball putting game by each player, in order, putting a ball from said tee end of said track toward said far end of said track;   repeating that order of play until each player has putted all of the golf balls provided at the beginning of the game to thereby complete a first round of play;   determining the winner of said first round of play to be the one of said players having a best putted ball, the best putted ball being the one that came to a final resting position within said playing area of said track closest to said far end thereof;   awarding the winner of said first round one point;   playing additional rounds of said golf ball putting game in a manner like said first round of play; and   determining the winner of said game to be the winner of a majority of the rounds played.   
     
     
         2 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein each of said additional rounds played is commenced by the one of said selected number of players who putted second in order in an immediately previous round, the order of play otherwise remaining the same from round to round. 
     
     
         3 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein said track is positioned on a flat indoor surface. 
     
     
         4 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein said selected number of players is a selected one of two, three, and four players. 
     
     
         5 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein said number of golf balls provided each player at the beginning of the game is three. 
     
     
         6 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein each player's golf balls are of a different color than every other player's golf balls. 
     
     
         7 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein a determination of each player's best putted ball is made without regard for whether said best putted ball came to its final resting position as a result of being putted by that player or as a result of being subsequently impacted and moved to that final resting position by another player's putted ball. 
     
     
         8 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein said track is fabricated of an indoor/outdoor carpet material. 
     
     
         9 . A golf ball putting game as in  claim 1 , wherein said track is fabricated of an artificial turf material. 
     
     
         10 . A golf ball putting game playable by a selected number of players, comprising:
 providing an elongated rectangular track having a tee end and a far end, said track comprising a flexible material that may be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for play, said track being positioned on a flat surface, the surface area within the periphery of said elongated rectangular track forming a rectangular playing area, said rectangular playing area including a plurality of contiguous marked scoring rectangles all having a transverse width, said marked scoring rectangles mutually abutting along intermediate transverse edges, said edges defining straight lines perpendicular to a length of said rectangular playing area, a scoring area of said rectangular playing area including an eagle scoring rectangle  22  adjacent to the far end  34  of track  20 , a birdie rectangle  24  adjacent to and rearward of eagle scoring rectangle  22 , a par scoring rectangle adjacent to and rearward of birdie scoring rectangle  24 , and a bogey scoring rectangle  28  adjacent to and rearward of par scoring rectangle  26 ;   assigning a first number of points to balls coming to rest in said par scoring rectangle;   assigning a second number of points to balls coming to rest in said birdie scoring rectangle, said second number of points being one less than said first number of points;   assigning a third number of points to balls coming to rest in said eagle scoring rectangle, said third number of points being two less than said first number of points;   assigning a fourth number of points to balls coming to rest in said bogey scoring rectangle, said fourth number of points being one more than said first number of points;   providing each player with a golf putting club;   providing each player with a like number of golf balls at the beginning of the game, each player's golf balls being distinguishable in appearance from every other player's golf balls;   initiating play of said golf ball putting game by each player, in order, putting a ball from said tee end of said track toward said far end of said track;   repeating that order of play until each player has putted all of the golf balls provided at the beginning of the game to thereby complete a first hole of play;   determining the number of points to be awarded to each player for said first hole of play, following completion of said first hole of play, to be the number of points assigned to balls coming to rest in the scoring rectangle in which that player's best putted ball came to rest;   playing additional holes of said golf ball putting game in a like manner to that of said first hole; and   determining the number of points to be awarded to each player for each of said additional holes of play, following completion of each of said additional holes of play, to be the number of points assigned to balls coming to rest in the scoring rectangle in which that player's best putted ball came to rest;   summing the number of points awarded to each player for said first hole of play and all of said additional holes of play, following completion of a final one of said additional holes of play;   awarding each player a total score equal to the result of the summation of the number of points awarded that player for said first hole of play and all of said additional holes of play; and   determining the winner of said game to be the one of said players having the lowest total score.