Interactive pressurized water miniature golf course

Abstract

An improved miniature golf course provides water features which may advance, retard, or randomly impact the motion of the golf ball. The features may also wet the players by spraying them, forcing them to wade, misting them, etc. The features may take the form of water jets, streams, waterfalls, cascades, swirling turbulent water, water tunnels, triggers, alternative routes to the green, alternative parts of the green reached by different water features, fountains, gratings, nets, floating fairways and greens, ramps, waterwheels, water cannons, and combinations thereof.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An improved miniature golf course hole for use with a golf ball during a course of play in which a player is putting the golf ball about a tee-off area, a fairway area and a green area, wherein the improvement comprises:
 providing pressurized water and using the pressure of the water to alter the motion of such ball during such course of play.   
     
     
         2 . A miniature golf course hole for use with a golf ball by a player, the golf course hole comprising:
 a water feature, the water feature having pressurized water, the golf course hole having a layout, the layout designed so that while moving, the ball will enter the pressurized water and the pressurized water will alter the moving of the ball,   the water feature having pressurized water being one member selected from the group consisting of: jets, sprayers, misters, cascades, waterfalls and combinations thereof.   
     
     
         3 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the alteration of the moving of the ball further comprises:
 one member selected from the group consisting of: retarding the ball, randomly altering the moving of the ball, providing alternative water routes of advancing the ball, and combinations thereof.   
     
     
         4 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature comprises: a stream which moves such ball in a manner selected from the group consisting of: advancing the ball, retarding the ball, randomly altering the moving of the ball, moving the ball to a first portion of such green area. 
     
     
         5 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein such ball further comprises: a floating ball, and the water feature further comprises an outlet which allows the water to depart but strands the ball out of such water feature, the outlet further comprising: a grating, a net, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises: a fountain having a first water-filled level with water flowing out of the first level, the water flowing out of the fountain in at a first direction. 
     
     
         7 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 6 , wherein the fountain further comprises a second water-filled level with water flowing out of the second level in a second direction, such ball flowing out of the fount in the first direction if the player hits such ball into the first level and flowing out of the fountain in the second direction if the player hits such ball into the second level. 
     
     
         8 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises one member selected from the group consisting of: a waterfall which such ball must be hit through, a waterfall which such player must pass through, cascades which alter the motion of such ball by passing it across a plurality of obstacles within the cascade, terraces down which the water carries such ball, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature comprises: one member selected from the group consisting of: a portion of the fairway which is afloat, a portion of the green which is afloat, a barrel bridge, a wave maker and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises:
 a stream carrying such ball for a first distance, with a walking path beside the stream for the first distance, so that such player may walk beside such ball as it is carried.   
     
     
         11 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises:
 at least one water tunnel which such ball passes through while in such water.   
     
     
         12 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the hole further comprises:
 a vertical obstacle over which the water feature propels such ball.   
     
     
         13 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises:
 a trigger mechanism which actuates the water feature upon one member selected from the group consisting of: random actuation, timed actuation, actuation by entry of such ball into a first part of the water feature, actuation by entry of such player into a first part of such hole, and combinations thereof.   
     
     
         14 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises:
 a waterwheel having at least one bucket disposed so that the bucket may move to a low position in which the bucket retrieves such ball from the water feature and a high position in which the bucket releases the ball out of such water feature.   
     
     
         15 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises:
 at least one member selected from the group consisting of: buckets which periodically fill and tip over to flood the fairway, buckets which periodically fill and tip over to flood the green, buckets which periodically fill and tip over to advance the ball and combinations thereof.   
     
     
         16 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises: a mechanism which shoots the ball using water. 
     
     
         17 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , wherein the water feature further comprises: at least one water gate which has a first position in which the water gate allows water to flow through and a second position in which the water gate prevents water from flowing through. 
     
     
         18 . A miniature golf course hole for use with a golf ball during a course of play by a player putting such golf ball into a cup, the golf course hole comprising:
 a water feature which wets the player during such course of play and not after putting such golf ball into such cup.   
     
     
         19 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 18  for further use by a second player, wherein the wetting of the player during the course of play further comprises one member selected from the group consisting of: requiring the player to wade in water, triggering fountains to wet such player, triggering sprayers to wet such player, wetting such player when the player follows their ball into an area of spraying, requiring such player to pass through a waterfall, requiring such player to pass by a water feature controlled by such second player, allows such player to choose between a dry route to the green and a wet route to the green, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The miniature golf course hole of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a second water feature, such player having the choice to attempt to hit such ball into either of such water feature or such second water feature, the second water feature altering the motion of such ball in a manner different from the first water feature.