A method of preparing a field for the play of a club and ball game

Abstract

A method of preparing a field for the play of a club and ball game, including the steps of (a) defining on said field one or more playable surfaces including: (i) a tee-off area, said area determining a region where game players are permitted to commence play; (ii) a fairway at least partially bounded by one or more one or more unplayable areas; (iii) a green; and (iv) a hole opening into a playable surface of the green, wherein the hole is configured to receive a game ball therein; and (b) defining, on the one or more playable surfaces, one or more corrals, each of said corrals defining an area where game events may commence from.

1 . A method of preparing a field for a play of a club and ball game comprising the steps of:
 (a) defining on said field one or more playable surfaces including:
 (i) a tee-off area determining a region where game players are permitted to commence play; 
 (ii) a fairway at least partially bounded by one or more unplayable areas; 
 (iii) a green; and 
 (iv) a hole opening into a playable surface of the green, wherein the hole is configured to receive a game ball therein; and 
   (b) defining, on the one or more playable surfaces, one or more corrals, each of said one or more corrals defining an area where supplementary game events may commence from.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more playable surfaces include at least one of:
 a) surfaces conducive to permitting a smooth movement of the game ball across the one or more playable surfaces; or   b) grass based surfaces.   
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more unplayable surfaces include at least one of:
 a) surfaces preventing a smooth movement of the game ball across the one or more unplayable surfaces; or   b) sand and water based surfaces.   
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising, the step of defining one or more obstacles on said one or more playable surfaces, said one or more obstacles including one or more of objects, hazards and items which protrude from the field and block passage of the game ball. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the tee-off area is surrounded wholly by the one or more playable surfaces. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more corrals:
 a) include a corral surface and a standing area in which a game player and an associated game ball may occupy to validly commence a supplementary game event;   b) are positioned such as to occupy mutually exclusive areas on the one or more playable surfaces of the field; or   c) include configurable size and placement to promote variety in shots played by players of a club and ball game played on the field.   
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A field for use in a club and ball game prepared in accordance with the method of  claim 8 . 
     
     
         12 . A method for playing a club and ball game, wherein the club and ball game objectives include sinking a game ball into a hole through movement of the ball via a progressive series of shots, each shot involving contact between the ball and a club swung by a player, and wherein the game is played over one or more fields, said fields being prepared in accordance with the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein two or more competing players of the game are divided into groups, each group:
 including two or more players, where each player performs shots individually in an attempt to achieve the game objectives; and   engaging in game play on the one or more fields which is mutually exclusive to the game play of other groups.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the performance of each player within a group in achieving the game objective is quantified by a score, wherein the score of each player is calculated substantially according to the rules of golf, and wherein the calculation of the score of a player involves assigning a handicap to the player, said handicap applied to adjust the score according to the player's proficiency at the game. 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the score of a player is determined, at least partially, by a ranking game event, said ranking game event involving the player moving the ball from one of the corrals on to the field in one or more shots. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein one or more players are eliminated from a group based on a determination of the score of each player in the group resulting from play on a marked field, wherein the one or more players eliminated from the group are determined by an elimination game event, said elimination game event involving the commencement of play by one or more players at a corral, the corral used for the commencement of game play is selected by one of the players in contention for elimination, and wherein the one or more players eliminated is determined based on the elimination score of one or more players participating in the elimination game event. 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the elimination game event involves each participating player moving the ball from the commencement corral on to the field in one or more shots and wherein the elimination score is determined by the distance from a player's ball to the hole after a shot taken by a player during the elimination game event. 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 23 , wherein elimination of one or more players in a group is performed iteratively over one or more rounds, wherein each round is played on a different field, said field constant for a given round across game groups. 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein, for a given field associated with the club and ball game, use of a corral in the elimination event played by a first group precludes the use of that corral by any other subsequent group, and wherein the game is organized in stages, each stage involving:
 a commencement phase, where active players are organised into groups for play over one or more rounds;   a play phase, where each group of players progressively play through a series of one or more rounds to determine subsets of active players within the group; and   a completion phase, where only one player remains active within each determined group as a result of the play phase, wherein the game proceeds in successive stages until only one player is active, and said player declared as the game winner.   
     
     
         28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . A system for representing a state of play of a club and ball game wherein the game is played over one or more fields, said fields being prepared in accordance with the method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 an analysis component, configured to produce an indication of the state of play of the game based on game information; and   a broadcast component, configured to generate one or more game state presentation signals based on the determined state of play of the game, said signals interpretable to produce a representation of the game state, and where said representation enables a spectator of the game to ascertain the game state.   
     
     
         31 . A method including the step of marking, on a golf course field including a hole, one or more supplementary areas that determine where players are permitted to perform supplementary shots towards the hole after playing the hole. 
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 31 , including marking
 a) the one or more supplementary areas to be mutually exclusive areas on the one or more playable surfaces of the field; or   b) a plurality of the supplementary areas in respective positions such as to promote variety in the supplementary shots of players of a game played on the field.   
     
     
         33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . The method according to  claim 32 , wherein the players perform a pre-defined number of the supplementary shots and wherein ball-to-hole distances from the supplementary shots are used to rank the players. 
     
     
         35 . (canceled) 
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein the ball-to-hole distances from the supplementary shots are used to eliminate one or more players from the game.