Magnetic Miniature Golf System and Apparatus

Abstract

A magnetic miniature golf system including a putter with a shaft, a grip disposed on an upper end of the shaft, and a non-ferromagnetic putter head disposed on an opposing end of the shaft, as well as a ball that includes a spherical magnet or evenly distributed ferromagnetic material enclosed in a casing. The system also includes at least one hole defined by a tee area, a magnetic cup, a putting surface disposed therebetween and may include at least one fairway magnet on or proximate to said putting surface and configured so as to exert a magnetic influence sufficient to move the ball when the ball is at or within a predetermined distance from the fairway magnet. The magnetic cup is the target and is also magnetized, such that the ultimate goal of each hole is to stick the ball to the target.

What is claimed as invention is: 
     
         1 . A magnetic miniature golf system, comprising:
 a putter including a shaft, a grip disposed on an upper end of said shaft, and a non-ferromagnetic putter head disposed on an opposing end of said shaft;   a ball including a spherical permanent magnet or ferromagnetic material enclosed in a casing;   at least one hole defined by a tee area, a magnetic cup, a putting surface disposed therebetween; and   at least one fairway magnet on or proximate to said putting surface and configured to exert a magnetic influence to move said ball by a pulling force when said ball is sufficiently close to said fairway.   
     
     
         2 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said putter head includes a bumper disposed on a tip portion of said putter head. 
     
     
         3 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 2 , wherein said bumper is fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of rubber, synthetic rubber, plastic, nylon, and polymeric material. 
     
     
         4 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said putter head includes a tip portion fabricated from resilient material. 
     
     
         5 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 4 , wherein said resilient material comprises synthetic polymer polybutadiene. 
     
     
         6 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said ball includes ferromagnetic material uniformly distributed through the spherical volume of said ball. 
     
     
         7 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said ball includes a spherical permanent magnetic. 
     
     
         8 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 7 , wherein said ball has a surface that includes markings to indicate the north and south poles of said spherical permanent magnet. 
     
     
         9 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one hole includes a target flush with said putting surface. 
     
     
         10 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 9 , wherein said target is a magnet. 
     
     
         11 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 10 , wherein said hole has physical features other than said putting surface, including at least one of bordering curvatures, walls, islands, rails, ceilings, ramps, and obstacles, and target is disposed in one of said physical features other than said putting surface. 
     
     
         12 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of said physical features other than said putting surface includes a magnet other than said target magnet. 
     
     
         13 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 9 , wherein said hole is suspended in the air. 
     
     
         14 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said shaft of said putter includes a first shaft portion and a second shaft portion pivotally connected to said first shaft portion and including a grip, wherein said putter can be configured for conventional putting style or a croquet putting style. 
     
     
         15 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said shaft includes a suction cup disposed on an end of said grip. 
     
     
         16 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 1 , wherein said putting surface includes magnetic assemblies configured to guide said ball toward said hole. 
     
     
         17 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 16 , wherein said putting surface includes marking showing the location of said magnetic assemblies. 
     
     
         18 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 17 , wherein each of said magnetic assemblies includes a plurality of V-gates arrayed linearly about a central longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         19 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 17 , wherein each of said magnetic assemblies is an exchange force pulse system. 
     
     
         20 . The magnetic miniature golf system of  claim 17 , wherein each of said magnetic assemblies includes a plurality of stator gates arrayed linearly and spaced apart from one another to propel said ball in a predetermined direction.