WO2002041956A1

WO2002041956A1 - Tiltable golf platform

Info

Publication number: WO2002041956A1
Application number: PCT/GB2001/005115
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruce Gordon Imrie Hutchon; David James Hamilton
Original assignee: Tilting Tees Limited
Priority date: 2000-11-22
Filing date: 2001-11-21
Publication date: 2002-05-30
Also published as: GB2387551B; GB2387551A; AU2002223078A1; US20040110570A1; GB0314281D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a tiltable tee apparatus suitable for use in practising golf driving. The apparatus comprises a ground support, and a tee platform rotatably mounted on the ground support. The tee platform comprises a base portion and a playing surface panel hingedly connected at a first edge portion to a corresponding edge portion of the base portion. The playing surface panel is supported at a jack support portion remote from the first edge portion on an upper end of at least one screw jack pivotally connected thereto. At least one screw jack has its lower end pivotally connected to the base portion. One of the ground support and the tee platform base portion as a fixed spur gear secured thereto in a substantially horizontal plane on the rotational axis of the rotatable tee platform, and the other has mounted thereon a drive motor with an elongate toothed drive output transmission member for driving engagement with the spur gear so as to rotate the tee platform in use of the apparatus. In use of the apparatus the tee platform may be tilted throughout a range of slope angles and slope directions by operation of the screw Jack and the tee platform rotation drive motor.

Description

TILTABLE GOLF PLATFORM

The present invention relates to a tiltable tee apparatus suitable for use in practising golf driving.

The development of playing skill in the game of golf generally requires more or less extensive practice on a driving range. Conventional driving ranges are, however, substantially limited in their practical usefulness and relevance to realistic playing conditions in that they only simulate a level lie, whereas in reality the player will normally encounter a wide variety of lies with diverse slope angles and directions .

The benefits of a tiltable tee and/or rotatable tee for use in practising golf driving have been recognised for many years and indeed the prior art is replete with all manner of different designs with varying degrees of complexity and emphasis on this or that feature. To date, though, one particularly important issue has not been properly addressed, which is that of providing stability using an economic and reliable form of construction. It will be appreciated that the relatively rapid movements and strong forces utilised in a golf swing impose considerable stresses of all kinds on a platform, and it is particularly important both for the integrity of the apparatus and for the avoidance of disturbing the player's equilibrium and concentration, that the tee platform should be as stable as possible.

Previous attempts have utilised inter alia simple hydraulic jacks which are prone to leakage and creep or even catastrophic failure and collapse of the platform, and more complex and relatively expensive systems with various linkages and/or specially manufactured high tolerance components which may be subject to wear, jamming etc. It is an object of the present invention to avoid or minimise one or more of the above disadvantages.

The present invention provides a tiltable tee apparatus suitable for use in practising golf driving and comprising a ground support, and a tee platform rotatably mounted on said ground support, said tee platform comprising a base portion and a playing surface panel hingedly connected at. a first edge portion to a corresponding edge portion of said base portion, said playing surface panel being supported at a jack support portion remote from said first edge portion on an upper end of at least one screw jack pivotally connected thereto, said at least one screw jack having its lower end pivotally connected to said base portion, one of said ground support and tee platform base portion having a fixed spur gear secured thereto in a substantially horizontal plane on the rotational axis of said rotable tee platform, and the other having mounted thereon a drive motor with an elongate toothed drive output transmission member for driving engagement with said spur gear so as to rotate said tee platform in use of the apparatus, whereby in use of the apparatus said tee platform may be tilted throughout a range of slope angles and slope directions by operation of said at least one screw jack and said tee platform rotation drive motor.

Various forms of elongate toothed drive output transmission member may be used which provide substantial resistance to any unintentional movement of the rotatable tee platform when the drive transmission member is not being driven. Thus, for example, there may be used a worm screw rotated by the motor directly, or preferably via a suitable reduction gear system. Advantageously though there is used an elongate rack member driven by a screw jack or the like operated by said drive motor.

With an apparatus of the present invention the rotation and tilting of the tee platform can readily be controlled in a substantially precise manner with minimal play. Further more, the use of a screw jack mechanism provides for a fail safe and positive maintenance of a desired slope in a particularly simple and effective manner without the need for any additional braking or locking mechanisms, and with a playing surface panel hingedly connected at one edge to the base portion, the stability of the tee platform is further increased in a particular simple and economic manner.

Various kinds of screw jack device may be used in the apparatus of the present invention, including, for example so- called scissor jacks. Preferably though there is used a telescopic screw jack which generally comprises an elongate housing portion with a captive nut through which an elongate screw is secured into and out of the housing portion for telescoping therewith. Advantageously the screw jack is driven by a motor, usually an electric motor, preferably via a reduction gear-box. Similarly the motor used to rotate the tee platform is also usually electric and preferably provide with a reduction gear box in order to limit the speed of movement of the tee platform and improve control thereof.

Advantageously, the stability of the tee platform, may be yet further increased-against any possible pitching on its rotatable mount by an annular bearing support extending radially outwardly of the rotatable mount. Any suitable form of bearing support may be used including, for example, a multiplicity of angularly distributed roller bearings. In order to increase further the stability of the tee platform against any rotational displacement thereof in reaction to the swing of a golfer standing on the tee platform in use thereof, there is advantageously provided a locking device which is engagable, preferably automatically engagable, after the tee platform has been rotated to a desired position. Conveniently there is provided a locking device configured to be normally locked, being unlocked upon activation of the tee platform rotating drive motor, and re-locked upon deactivation of the drive motor. One particularly suitable form of locking device comprises a plurality of angularly distributed electromagnet units with axially displaceable elements with end portions which function as brake pad elements extending into braking engagement with a disk brake type plate when the electromagnets are powered up, and returning to a retracted position when the electromagnets are powered down.

The playing surface panel is generally provided with an artificial turf synthetic matting simulating grass for supporting the ball on, and advantageously the matting has an outer annular zone with shorter turf for simulating fairway, an inner annular zone with longer turf for simulating rough, and a central zone having a non-slip surface for supporting a player thereon, typically of a natural or synthetic rubber material, or other polymeric material having a surface adapted to provide good friction. If desired the material could have a limited degree of resilience. Advantageously the material is configured or formulated so as to shed water to avoid compromising its non-slip properties.

It is generally preferred, that the top surface of the matting should be substantially level in order to provide the player with a more natural looking playing surface. In this case different turf lengths for the different zones, can be provided by using a stepped substrate into which the artificial turf fibres are anchored. A suitable turf length for the outer "fairway grass" ball support zone would generally be in the range from 5 to 15 mm, for example, about 12 mm, and for the inner ball "rough grass" support zone generally in the range from 20 to 40 mm, for example, about 25 mm. If desired, the effective turf height can be varied when required by the simple expedient of sprinkling a layer of sand or other like particulate material onto the substrate between the turf fibres. The sand is retained by the fibres when the tee platform is tilted, and can be removed when no longer needed by a vacuum cleaner apparatus . Typically the central player support zone would have a diameter of the order of 1000 mm to 1300 mm, whilst the annular "fairway" and "rough" zones would each have a radial depth or width of around 125 to 250 mm, for example about 200 mm.

It will be appreciated that, for particularly steep lies, even the longer turf may be insufficient to retain the ball in position and the platform is advantageously provided with a flexible tubular tee generally of the kind used in driving ranges, but with an angled top end. The tubular tee is desirably mounted in a suitable recess in the platform substrate so as to be rotatable so that when the platform is tilted, the tubular tee can be rotated so that the angle of its top end relative to the horizontal is minimised thereby better to support the ball.

The tiltable tee apparatus of the present invention can be used for various purposes and in various ways in order to, for example, enhance and/or make more enjoyable golf driving practice or to enhance golf playing simulators . Thus the tiltable tee apparatus of the invention may be used in combination with a golf driving monitoring system such as one or more of a target screen with impact sensors, ball flight sensors, club swing sensors, etc, which system provides a readout of one or more self drive parameters selected from length, deviation, off-line, elevation, etc. Advantageously the apparatus may be coupled to the golf driving monitoring system so as to additionally provide a readout of one or more lie parameters selected from slope angle and slope direction of the tee platform playing surface, the apparatus being provided with suitable sensors to indicate the inclination of the playing surface panel and the orientation of the tee platform (with reference to the tilting axis of the playing surface) . Alternatively, a control device for the tiltable tee apparatus could be incorporated into the golf drive monitoring system so that the slope angle and slope direction of the apparatus could be controlled from said monitoring system, with greater or lesser degrees of user control. Thus, for example, the lie parameters could be exclusively selectable by the user, or the system could provide a preprogrammed sequence of different lies.

The tiltable tee apparatus may also be operatively coupled to a conventional golf playing simulator so as to provide an enhanced golf playing experience.

In general, golf simulators comprise a launch area facing a screen at which the ball is driven and which is used to display an image of part of a golf course; sensor devices formed and arranged for detecting at least one of: the impact of a golf ball on the screen, the flight of the ball towards said screen, and the trajectory of the golf club head during the golf club swing; and a computer apparatus operatively connected to said sensor devices and programmed so as to control display of part of a golf course on said screen, based on the topography of the golf course, and the position of the launch area in relation to said golf course, and compute an estimated trajectory of the ball on the basis of the inputs received from said sensor devices, compute the projected position of the ball on the screen image based on the estimated trajectory and the ball landing zone topography, and control said display on the screen so as to display the projected position of the ball on the screen image. One suitable type of golf simulator is described in US Patent 5,846,139.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, such a golf simulator is provided with a tiltable tee apparatus of the present invention, provided with control signal receiving inputs for a tee platform tilting device motor and the tee platform rotation drive motor, for tilting and rotation of the tee platform respectively, towards required slope angle and slope direction or orientation values, said control signal receiving inputs being operatively connected to the computer of said golf simulator so that the slope and slope direction of the tee platform may be adjusted under the control of the computer so as to be brought into correspondence with the slope angle and slope direction values at the estimated position of the ball as defined by the ball landing zone topography.

It will be appreciated that the computer can be used to control the tee platform in various ways . Thus on the one hand there may be used drive motors such as stepper motors which are drivable between positions with fixed predetermined relationships to given reference positions so that a control signal from the computer to achieve a desired slope angle and/or slope direction is executable directly. On the other hand there may be used a feedback system with slope angle and slope direction sensing devices provided on the tiltable tee platform and having outputs for slope angle and slope direction signals, respectively; and a tee platform tilting device motor and the tee platform rotation drive motor, for tilting and rotation of the tee platform respectively, towards required slope angle and slope direction values.

Various suitable angular displacement sensors may be used for the slope angle and slope direction (orientation) sensing devices, and include resistive or capacitative sensors, optical sensors, LVDT sensors, etc. It will of course be appreciated that similar or different kinds of sensor may be used for the slope angle and slope direction sensing devices.

Thus in accordance with one preferred aspect of the present invention, a tiltable tee apparatus of the present invention is provided with: a slope sensing device and slope direction sensing device having outputs for slope angle and slope direction signals, respectively; and control signal receiving inputs for a tee platform tilting drive motor and the tee platform rotation drive motor, for tilting and rotation of the tee platform, respectively, towards required slope angle and slope direction values; said slope and slope direction sensing devices and said slope and slope direction control signal inputs of said apparatus being operatively connected to the computer of a said golf simulator so that the slope and slope direction of the tee platform may be compared by said computer with the slope and slope direction of the golf course, at the estimated position of the ball in the ball landing zone, and the computer generate control signals for tilting and rotation of the tee platform so as to bring the slope and slope direction of the tee platform into correspondence with the slope angle and slope direction values of said estimated position. It will be appreciated that in use of the above apparatus, the tee platform would normally start in a neutral or zeroed configuration with zero slope corresponding to a flat tee-off launch area. After each drive has been completed the tee platform slope and slope direction is then adjusted via the simulator computer so as to bring it into correspondence with the slope and slope direction values at the estimated position of the ball after that drive, so that the launch area is reconfigured into a realistic lie dependent on the drive actually executed by the user.

Further preferred features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a partly cutaway side elevation of one embodiment of a tiltable tee apparatus of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 with the playing surface panel removed;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view of part of the drive mechanism for rotating the tiltable platform;

Fig. 4 is a partly sectioned plan view of the mechanism of

Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through part of the playing surface panel;

Fig. 6 is a partly cutaway side elevation of a further embodiment of a tiltable tee apparatus;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 6 with the playing surface panel indicated in chain-line and part of the tee platform cutaway to show part of the ground support.

Fig. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a golf simulator provided with a tiltable tee apparatus of the invention; Fig. 9 is a block diagram indicating the principal components of the simulator of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a flow diagram indicating the operation of the simulator of Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 1 shows a tiltable tee apparatus 1 of the invention comprising a base plate ground support 2 and a tee platform 3 rotatably mounted 4 on said ground support 2. The tee platform 3 comprises a base portion 5 and a playing surface panel 6 hingedly connected 7 at a first edge portion 8 to a corresponding edge portion 9 of the base portion 5.

The playing surface panel 6 is supported at a jack support portion 10 remote from said first edge portion 8 on the upper ends 11 of two spaced apart screw jacks 12 pivotally connected 13 thereto. The screw jacks 12 have their lower ends 14 pivotally connected 15 to the base portion 5. As shown in more detail in Figs. 3 and 4, the base plate 2 has a fixed spur gear 16 secured 17 thereto in a substantially horizontal plane on the rotational axis x-x of the rotatable tee platform 3, and the tee platform base portion 5 has a drive motor 18 driving a (further) screw jack 19 which has projecting axially from its extending portion 20 an elongate rack drive transmission member 21 for driving engagement 22 with the spur gear 16 so as to rotate the tee platform 3 in use of the apparatus 1.

The screw jacks 12 are mounted on a small support frame 23 on which is also provided a drive motor 24 fitted with a reduction gearbox 25 which has output drive shafts 26 at each end 27, 28 connected to respective ones of the screw jacks 12.

A control box 29 is mounted on the base portion 5 of the tee platform 3 and contains a configurable logic unit 30 which is used to control operation of the drive motors 18, 24, in response to commands from a detachable user control key pad 31 for rotating the tee platform 3 in either direction or raising and lowering it subject to the operation of contact limit switches 32a, 32b provided on the platform base portion 5 by the pivotally connected lower end 14 of one of the elevating screw jacks 12 and under one of the playing surface panel jack support portions 10, for defining maximum and minimum inclination (for example 30° and 0°) , respectively and contact limit switches 33a, 33b on the tee platform base portion 5 for maximum and minimum permitted extension of the rack drive transmission member 21 corresponding to platform rotation limits (usually 0° and 360°) . A contact limit switch 34 is also provided on the hinge 7 under part of the hinge pin which is depressed in use of the apparatus by the weight of player standing on the tee platform 3 , for the purposes of disabling the motors to prevent movement of the tee platform 3 when a user is stood on it. The tee platform base portion 5 is provided with a connector 35 for. the lead 36 of the user control key pad 31 and a connector 37 for a detachable power supply 38 which is conveniently in the form of a rechargable battery pack. An externally accessible fuse box 39 is provided next to the connectors 35, 37.

In order to protect the working parts of the apparatus against weather and ingress of foreign bodies, and protect users from inadvertently trapping anything between the moving parts of the tee platform 3 , the latter is provided with an annular concertina skirt 40 which readily extends and collapses as the playing surface panel 6 is raised and lowered.

As shown in Fig. 5, the playing surface panel 6 comprises a wooden tray 41 in which is disposed artificial turf matting 42 comprising a substrate 43 in which are anchored plastic filaments 44 simulating grass. As may be seen from the drawing, an annular outer zone 45 has a deeper substrate 43 and shorter turf filaments 44 for simulating a "fairway", while an inner annular zone 47 has a shallower substrate 43 and longer turf filaments 44 for simulating "rough" . The matting can generally provide support to a golf ball 48 and hold it against rolling out of position when the playing surface panel 6 is inclined, without the need for a tee to support the ball. Nevertheless a flexible plastic tube tee 49 could also be provided on the panel 6, especially for use with greater panel inclinations providing steeper lies. As shown in the drawing the top end 50 of the tube tee 49 is angled at about 45o while the bottom end 51 is a push-fit into a recess 52 in the substrate 43 so that its angular orientation can be adjusted so that when the playing surface panel 6 is maximally inclined, the angled top end 50 is generally horizontal for supporting a golf ball thereon. In order to reduce the^* effective depth of the turf filaments 44, some sand 53 or the like can be sprinkled onto the matting 42 to raise the surface of the substrate 43. When this is no longer required it can be removed with a vacuum suction cleaner or the like. A central zone 53 on the playing surface panel 6 is formed of textured rubber 54 to provide a non-slip surface for a user 55 to stand on.

In use of the apparatus, a user will use the key pad 31 to raise or lower the playing surface panel 6 to the required slope inclination, and then rotate it to obtain the required kind of lie e.g. uphill or downhill, leftward or rightward slope etc. The user can then place the ball in the turf matting 42 of one of the annular zones 45, 47 or on a tee 51 mounted therein and step up onto the central player support zone 53 to play his/her practice drive. Figs. 6 and 7 show the principal parts of a further embodiment generally similar to that of Figs. 1 to 5, with like reference numbers being used to indicate like parts.

In this embodiment the ground support 2 is in the form of a rectangular tubular metal frame 60 with outwardly projecting members 61 at its corners 62, the distal ends 63 of the members 61 being provided with screw adjustable 64 feet 65 to facilitate levelling of the apparatus 1.

The rotation of the tee platform 3 in this case is effected by means of an integrated drive unit 66 which includes a motor 67 driving a screw jack 68 which has an axially extending square rack 69 which engages the spur gear 16 tangentially as before. The mounting of the screw jacks 12 and associated drive motor 24, used to raise and lower the tee platform 3, have also been rearranged somewhat.

In this embodiment the ground support 2 is provided^* with an annular support ring 70 upon which rests a series of angularly distributed roller bearings 71 mounted to project from the underside 72 of the tee platform base portion 5, thereby providing additional support to the tee platform 3 to minimise pitching thereof on its rotatable mounting 4.

The support ring 70 also serves as a brake disc engagable by a pair of diametrically opposed brake pad units 73. In more detail the units 73 are in the form of electromagnet units with axially displaceable elements with end portions which function as brake pad elements extending into braking engagement with a disk brake type plate when the electromagnets are powered up, and returning to a retracted position when the electromagnets are powered down. Thus when the tee platform rotation is activated through the control unit 31, the electromagnet brake pad units 73 are powered down and disengage from the support ring 70 to allow the tee platform 3 to be freely rotated by the integrated

5 drive unit 66. When a desired orientation of the tee platform

3 has been reached, the drive unit 66 is powered down and the electromagnet brake pad units 73 simultaneously powered up again, pressing into the support ring 70 and thereby locking the tee platform 3 even more firmly against any possible

10 rotation.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, for example, instead of

15 a contact switch 31 activated by the weight of a user standing on the tee platform, there could be used a resistance switch which is triggered in response to the increased current drawn from the power supply due to the increased effort required to rotate the tee platform when someone is standing on it.

20

Fig.8 shows schematically a golf simulator 80 comprising a launch area 81 facing a screen 82 at which the ball is driven, sensor devices 83 between the launch area 81 and the screen 82 for detecting the flight of a golf ball 8 from the launch area

25 81 to the screen 82, a computer 84 and a projector 85 for projecting an image 86 of part of a golf course onto the screen 82. The sensor devices 83 each have opposed horizontal and vertical arrays of infra red radiation emitters 87 and detectors 88. (It will be appreciated that a large

30 multiplicity of these is used in order to obtain a relatively accurate ^λfix' on the ball position as it passes the sensor devices 83, but only a few are shown for clarity.) The launch area 81 is in the form of a tiltable tee apparatus such as that shown in Figs. 1-5 or Fig.6 and has its playing surface panel 89 tilted at a slope angle • to the horizontal and rotated away from the main axis 90 at a slope direction angle β.

As shown schematically in Fig.9, the tiltable tee apparatus 81 is provided with tilt angle and orientation angle sensors 91, 92, for sensing the tilt angle • and the orientation angle β of the playing surface 89 , connected 93, 94 to the computer 84 for providing corresponding output signals thereto . The tee apparatus 81 also has its tilt motor 95 and orientation motor 96 connected 97, 98 to the computer 84 for receiving control signal inputs therefrom for adjusting the tilt angle • and orientation angle β of the playing surface 89.

The ball flight sensor devices 83 are connected 99 to the computer 84 to provide ball flight data input signals thereto, and the projector 85 is connected 100 to the computer for receiving image data signals therefrom for display on the screen 82. The computer 84 is also provided with a user interface, conveniently in the form of a touch screen display 101, which can be used for inter alia resetting the simulator, entering user selections, eg, choice of golf course and/or hole to be "played" , etc .

The operation of the simulator is summarized in Fig.10, when the simulator is to be used it is initially reset, with the tee platform being levelled so that the tilt angle • and orientation angle β are both zero. The user then selects a particular course and/or particular hold which he (she) wishes to play. The computer computes the course view from the tee for the selected hole and this is then projected onto the screen by the projector. The user drives the ball towards the screen with the displayed golf course image and the flight of the ball is monitored by the sensing devices. The captured ball flight data is used by the computer to estimate the ball trajectory which is compared with the golf course topography data to estimate the ball landing position which is then displayed on the screen. The computer computes the slope angle and slope direction at the ball landing position lie from the course topographical data and compares it with the values indicated for the playing surface of the tilting tee platform by the slope angle and direction sensors, and sends control signals to the tilting and orientation drive motors as required until these values have been brought into correspondence with those at the new lie. The computer also computes the new course view from the new lie and displays it on the screen via the projector, and the player may then make his second drive whereupon the process may be repeated.

It will be appreciated that it may be preferable for safety reasons to avoid any reconfiguration of the slope angle or direction of the playing surface of the tee platform while a player is still standing on the platform. This could be conveniently effected by for example requiring the player to dismount the tee platform and enter a suitable command on the computer user interface in order to release a tee platform

Claims

1. A tiltable tee apparatus suitable for use in practising golf driving and comprising a ground support, and a tee platform rotatably mounted on said ground support, said tee platform comprising a base portion and a playing surface panel hingedly connected at a first edge portion to a corresponding edge portion of said base portion, said playing surface panel being supported at a jack support portion remote from said first edge portion on an upper end of at least one screw jack pivotally connected thereto, said at least one screw jack having its lower end pivotally connected to said base portion, one of said ground support and tee platform base portion having a fixed spur gear secured thereto in a substantially horizontal plane on the rotational axis of said rotatable tee platform, and the other having mounted thereon a drive motor with an elongate toothed drive output transmission member for driving engagement with said spur gear so as to rotate said tee platform in use of the apparatus, whereby in use of the apparatus said tee platform may be tilted throughout a range of slope angles and slope directions by operation of said at least one screw jack and said tee platform rotation drive motor.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the elongate toothed drive output transmission member comprises a worm screw rotated, in use of the apparatus, directly or indirectly, by the motor.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the elongate toothed drive output transmission member comprises an elongate rack member driven by a screw jack device operated by said drive motor.

4. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein at least one said screw jack is a scissor jack.

5. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein 5 at least one said screw jack is a telescopic screw jack.

6. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the tee platform tilting screw jack is driven by a motor.

107. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein at least one said motor is provided with a reduction gear-box.

8. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein is provided an annular bearing support extending radially

15 outwardly of the rotatable mount.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said annular bearing comprises a multiplicity of angularly distributed roller bearings .

20

10. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein is provided a locking device which is engagable after the tee platform has been rotated to a desired position.

25 11. An apparatus according to claim 10 wherein is provided a locking device configured to be normally locked, being unlocked upon activation of the tee platform rotating drive motor, and re-locked upon deactivation of the drive motor.

3012. An apparatus according to claim 10 or claim 11 wherein said locking device comprises a plurality of angularly distributed electromagnet units with axially displaceable elements with end portions which function as brake pad elements extending into braking engagement with a disk brake type plate when the electromagnets are powered up, and returning to a retracted position when the electromagnets are powered down.

5 13. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the playing surface panel is provided with an artificial turf synthetic matting simulating grass for supporting the ball on.

1014. An apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the matting has an outer annular zone with shorter turf for simulating fairway, an inner annular zone with longer turf for simulating rough, and a central zone having a non-slip surface for supporting a player thereon.

15

15. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14 which apparatus is coupled to a golf driving monitoring system so as to additionally provide a readout of one or more lie parameters selected from slope angle and slope direction of

20 the tee pϊatform playing surface, the apparatus being provided with suitable sensors to indicate the inclination of the playing surface panel and the orientation of the tee platform.

16. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14

25 coupled to a golf driving monitoring system with the control device of the tiltable tee apparatus incorporated into the golf drive monitoring system so that the slope angle and slope direction of the apparatus can be controlled from said monitoring system.

30

17. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14 when operatively coupled to a golf playing simulator so as to provide an enhanced golf playing experience.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17 wherein the golf simulator comprises a launch area facing a screen at which the ball is driven and which is used to display an image of part of a golf course; sensor devices formed and arranged for

5 detecting at least one of: the impact of a golf ball on the screen, the flight of the ball towards said screen, and the trajectory of the golf club head during the golf club swing; and a computer apparatus operatively connected to said sensor devices and programmed so as to control display of part of a

10 golf course on said screen, based on the topography of the golf course, and the position of the launch area in relation to said golf course, and compute an estimated trajectory of the ball on the basis of the inputs received from said sensor devices, compute the projected position of the ball on the

15 screen image based on the estimated trajectory and the ball landing zone topography, and control said display on the screen so as to display the projected position of the ball on the screen image .

2019. An apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the tiltable tee apparatus is provided with control signal receiving inputs for a tee platform tilting device motor and the tee platform rotation drive motor, for tilting and rotation of the tee platform respectively, towards required slope angle and slope

25 direction or orientation values, said control signal receiving inputs being operatively connected to the computer of said golf simulator so that the slope and slope direction of the tee platform may be adjusted under the control of the computer so as to be brought into correspondence with the slope angle

30 and slope direction values at the estimated position of the ball as defined by the ball landing zone topography.

20. An Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein the computer is used to control stepper drive motors which are drivable between positions with fixed predetermined relationships to given reference positions so that a control signal from the computer to achieve a desired slope angle and/or slope direction is executable directly.

5 21. An apparatus according to claims 19 wherein there is used a feedback system with slope angle and slope direction sensing devices provided on the tiltable tee platform and having outputs for slope angle and slope direction signals,

10 respectively; and a tee platform tilting device motor and the tee platform rotation drive motor, for tilting and rotation of the tee platform respectively, towards required slope angle and slope direction values .

1522. An Apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the slope angle and slope direction (orientation) sensing devices, are selected from resistive or capacitative sensors, optical sensors and LVDT sensors .

2023. A tiltable tee apparatus according to any one of claims 17 to 22 wherein is provided: a slope sensing device and slope direction sensing device having outputs for slope angle and slope direction signals, respectively; and

25 control signal receiving inputs for a tee platform tilting drive motor and the tee platform rotation drive motor, for tilting and rotation of the tee platform, respectively, towards required slope angle and slope direction values; said slope and slope direction sensing devices and said slope and

30 slope direction control signal inputs of said apparatus being operatively connected to the computer of a said golf simulator so that the slope and slope direction of the tee platform may be compared by said computer with the slope and slope direction of the golf course, at the estimated position of the ball in the ball landing zone, and the computer generate control signals for tilting and rotation of the tee platform so as to bring the slope and slope direction of the tee platform into correspondence with the slope angle and slope direction values of said estimated position.