Golf handicap system and methods - Patent Review 6074312

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing golf information, comprising:

providing a card having golfer information relating to a particular golfer including posted scores used in the calculation of a current handicap index;

providing a local processing unit having calculation information for calculating an updated handicap index, wherein the calculation information includes slope and course rating information for a plurality of golf courses, including golf courses remotely located from the local processing unit;

transferring the golfer information from the card to the local processing unit;

entering a score for a completed round of golf into the local processing unit along with an indication of a golf course where the score was obtained; and

computing with the local processing unit an updated handicap index based at least in part on the entered score and the slope and course rating associated with the golf course.

2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising updating the card with the updated handicap index by printing the updated handicap index on the card.

3. A method as in claim 2, further comprising updating the card with the entered score.

4. A method as in claim 1, further comprising indicating whether the updated index includes the entered score.

5. A method as in claim 1, further comprising electronically transferring the entered score to another processing unit over a computer network.

6. A method as in claim 5, wherein the other processing unit is a national processing unit which receives updates from a plurality of local processing units.

7. A method as in claim 5, wherein the other processing unit is another local processing unit at the golfer's local golf club.

8. A method as in claim 5, wherein the entered score is transferred to the other processing unit over the Internet.

9. A method as in claim 1, wherein the local processing unit includes a display screen, and further comprising scrolling a list of golfers scores across the display screen.

10. A method as in claim 9, wherein the golfers scores being scrolled are for golfers playing that day.

11. A method as in claim 1, further comprising entering check-in information into the local processing unit indicating a round of golf is to be played.

12. A method as in claim 11, further comprising producing a flag if a score is not entered subsequent to the entry of the check-in information.

13. A method as in claim 1, further comprising periodically updating the local processing unit with course rating information for said plurality of golf courses.

14. A method as in claim 13, wherein the local processing unit is updated from an administrative processing unit.

15. A method as in claim 1, wherein the card includes credit information relating to a credit organization and includes a memory device for storing the golfer information, and further comprising making a credit purchase with the card.

16. A method as in claim 1, further comprising selecting from the local processing unit whether the course played is a home or an away course.

17. A method as in claim 16, further comprising selecting the away course from a list of courses stored in the local processing unit if the course played is an away course.

18. A method for processing golf information, the method comprising:

providing a card having golfer information relating to a particular golfer including posted scores used in the calculation of a current handicap index;

providing a local processing unit having calculation information for calculating an updated handicap index;

transferring the golfer information from the card to the local processing unit;

entering a score for a completed round of golf into the local processing unit;

computing with the local processing unit an updated handicap index based at least in part on the entered score; and

automatically displaying a previously posted score for at least one other golfer on a display screen of the local processing unit, wherein the previously posted score is for a golfer who played a last round of golf with the golfer presently entering the score.

19. A method as in claim 18, wherein the displaying step comprises scrolling the golf score across the display screen.

20. A method as in claim 18, wherein the local processing unit is associated with a golf club having a plurality of members, and further comprising displaying at least some of the member's previously posted scores.

21. A method as in claim 20, further comprising displaying the current handicap index for at least some of the members of the club.

22. A method as in claim 18, further comprising selecting an entry screen to enter the score, and further comprising displaying posted scores for a group of players who played a last round with the entering golfer upon selection of the entry screen.

23. A method for monitoring a golf handicap index system, comprising:

providing a card having golfer information relating to a particular golfer including posted scores used in the calculation of a current handicap index;

providing a local processing unit having calculation information for calculating an updated handicap index;

entering check-in information into the local processing unit prior to playing a round of golf; and

producing a record of non-entry if the golfer fails to enter a score into the local processing unit after playing the round of golf; and

producing with the local processing unit a score for the unentered round and computing with the local processing unit an updated handicap index based at least in part on the produced score.

24. A method as in claim 23, wherein the produced score comprises the lowest score of the golfer's last twenty scores.

25. A golf handicap apparatus, comprising:

at least one local processing unit that is associated with a home golf course, the processing unit having a display screen, calculation information for calculating an updated handicap index, a database having a list of plurality of away golf courses, and code to display the list of away golf courses on the display screen, wherein the database further includes slope and course rating information for the home golf course and the away golf courses;

at least one handicap card having golfer information relating to a particular golfer including posted scores used in the calculation of a current handicap index;

wherein the local processing unit includes a reader and a writer to allow the golfer information to be read from the card and an updated index to be recorded on the card, and wherein the local processing unit further includes an entry device to allow golf scores to be entered into the local processing unit and to indicate if an entered score is for the home golf course or one of the away golf courses, and wherein the local processing unit includes code to calculate an updated index based on the entered score and the slope and course rating for the golf course where the entered score was obtained.

26. An apparatus as in claim 25, further comprising a plurality of local processing units which are interconnectable to transfer scores and indexes between selective local processing units.

27. An apparatus as in claim 26, further comprising a national processing unit which is interconnectable with the local processing units, the national processing unit having a database for storing the handicap indexes and posted scores from each of the local processing units.

28. An apparatus as in claim 26, further comprising a plurality of state processing units which are interconnectable with at least some of the local processing units, the state processing units each having a database for storing the handicap indexes and posted scores from at least some of the local processing units.

29. An apparatus as in claim 26, further comprising an administrative processing unit which is interconnectable with the local processing units, the administrative processing unit having a database with current course rating information which may be transmitted to each of the local processing units.

30. An apparatus as in claim 25, wherein each local processing unit includes said list of a plurality of away golf courses and are configured to display the list of golf courses to allow a golfer to select one of the courses from the list.

31. An apparatus as in claim 27, wherein each local processing unit includes a database which stores course rating information for the plurality of golf courses.

32. An apparatus as in claim 25, wherein the display screen includes a region for scrolling scores of golfers.

33. An apparatus as in claim 25, wherein the handicap card comprises a credit card having information relating to a credit organization and a memory device for storing the golfer information.

34. An apparatus as in claim 33, wherein handicap card further includes a microprocessor.

35. An apparatus as in claim 25, wherein the golfer information includes a list of previously posted scores, and wherein the writer is configured to update the card with a score entered into the local processing unit.

36. An apparatus as in claim 25, wherein the local processing unit is configured to produce a display indicating whether the updated index includes the entered score.

37. An apparatus as in claim 25, wherein the local processing unit is configured to produce a check-in display to allow a golfer to enter check-in information into the local processing unit indicating a round of golf is to be played.

38. A apparatus as in claim 37, wherein the local processing unit is configured to produce a record of non-entry if a score is not entered subsequent to the entry of the check-in information.

39. A golf handicap apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of local processing units which are interconnectable with each other, wherein each local processing unit includes calculation information for calculating an updated handicap index; and

at least one handicap card having golfer information relating to a particular golfer including posted scores used in the calculation of a current handicap index;

wherein each local processing unit includes a reader and a writer to allow the golfer information to be read from the card and an updated index to be recorded on the card, wherein each local processing unit further includes an entry device to allow golf scores to be entered into the local processing units and updated indexes to be calculated at the local processing units, wherein each local processing unit is associated with a golf course, and wherein each local processing unit has a database that includes slope and course rating information for all of the other local processing units.

40. An apparatus as in claim 39, wherein the local processing units are interconnectable through the Internet.

41. An apparatus as in claim 39, further comprising a national processing unit which is interconnectable with the local processing units, the central processing unit having a database for storing handicap indexes transferred from each of the local processing units.

42. A golf handicap apparatus, comprising:

at least one handicap card having stored thereon golfer information relating to a particular golfer including posted scores used in the calculation of a current handicap index, and a rewritable medium to permit the current handicap index to be written on the medium in a rewritable format to permit visual display of the current handicap index;

at least one local processing unit having calculation information for calculating an updated handicap index and an entry device to allow golf scores to be entered into the local processing unit and updated indexes to be calculated;

a reader coupled to the local processing unit to read the golfer information from the handicap card; and

a writing device coupled to the local processing unit to write the updated handicap index on the rewritable medium of the card in a rewritable format such that when a new handicap index is calculated, the new handicap index may be written on the rewritable medium in place of the previous handicap index.

43. An apparatus as in claim 42, wherein the local p