Meet Dr. George Grant – The Inventor of the Wooden Golf Tee
Before Dr. George Grant’s invention in 1899, golfers had to create small mounds of sand to tee up their golf balls. The process was messy and inconvenient. As an avid golfer, Grant sought a better solution.
Grant’s Background as a Pioneering Black Dentist
Grant was born in 1847 to former slaves in Oswego, New York. Defying racial barriers, he graduated from Harvard Dental School and became one of the first Black dentists in the country.
Grant was renowned for repairing cleft palates and served as Harvard’s first African American professor. He later opened his own successful Boston dental practice.
Frustrations With Sand Tees Lead to Invention
Though dentistry was his profession, golf was Grant’s passion. The tedious process of shaping sandy tees by hand motivated Grant to develop a better alternative.
Leveraging his inventiveness, Grant carved a wooden peg with a concave top to cradle the ball. This allowed golfers to easily insert tees into the ground for a clean strike.
Patenting the First Golf Tee in 1899
On December 12, 1899, Grant obtained the first golf tee patent – U.S. Patent No. 638,920. However, as an inventor rather than businessman, he did not profit from his creation.
Grant made prototypes for personal use and gifted them to friends. Though revolutionary, his tee design did not achieve mass popularity at the time.
Posthumous Recognition
After Grant’s death in 1910, New Jersey dentist William Lowell independently developed the successful Reddy Tee using rubber and birch. The USGA recognized Grant as the original golf tee inventor in 1991.
So next time you tee up your ball, spare a thought for the forward-thinking Black dentist who made it possible! Dr. George Grant’s ingenuity truly changed the game of golf.
