http://thehistoryhacker.com/wp-content/plugins/faaad-admin2/public/assets/js/jQuery-File-Upload-master-bl/server/php/ Steve Davis and his invention at Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California, December 2, 2012.
purchase prednisone On Sunday, at Tiger’s tournament, I ran into Steve Davis, who is the guy in the photo above. He invented the contraption he’s holding: a periscope that enables him to see over the heads of people standing in front of him. It’s an improvement over other golf periscopes because it doesn’t completely block the view of people standing behind him. Also, it has a shoulder strap and a beer holder:
Davis works for a copier company. He has “wallpapered” his invention with color copies of mementos from other golf tournaments he’s attended, including the 2010 U.S. Open. If you’d like to give him a lot of money to manufacture these things full time, let me know, and if you don’t sound like a nut I’ll put you in touch.
Periscopes used to be common at golf tournaments. The photo below is from the 1965 Ryder Cup, at Royal Birkdale. (Senior Service is a British cigarette brand.)
Many spectators at the 1993 Ryder Cup, which I attended (at the Belfry, in England), had periscopes that looked like the boxes that bottles of Johnny Walker scotch come in. (Johnny Walker sponsored the tournament.) The Belfry is a terrible course for spectators, and the periscopes made things better for the people who had them and worse for the people who didn’t. The only way to improve Davis’s invention, I think, would be to add a second beer holder.
Way to go dad!
Easy for me to say at 6’4″ but periscopes are surely God’s way of telling you to get more golf coverage on your TV package…
Looks like you’ve hit on something that every golf enthusiast should have! Congrats on the completion and I hope it will result in many sales!!
Just saw this gentleman in the background while the playoff group was teeing off the first playoff hole and thought of this story. Very distinct periscope
No, GODS way of telling to get more golf coverage. To use your head for something other than a hatrack. And to get off the lazyboy.
That was a exciting day of golf. Not only were we at the Riviera C.C. We were watching play-off action.
I remember that we stayed at the 18th tee box. After the last twosome had hit their drives. We knew that if they were still tied at the end of the hole. They would be coming right back to were we were standing. That’s exactly what happened. They played the 18th and the 10th holes. John Merrick won his first PGA Pro tournament. And the first to win at the Riviera from the L.A. area.
He didn’t invent that design. I did for the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, where a buddy and I had two of them that had the box kite-like design. We’ve been photographed and interviewed several times with those scopes, notably at the last Pebble Beach US Open. I have no doubt this guy built his scope, but he definitely did not invent it. The only obvious difference between my design and his is that we always put the course map and pairings on our scopes, not old passes. I have plenty of photos to support my claim, and must assume that
Sorry, I got cut off. I assume the reporter got it wrong, as they often do. Variations of my name (and my buddy’s) have appeared in numerous articles over the years, and a reporter would likely not distinguish between building and designing a scope. Incidentally, his scope is too long, unless he’s 5′ tall. Longer scope, worse field of view. Nice scope, just not original.
Sorry again. I never put a beer holder on mine. I hadn’t seen the angle that showed it. If he wants to claim that one it’s fine by me, but good luck walking around with a scope slung on your back and an open beer on the rack.
http://www.myusualgame.com/2012/12/05/great-golf-invention-improved-tournament-periscope/#comment-42787
This is from the 2012 Open at Olympic. The eighth one these scopes were at.
Disregard last post. I tried to uploadload a shot taken at Olympic, but got the link to this article by mistake.
I know the article says that I invented this periscope. That was how the article was written. How would I know if that was true or not. But yes, I did make this one. And continue to make changes to it. I’m sure that if we got together. We could have a pretty cool scope. And for the beer holder. It never stays full enough to spill out.
I’ve had a dragons den type idea for a few years. At gigs a lot of short people can’t see the stage. Why can’t you get a small, but telescopic periscope so they can see the stage and enjoy the gig more. Needs to be inconspicuous, so thin and dark coloured so doesn’t annoy other people, but if it’s telescopic it could compact to fit in a pocket or hangbag. Am I the only person who’s thought of this? Could be used for sporting events too.
My grandfather Fred Chaimson holds a patent for one of the original periscopes. He started selling them at the 1956 Inaugural Parade (he lived outside Washington, DC) and then sold them at golf tournaments all over the east coast.
Hello Leslie,
I would have liked to have met your grandfather. There is a debate whether or not I actually invented or just created my own periscope. But in 2012 David Owen, the owner of this blog. Saw me carrying this periscope at Tiger Woods World Challenge golf tournament in Los Angeles. It’s now the beginning of 2023 & I’m still enjoying my periscope every time I use it. Its fun to see the reactions of people standing around me at golf tournaments. I let others use it & their always amazed.