Earl Caterson Bunnell and A Better Golf Tee

 Another story from former editor Charles E. Bunnell (Charlie to his friends) recently compiled Bonnells & Bunnells of Note (And a few Burnells & Burrells for Good Measure). The complete work is available on Internet Archive at this link: Charlie Bunnell's Bonnells & Bunnells of Note 

From E-bay, I purchased a copy of the patent application for a “Golf Tee Packet and Golf Tee” invented by Earl C. Bunnell of Stratford, Connecticut. The application was filed 13 April 1926. It is clever and was to replace the little mound of clay or dirt that was being used as a tee at that time. Figure 1 shows the “tee” as it is before being “assembled. Figure 4 shows it in use after slot 19 was inserted into slot 16. Figure 6 shows how they would be sold: A packet of them with each layer containing a new tee.

This inventor appears to be Earl Caterson Bunnell, 350151 in Claude Bonnell's database. He was a draftsman and mechanical engineer. His lineage is William(1), Benjamin(2), Benjamin(3), Gershom(4), Joseph(5), James(6), Ephriam(7), William(8), Earl(9), Earl(10).

Earl, however, was/is not the only Bonnell/Bunnell inventor. John C. Bonnell submitted a patent in 1880 for a “Blank Book.” J. R. Bonnell in 1898 invented a water gun. James Bonnell in 1945 applied for a patent on the first Donald Duck and there were numerous other Bonnell/Bunnells whose patent applications can be found for sale on e-bay.