This Day in Golf--Dec. 12

As every golfer knows, it's the littlest things that can make a big difference. One of the littlest things is the golf tee. On this date in 1899, the patent for a wooden golf tee was issued to Boston dentist George Franklin Grant, the first African-American professor at Harvard. Originally from Oswego, N.Y., Grant had submitted his patent on July 1, 1899, and received patent No. 638,920 when issued. Up to that point, golfers had elevated their golf ball on a cone-shaped mound of sand that had to be formed prior to each tee shot.