Abstract: A ball dispenser includes a dispensing rail, a magnet to temporarily awaken electronics of a golf ball from a sleep state after said golf ball has been transferred onto the dispensing rail, a wireless transceiver, a dispensing gate to dispense said golf ball, and a ball ram to discard said golf ball to prevent subsequent dispensing. A controller is configured to receive, via the wireless transceiver, an identification code and a battery-health indicator from said golf ball when said electronics is temporarily activated. In response to receiving a ball request and determining said battery-health indicator is greater than a predetermined threshold, the controller is configured to send a dispense signal to cause the dispensing gate to actuate to dispense said golf ball and subsequently send a clear signal to the ball ram to discard of any golf ball remaining on the dispensing rail.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are disclosed for a standalone and multi-game miniature golf structure. A sensor assembly located at an end of a putting surface of a putting structure includes a panel and a sensor. The panel is positioned adjacent to and below the end of the putting surface. The panel defines an upper surface along which a golf ball is to travel after dropping from the end of the putting surface. The upper surface includes a rear edge and a front edge. The sensor is positioned adjacent the panel to detect at which of a plurality of lateral positions the golf ball travels along the upper surface.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are disclosed for a standalone and multi-game miniature golf structure. A structure includes a digital display screen positioned to align vertically with a rear end of a putting surface and sensor(s) positioned below the digital display screen. The sensor(s) are configured to detect lateral positions at which balls cross the rear end. The structure includes processor(s), that for each shot of a plurality of miniature golf games, are configured to send command signals to the digital display screen to display putting target(s); identify, via the sensor(s), a lateral position at which a golf ball crosses the rear end of the putting surface; determine whether the lateral position of the golf ball aligns vertically with any of the putting target(s); and generate a score for the shot based on the lateral position of the golf ball relative to the putting target(s).