William Lowell, Sr.

William Lowell Sr. (1863 – June 24, 1954) was a dentist and an inventor of a wooden golf tee.

Biography William Lowell was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and lived in Maplewood, New Jersey, and had a son, William Lowell Jr. (1897–1976). He initially made 5,000 tees, that were stained green, but he soon changed to red, to make them more distinctive and named them "Reddy Tees". In 1922 Walter Hagen and Joe Kirkwood Sr. used his tees during their exhibitions. The Reddy Tee was patented on May 13, 1925, but in 1922 he signed a deal with the A.G. Spalding Company, for 24 dozen. By 1925 he was selling $100,000 worth of tees and they were being made of celluloid. By 1926 copycat versions were on the market, and he spent much of his time and money fighting patent infringement.

He died at Orange Memorial Hospital in East Orange, New Jersey, on June 24, 1954, at the age of 91.

Patents golf tee filed December 7, 1925 golf tee filed August 26, 1925 golf putter filed November 13, 1925