From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
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George Grant, an avid golfer, was also interested in the physics of golfing. He set about to improve the game of golf and as a result he received U.S. patent No. 638,920 on December 12, 1899 for an improved golf tee.

George Grant was also recognized internationally for his invention of the oblate palate, a prosthetic device he designed for treatment of the cleft palate.

Dr. George Grant graduated from Harvard Dental School in 1870. He was one of two African American to first graduate from Harvard Dental school, where he later taught.

More Golfing & Inventing Dentists

Strange as it may seem other dentists have patented golf tees. In 1922, dentist William Lowell designed a red-painted, cone-shaped, wooden peg with a small concave platform that was patented and became the world’s first commercially produced golf tee called the "reddy tee." Recently dentist, Arnold DiLaura, patented the Sof-Tee, a tee that sits on top of the ground instead of in it.