Did you know that the sport of golf owes a lot to dentists?

Dr. George Franklin Grant was the son of former slaves, one of the first African Americans to graduate from Harvard Dental School, and an avid golfer. On December 12, 1899, he received U.S. patent No. 638,920 for the world's first patented golf tee. In his patent application, Dr. Grant wrote, "This invention has for its object the production of a simple, cheap, and effective tee for use in the game of golf, obviating the use of the usual conical mounds of sand or similar material formed by the fingers of the player on which the ball is supported when driving off."

Unfortunately, Dr. Grant never attempted to manufacture his invention, and the idea of using a golf tee disappeared. Golfers continued building little sand castles from which to tee off. Then, in the early 1920s, another dentists, Dr. William Lowell of Maplewood, New Jersey, used dental tools to whittle a golf tee out of wood. he eventually patented his invention and manufactured tees under the name "Reddy Tees."

Yet another dentist contributed to golfing history. One of the greatest golfers of all time was Dr. Cary Middlecoff, a dentist from Tennessee who went on to win the U.S. Open in 1949 and 1956. His father, also a dentist, taught his son the game, but became concerned when golfing seemed to take precedence over dentistry. His father begged golfing great Bobby  Jones to persuade the younger Dr. Middlecoff to return to practice. Jones tried, but when Dr. Middlecoff won the 1955 Masters tournament, Jones admitted, "The way he filled those 72 cavities [golf holes] during the last four days makes me think I may have been wrong."