Putt it there Buddy - Irish-made device to make post lockdown golf a breeze
The Putt Buddy device in action
Golf clubs need every help they can get during the Covid-19 pandemic but one Irish entrepreneur has come up with a simple device that allows golfers to play away without ever touching the flagstick or the hole.
Designed and manufactured in Ireland, the Putt Buddy slides over the flagstick and allows you to use your putter to raise a lever and lift your ball out of the hole in safety.
The product website went live on Tuesday last and more than 70 Irish clubs, incuding some major resorts, have already either ordered their Putt Buddy sets or expressed an interest.
Made from high-grade steel, it will resist heavy usage while the patent-pending dome design on the base of the Putt Buddy allows the ball to roll onto the green once the ball reaches ground level.
“Myself and my business partner Shane Ennis saw a similar device in the US that had a wire rather than a lever,” said Putt Puddy co-creator Conor O’Boyle, a Drogheda native whose main business is car sales app Sweep.
“Myself and Shane have a startup company called Sweep, which is an app for car sales in Ireland. Currently we have over 40,000 cars from 550 dealers in Ireland listing their stock. We launched in December and it is our full-time job, which is great and it's been going really well since we set it up.
“The app works like a Tinder for cars, you swipe right on ones you like to shortlist them (and you can then contact the dealer) and left on the ones you don't like to get rid of them and you never see them again
“We are both keen golfers and so we a side project called Carry, which is a club-gapping service for clubs around the country that don’t own a Trackman.
“In our spare time at night over the last few weeks, we started working on the Putt Buddy project and teamed up with a design engineering lecturer from TU Dublin.
“With things on hold due to coronavirus, we’ve had more time on your hands so we looked at the solutions that were out there for the flagstick and the hole. The few designs we saw were plastic made, expensive and not built to last.
“Some of them had a warranty of only 60 days and we wanted to build something that can handle the elements and last for years.
“We worked with a design engineer who is a lecturer in TU Dublin and while he’d never played golf before, he came back with this design.”
Putt Buddy measures 16 inches long and has an inner diameter of 0.65 inches. The base of the Putt Buddy is 3.75 inches in diameter and fits inside all standard 4.25-inch holes.
It can be installed from the top or from the bottom of the pin by either removing the flag and sliding it down or removing the ferrule and sliding it up. It fits all pins that are up to a maximum of 5/8 inch diameter. A standard golf pin is 1/2 inch in diameter.
“It doesn’t impede the ball going into the hole and conforms with R&A and USGA guidelines,” added Conor (29), whose career has seen him work in investment and even manage exhibition appearances for Ronnie O’Sullivan on Irish soil.
“It’s also made from steel in Drogheda, so it won’t break and weighs about 300 grammes, so it’s not particularly heavy and slides up and down easily.
“It measures 16 inches tall and has a small lever (that has a rubber slip on to avoid any metal on metal when you lift it with your putter). We wanted to ensure that it looks good on golf courses, and doesn't look like a crazy invention sitting at the base of each hole
“We’ve tried to price them at a point that wasn’t overly expensive for golf clubs — €349 plus VAT for a set of 18 — there isn't much in it for us, however, it is something that will definitely help golf courses over the next 6-12 months and beyond as restrictions are eased.
“We have had interest from over 70 courses in Ireland and the units are being manufactured as we speak. We are delivering them with DPD the week of the 11th May.we are not making a big margin on them because we’d just like to get golf going again.”
Putt Buddy comes in sets of 1, 3, 9, 18, 27 & 36. They can be purchased directly in the ‘Products & Pricing’ section of the website.
