Larry Koning, a Michigan golfer and second-generation tool maker from the city of Holland, has developed a new product that should reduce golf ball cup damage and improve pace of play – but also help golfers who have trouble bending down to retrieve their ball from the cup.
The new Golf Ball Tender is a pliable plastic disk that attaches to the flagstick stem and rests at the bottom of the cup. Golfers can lift the flagstick to retrieve the ball instead of using a putter to try to pop the ball out or squeezing their hands into the cup with the flagstick still in – as both actions can damage the cup.
“It’s just hard to get your ball out of that cup without impacting the edges,” Koning said in a news release. “The more you talk to superintendents, the more you hear about cups fraying as a result of players retrieving their ball with the flag still in.”
Golf Ball Tender is currently available at www.golfballtender.com
