If you walked past Valent's giant inflatable Bigfoot, then past their man in a Bigfoot costume, you probably saw their Bigfoot video game.
And if you saw that Bigfoot video game, there was a good chance you saw 12-year-old Cooper Fullmer, perhaps the youngest inventor at the GIS, playing it. Cooper's booth -- for Towcaddy-- was just a few aisles down at the GIS.
Wait, wait, wait. The 12-year-old didn't do it all himself. He had his dad's help, of course.
Cooper wanted to get to the golf course. Howard, his father, didn't feel like taking him (thanks, dad!). So Cooper tried to solve a problem -- how would he travel the two miles to the golf course if his dad didn't feel like giving him a ride? The answer was his bike, but he didn't see how he could tow his clubs with him without wiping out along the way. He told his dad his idea -- a way to attach his clubs to his bike -- and the two inventors got going.
The product -- a lightweight trailer that securely tows a golf bag behind a bike -- debuted at the PGA Show and then made its second appearance at the GIS. From what traffic looked like at the Towcaddy booth, the two are on the verge of something very, very big.
It wasn't just the course owners who liked the idea... the superintendents also liked the idea. But not for their children -- no, they want to get their maintenance crew to use the Towcaddy. It didn't take long after the trade show floor opened before Howard had his first "can you adapt it to carry a hose"? question.
"It's a whole different paradigm that, frankly, we didn't think of," Howard told me. "The superintendents want to know if they can attach rakes, hoses, weed wackers on here. Right now we could, but we're going to go back to the engineers to make a more specific attachment appropriate for the superintendents."
Can you imagine sending your crew out to the course everyday on a bike? What would your crew members do? Would they grumble at the thought of having to pedal their way across the course? What kind of an impact would it have on your fuel bill? Would your crew members get healthier and more fit by riding the bikes, and would that have a positive effect on your insurance rates? Or would it simply take too long to get from point A to point B?
I'm asking, because I don't know the answers. It sounds like it has potential, though.
One thing is for sure: The Fullmers are fans of the Golf Industry Show. Howard made me wish I had a camera crew from GCSAA.TV handy to capture his thoughts on how good the show has been for his business.
"The superintendents have been so great," Howard said. "It's been a great couple of shows (the PGA and GIS), but (the GIS) particularly. We felt this show would tell us if we had a viable product, and it has definitely done that. We've learned so much from the superintendents."
I talked to Cooper as well, who was trying to get his eyes to readjust from staring at the Bigfoot game for too long. He said he was "having fun walking around and looking at things." But he wasn't really that interested in talking to a boring reporter, so I let him go on his way.
Last I saw, he still had the high score on the Bigfoot game.
But how will his product score with golfers and superintendents? That remains to be seen.
Great show and great article. TowCaddy would be very interested in feedback from superintendents. Please let us know at info@towcaddy.com.
Posted by: Howard Fullmer | February 14, 2009 at 12:40 PM
I have been doing this for about a year now. I had just used string and attached to my saddle. I am very excited to see this patented and out on the market
Posted by: Jim Cullen | February 28, 2009 at 04:25 PM