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An Innovative Idea “Pops” onto the Golf Market A junior golfer’s dream comes true years later.
P
icture this… An 11-year-old golfer from New Jersey walks from the cart barn to the driving range carrying her bag of clubs and her large bucket of range balls. It’s awkward, it’s heavy, and this junior golfer is praying to make it to the range without dropping the majority of the balls and embar-
I’m Meaghan McLaughlin, and this is where my dream of inventing The Ball Pop begins. Growing up at a country club is quite fun. But with fun comes responsibility, and as an aspiring junior golfer, it was important to know the rules and follow the rules when you went out to play. I learned to play “regulation” golf which for me, meant having two
rassingly having them scatter all over the place. It’s the mid-80’s and that 11-yearold, wearing a pink cotton polo shirt and pleated khaki golf shorts, is me.
golf balls on hand at all times and in all situations. So I would squeeze those two balls into my pocket along with some tees and a ball marker hoping
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for one thing… that my belt was going to be tight enough to hold my pants up during the round! From those early days, I was determined to develop a golf ball holder that would eliminate carrying two balls in your pocket and would provide a sleek, cool, convenient and colorful, wearable accessory. Fast forward to the year 2007. I am now working as a feature film Assistant Director and I begin to put money aside to develop the golf ball holder. After mocking up a couple of sketches, I was able to employ an engineer in 2014 who created the prototype. Next came filing a utility and design patent. This was the biggest challenge. We went through three rounds of patent examinations before finally being granted the Utility Patent in June 2020. Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 1
