Testimonials

Article in the Greeley Tribune, Greeley, CO about the Divotmaster

John Luna was on his way to work one day when he decided to stop at Highland Hills Municipal Golf Course for a few minutes of practice on the chipping green. After hitting a small bucket of balls, he realized how many ball marks dotted the green. At the same time, he also thought of how many marks are left on greens and never repaired. A lot of golfers will hit to the green, then drive their carts around to the other side and forget to go to where their ball hit to repair the divot it left, Luna said. I am one of those guys who walk to the green and fix as many divots I can find. But Luna, who lives in west Greeley, also realized there is the right way and the wrong way to fix a divot. Even some low handicappers, who play a lot of golf, don't repair them properly. And it does require bending over to lift the grass where the ball hit, then tapping the grass back to level with the putter head. Luna thought there had to be a better way -- an easier way. So he invented the DIVOTMASTER. He obtained a patent on his invention in December of last year as well as protection for the brand name, and he designed a Web site earlier this year. And, working with Mirage Productions Inc., 300 E. 16th St., he produced a video on his invention. The DIVOTMASTER is a ball mark repair tool that attaches to the end of a puttergrip. . It has eight angled plastic spikes that are covered by a snap-on cap. When a golfer comes to the green, he can remove the cap and, without having to bend over, he can jab the tool into the ball mark, fixing the mark by tapping the grass down with the putter head. In about 24 hours, any signs of the ball mark are almost invisible. It's like using three tools at once and it repairs a ball mark correctly, Luna said. He sells the device for $7 on the Web site, which includes shipping and handling. Luna, who worked for Hewlett-Packard for 19 years, now owns and operates a one-man machine shop in Greeley. It is there where he designed and built a plastic injection mold to make his DIVOTMASTER. He sold some of his original design back in the mid-1990s, which has since been improved, to northern Colorado golf courses. But he is now at the point where he needs some investors with marketing capabilities. I'm not a marketing person. What I need now is some investors and a television commercial to grab attention, he said. Wayne Leighton, head professional at Highland Hills Municipal Golf Course, said he sold all the original DIVOTMASTER tools Luna supplied. "I'm all for anything that will help improve the course. Divots in the fairways and ball marks on the greens are our biggest problem outside of the weather. We can't do much about the weather, but we can take care of our courses!".