Mission Impossiball

About:

The first Pin High Pro golf swing aid was a mat with an electronic connection that “beeped” when the golfer’s weight shifted forward connecting the circuit.

Many golfers have difficulty shifting weight forward so this swing aid was created to give the golfer a device that announced weight transfer with an auditory “beep.” This device helped the golfer to self-analyze and self-correct the swing flaw by not only confirming weight shift with a “beep”, but by giving the golfer the feel of weight forward, a swing feel to replicate.

I received the first patent on the mat March 15, 2011, and needed a marketing strategy to introduce this new product to the community. After several meetings with Zane Hagy and his marketing company we settled on an idea to invite the community to hit as many balls as possible over a 72 hour period. This would give me the opportunity to introduce and demonstrate the use and functionality of the Pin High Pro raise money for the American Cancer Society and give families a very unusual, adventurous event they could all enjoy together.

We approached Brittan Spann at Fairways and Greens in Knoxville, TN with our idea hoping he would agree to have the event at his facility. The cost to participate was $10 per hour, and the family could hit as many balls as they wanted to during the hour.

This event would pose different concerns for Fairways and Greens since they never had an event where their facility would be open 72 hours straight. Since we decided to keep the event open round the clock, Bill Cross and I stayed the nights, sleeping when we could. The event would begin Friday September 2, 2011 at 12:00 am and continue on through 11:59 pm on Sunday, September 4th. The goal was to hit One Million balls over a three day period.

I have always been a supporter of the American Cancer Society since I lost my father and several very close friends to this scourge of society. I have participated in many fund raising events and have served on the Cancer Society golf planning committee. This event would give us the opportunity to raise funds for the ACS.

The following local golf courses supported this event Fox Den, Three Ridges, Willow Creek Centennial and Gettysview, by donating rounds of golf and equipment. Food was donated by Rinehart and kegs of beer were donated by the Downtown Brewery.

We had approximately 400 people attend, hitting over 75,000 balls! All family members participated in hitting balls, even children barely big enough to hold the golf club! The laughter and fun enjoyed by the participants could not have been better!

We didn’t have the thousands participate that we hoped for, but we were able to introduce the Pin High Pro. We were also able to present the American Cancer Society a check for $3000.00! Although very tired after the event, I liked the idea of trying something very different that introduced my product and raised funds for the ACS.