Canadian inventors hope innovations will land in golf bags and carts this season

TSN Senior Reporter

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As with so many new products in golf, necessity was a driving factor for the Canadian inventors behind two innovations who hope their creations will find their ways into golf bags and carts this season.

Both the Clean Flight Golf ball washer and the Rake Caddy bunker rake were driven by changes to the game caused by the pandemic but have plenty of staying power to remain as the rules ease.

The Clean Flight Golf ball washer is a portable unit that allows players to get the dirt off their golf balls anywhere, at any time.

For as long as most players can remember, ball washers have been a fixture on the tees at many clubs. Your ball got dirty, you popped it into the insert in the handle, dropped it down into the water between the scrub brushes, and moved it up and down to get a clean golf ball.

That is, of course, as long as the units weren’t dry or didn’t smell as if they hadn’t been cleaned out in eons.

During the pandemic, most golf clubs removed ball washers, seeing them as a possible danger of transmission. A wet towel was all that was left.

At least, it was until Peter Bohlender and his friends came up with the idea for a portable ball washer. Together, the group created the Clean Flight Golf portable unit. It looks like a travel coffee mug, fits into the cup holder on your cart or clip to your bag, and operates just like a traditional unit.

“It does everything a golf ball washer does, but it travels with you everywhere,” said Bohlender.

So far, the reaction has been positive. There have been sales across Canada and the United States, with some now coming in from Australia. Orders have come from four more countries as word of the unit spreads.

The concept for the device came when