Golfing entrepreneurs get ball rolling

A locally designed machine that at first appears to be a giant golf ball on a tee could be about to revolutionise golf courses the world over.
The Spynnbak golf kiosk, a patented design kept tightly under wraps for the past few years, was unveiled at the New Zealand Golf Managers' Association conference in Wellington this week.
By allowing both club members and non-affiliated golfers to pay for rounds and collect scorecards via a touch-screen and Eftpos function, it removes the need for clubs to keep cash-filled honesty boxes.
Its third major function is the capability to dispense golf balls and tees, gloves and any other small sporting accessories.
The electronically automated Spynnbak kiosk can run 24 hours a day and be bolted down at any powerable location.
The concept struck Tauranga businessman and keen golfer Bob Sanders in 2006.
"It was pretty much all in my head and has been a work in progress ever since," he said.
Finding someone who could create the large steel golf ball he visualised was one of the first hurdles.
"I managed to find a metal spinner who could spin balls made of solid aluminium. He actually had a mechanism he'd used to make them for the Lord of the Rings movies."
With IP protection secured in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Japan and pending in the rest of the world, Mr Sanders began approaching leading golf companies.
"We've had fantastic support and international interest from sports companies. Callaway is already supplying us with stock."
Over the past year, Mr Sanders was joined in the venture by business partners Brian Kirby and Scott Thomson.
So what demand is there for the Spynnbak kiosk?
For a start, there are 424 golf clubs in New Zealand - the second-highest number per capita after Scotland, which has 543 for just over five million people. Of those 424 clubs, 257 have no shop or pro. At large courses like Mt Maunganui Golf Club, pros would have more time to be out giving lessons once the Spynnbak kiosk began handling fee payments and product sales.
A wireless telemetry system also provides comprehensive financial reporting, giving clubs the ability to log into a personalised, secure club account.
Despite the fact just three kiosks have been built so far, orders have already been placed - the first from Pirongia Golf Club.
And as far as Mr Sanders is concerned, the New Zealand market, as well as the golf market, is just the beginning.
"We can go on to use this design for squash, tennis and a number of other codes - this is just the first cab off the rank. From here we would look to export offshore."
Regardless of what success the Spynnbak kiosk finds overseas, the owners aim to keep the company local.
"That will mean looking to local manufacturers for products like sheet metal or fibreglass."
Mr Sanders reckons the Spynnbak kiosk is Kiwi ingenuity "in a nutshell".
"It was the initial feedback that spurred me on. I guess it's about having a passion and if there's an opportunity there, well there's people who follow it through and people who don't."
People can learn more about the Spynnbak kiosk online at www.spynnbak.com.