INJECTION MOLDING/MOLDMAKING: Scoring with a new touchless golf ball retrieval system

By eliminating contact between the golfer and the flagstick, the made-inOntario Mully Cup reduces the spread of COVID-19. And it could become the new normal on the greens even after the pandemic.

Scoring with a new TOUCHLESS GOLF BALL RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

By Mark Stephen, editor

Top left: Frank Cirino (left) and David Thibert demonstrate the Mully Cup. Above: Mully Cups before installation.

Golf has been called a good walk spoiled, but after weeks of orders forpeopletocombattheCOVID-19 pandemic by staying inside and avoiding contact with others as much as possible, the reopening of Canada’s golf courses in mid-May must have felt like hitting a hole-in-one for even the worst duffers in the sport.

Buttherewerestrings attached: each province had new guidelines designed to maximize physical distancing and limit the number of contact points where the virus can be transmitted, including prohibiting reaching into the hole after sinking a putt. To satisfy this last condition, two veterans of the tool and mold industry in Windsor, Ont. have devised a plastic, touchless ball retrieval system that fits both regulation and tournament poles, and installs simply by wrapping around the flagstick, allowing players to use a putter to lift up the top plastic disc and release the ball.

BORN OUT OF NECESSITY Called the Mully Cup, the original idea for the device was conceived by Frank Cirino, president of Lomar Machine Repair in Amherstburg. Cirino is also a member of the golf course committee at nearby Pointe West Golf Club, and was involved in meetings in April around how to safely reopen the course following mandated protocols established by the Ontario government. “We had to come up with an idea on how you could retrieve the ball out of the hole without touching it or the flagstick,” Cirino said. “We considered using touchless flags and even pool noodles that block the hole, but all of these options seemed too disruptive.”

Looking for an alternative, Cirino devisedhisownroughideaforahandsfree ball retrieval device and then sought out the expertise of a client, David Thibert, a partner in moldmaker Mega Mold International in Maidstone and a member at Windsor’s Essex Golf and Country Club. “I thought Frank had a good basic idea after meeting with him, and I brought some of the staff at Mega Mold into the project; it came along at the right time for us, in that we had machine time available in our shop,” Thibert said. “We developed a few product designs and modeled them up, and then refined it down to a specific design. We made it into a 3D model, put it in place in a mold, and built the mold around it.”

An early design challenge arose when Thibert and his team and Cirino –who visited Mega Mold daily to follow the project’s development –real

ized that since some flagsticks are a uniform half-inch in diameter while others are tapered, they needed something adjustable. “We solved this by modifying the Mully Cup to suit both flagstick styles with an interchangeable clip at the top,” Cirino said.

Picking the right material for the job was another challenge. “After some deliberation, we selected a PC/ABS,” Thibert said. “It has the right combination ofrigidity, strength, and softfeel –wedon’twanttheMully Cup to makea clanging sound when a golfer touches it with the putter, and we also don’t want it to scratch or damage the putters like metal ball retrieval devices can.”

A final design feature of the Mully Cup is 360° ballentrancewithno interference. “ There’s n othing t hat o bstructs t he ball from dropping, which is the one thing that golfers and course operators all demand in a ball retrieval system,” Cirino said. CATCHING ON With the product ready for production, Cirino and Thibert contacted Injection Technologies Inc., a full-service Windsor-basedinjectionmolder,tomanufacture the parts. Injection Technologies firstopenedin1990 as thecity’s “original” mold testing facility, and operates 16 presses with capacity ranging from 140 tons up to 3,500 tons at its 48,000-square-foot facility. “Injection Technologies is very well known in the Windsor area for mold tryouts, and my own relationship with them goes back 25 years,” Thibertsaid. “They’rebuilding a bank of Mully Cups for us so that we’ll have enough to satisfy virtually any amount of orders. They’ve been a tremendous help, and we couldn’t have d one this without them.”

Having gone from a rough idea to a finished design ready for molding in approximately one week, the Mully Cup i s n ow c atching o n a t a n e qually fast pace. The device is being distributed by Winnipeg-based Bayco Golf, and is currently being used at over 100 courses across Canada–includingThibert’sowncourse,whichstartedplayin mid-May with anothermetal version of a touchless device but switched to the Mully Cup shortly after. And the international market is beckoning, as well. “Bayco Golf recently sent samples downtoclubsintheU.S.andwe’renow getting orders for some of these courses,” Cirino said.

Looking ahead, Cirino, Thibert, and the owners of Bayco Golf see a market for the Mully Cup even after the COVID-19 crisis is over. “It speeds up play, allows people to get their ball out of the cup without bending over, and fits in with a recent rule change that states t he f lagstick d oesn’t h ave t o b e r emoved when putting,” Cirino said. “We think it will become the new normal in golf.” CPL

Factor

The X Factor is Value.

• Reduced cycle time • Increased precision • Improved gripper designs • Application flexibility • More productive uptime

Experience Full Control

The servo wrist adds value in any application!

www.sepro-group.com • seprocanada@sepro-group.com • 514-515-9349 • @SeproGroup l