Everyone sees it, Cup Saver helps keep it clean

Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that are used to create useful products and the Cup Saver fits that description.

This inverted cone, made from recycled plastic, helps superintendents present a clean and professional look on something that every golfer that visits their course sees, the cup.

The Cup Saver is inserted into a golf cup so that it rests on the lip of the cup. It’s also small enough that it doesn’t hit the inch of dirt above the cup that was just painted when removed. Rob Grant, inventor and owner of the Cup Saver, created what would eventually become the Cup Saver while he was a turf student at Anoka (Minn.) Technical College and intern at Golden Valley (Minn.) Golf and Country Club in 2012.

“During my internship I would have to spray the holes in the morning,” says Grant. “I made the original tool to stop the paint from trickling down into the hole.”

While the original purpose was to help with spraying holes other values to main golf cup quality have since been discovered. Crew members completing tasks vital to turf health like chemical applications and topdressing can leave behind residue. With the the Cup Saver all of that residue is caught in the cone and never seen by golfers.

Grant estimates that you will find a Cup Saver at more than 200 golf courses including 2016 Ryder Cup host site Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minn., and has been met with praise from users. The Cup Saver, which received a patent last December, can be purchased from eight different distributors or on the product’s website.