TWO York men have turned their passion into a fledgling business and come up with an innovative new piece of kit for the golf course.

Rob Goodman and Nigel Travis, who have been playing golf together for years, have launched a new product to help golfers with back or joint problems.

Their “Magnet-Ease” is a magnetically retrievable, virtually indestructible, golf tee.

After many hours on the golf course, the pair realised that older golfers often struggled to bend down and pick up their golf tees, and started trying to come up with a solution to the problem.

It was not until Rob, who is a full time firefighter at Acomb station, spotted his eight-year-old daughter’s earrings that inspiration came.

“She doesn’t have her ears pierced so she had these magnetic earrings. It was then that I realised how strong the neodymium could be.”

Rob and Nigel have now developed the idea into a golfing accessory for sale in local club pro shops.

The kit includes a plastic golf tee with a small magnet, as well as tiny magnets to be attached to golf clubs which are then used as grabbers to pick up the tee.

In an added bonus, the tees are “virtually unbreakable” unlike normal wooden tees and can be used again and again.

Rob and Nigel source all the components and take care of all the manufacturing themselves in a small workshop in York. Between them, the two men have put around £2,500 into the project to get their idea off the ground.

It is currently available online through eBay and Amazon for £8.99 as well as in local pro golf shops and Rob said their ambition is now to see the Magnet-Ease in sale more widely.

“It’s been very rewarding seeing people buying online.

“We’d like to get them into department stores for people to buy as gifts for dads and grandads.

“This isn’t just a tacky gift – it actually works.”

The Magnet-Ease is available online at www.magnet-ease.co.uk