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THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, JUNE 27,2001 PAGE 9 Fore floors up Bowmanville man invents balcony golf BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Writer BOWMANVILLE - He may live in a fourth floor apartment, but 74-year-old Don Fletcher isn't going to let that stop him from a good game of golf in his own backyard. backyard. The Bowmanville inventor, who gained fame as the face in Saan department department store commercials profiling profiling his homemade fiddle collection a few years ago, has been at it again, this time taking his interest in golf to a new level with a putting machine machine for the person with limited space and ability to bend over. "Two or three years ago I didn't even look at golf," he relates. "I got interested watching Tiger Woods and then gained a really good appreciation appreciation for what's involved in the game." Not wanting to sign on for full rounds of golf himself but with a thorough enjoyment of the game, Mr. Fletcher decided it was time to enhance the T.V. experience with a little real-life action that had no bending required. "I started to think why they didn't didn't have automatic ball tees at the driving range," he says. From there the wheels began turning and Mr. Fletcher began putting together some odds and ends he had saved for such a project. With some central central vacuum tubing, a piston and a board, he was ready to create a putting green with an automatic return return on the ball. "It sits on four legs and when the ball drops into the cup instead of ending up staying there it goes into a plastic tube," he explains. There's a piston inside the tee shaft which brings the ball back up to the original original position/"People who have seen it have been kind of amused that the ball would come back," relates Mr. Fletcher. But, the mechanics of how it works aside, Mr. Fletcher says, the game is exciting for the same reason a real golf game is. The idea of course is to achieve a hole-in-one. "The thrilling part is when you hit the ball accurately and it goes down into the cup. When the ball drops it's just like at a tournament, everyone is clapping and pandemonium pandemonium breaks out," he says. While he doesn't intend to replicate replicate his one-of-a-kind invention, Mr. Fletcher says he wouldn't be surprised if an entrepreneur was to take a look at it, see the appeal and before long, it could be showing up in recreation rooms everywhere. Strawberry lunch tomorrow Newcastle Community Church to host seasonal favourite NEWCASTLE - The Newcastle Community Church is inviting everyone to celebrate the season's harvest with a strawberry luncheon, tomorrow, Thursday, June 28. Lunch of whole sandwiches, homemade strawberry cake and just the fruit itself with beverages will be served in two sittings at 11:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. at the Brownsville Community Centre on Golf Course Road in Newcastle. A bake table will also be set up. Tickets arc $6 per person and can be ordered in advance at 905- 987-5448 or at the door. FOR ALL YOUR APPLIANCE NEEDS New! Convenient Location: 1750 1'I.UMMim STUHliT, UNIT 9 ONI! III.OCK SOUTH 01' HIGHWAY '101 WEST OIU' BROCK ROAD I'iiomis 905-837-9000 Vax: 905-837-5530 ill j jl V,! I JI-Û XX 'vWit ,^\&i fT , hi V\\ \V\ y\a\' V; V v Y\$ -«av•• ■ vi ygg . . i", ■■ v, V- V, /. v\-vW ANDREW 1WANOWSKI/ Statesman photo Don Fletcher and his balcony golf invention. 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