At 50 I discovered my true passion, industrial design. I have no formal training, no experience, don’t know CAD or any of the design software required to be a professional but I am absolutely smitten with the hard goods design process, and outcomes of it.
I’ve been a digital product manager my entire career, writing functional specifications (old school), PRDs, etc. for software developers to do their magic by writing beautiful code to make my specs come to life on the web. During Covid, having nothing to do safely indoors I took to the golf course for respite and was bitten by the golf bug. Being a rather fastidious fella, I immediately took offense to much of the gear, processes, and activities that take place in the sport so, with my “that can be better, faster, more efficient” lens on (my perpetual lens) I began looking for ways to fix some of the inane and distracting things about the sport.
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Golfers have more gear than any other athlete. It’s insane. And the sport requires immense amounts of concentration as you have to get 452 perfectly synchronized movements just right in order to be any good. So there I was on the golf course, trying to improve my game and I found myself digging into my porcupine pocket every single hole looking for tees, ball markers, divot tools, balls, etc. It was a hassle, a very distracting one. So much so that I found it affecting my game. So that lens I mentioned earlier kicked in full-speed to fix this problem, because that’s what a good product manager does…solve problems.
So I conceived of and designed a clip that holds all that stuff. It had to be functional, fashionable (every golfer loves to look “good” on the course) yet invisible to the golfer so as to not bother them mid-swing. I contemplated the swing itself and envisioned a golf multitool that was one with the swing, and therefore the golfer herself.
The Byrd Clyp, I call it. Made of lightweight and rugged aluminum, can hold up to 3 tees, a ball marker and a divot tool and can be clipped anywhere…your shirt placket, your hat, belt, pocket, bag, cart…anywhere. And I personally think it looks good, enhancing the aesthetics of the golfer and their game, reducing a bit of noise and providing a few seconds per hole of presence.
Our goal is to help golfers focus on their game, not their gear. And our mission is to bring focus and presence to every swing, from tee to green.
We are The Byrd (my childhood nickname for having skinny legs and a big beak).
View the full project here
Source: core77