PERSONAL CADDY

What is it? It is a small computer not much bigger than a credit card that attaches to the top of the handle of most pull buggies on the market.

What does it do? It accurately measures how far you have hit a golf ball, how many yards remain to the green and it keeps your score as you play. It constantly displays the hole you are playing, how many strokes you have had, your score over the nine holes you are playing and a total over the eighteen. It even can store the last ten rounds in its memory.

While the makers point out that it is illegal to use during official competition, it makes a great training tool, and adds a new dimension to the game until now available only to professionals. One of the major problems a golfer has is judging how far they are from the green. It looks 20 yards to the 150 yard mark, but it could be 40! You use a four iron and land 20 yards short of the green- a three wood may have made it, if you knew how far out you were. Now you will know. What about the great course debate. That went at least 270 yards! With the personal Caddy you can see how far it really went (and shut your mate up!)

How is it put on a buggy? The small, water resistant unit is attached near the top of the handle of the golf buggy above your bag and clubs then a wire is run along the frame to one wheel of the buggy. A small sensor is attached to the frame near the wheel; a magnet attached to the wheel itself. A few clips later you are away. You only need a screw driver and scissors (lucky, they are the only two tradesman's tools I have or and can use safely!)

For the proficient and mechanically minded it takes about 10 minutes to install, for me - a child who had to push his bike home for Dad to put the chain back on his BMX - it took about 30 minutes! When you pack your buggy in the boot, you simply remove the computer and slip it into your golf bag. Male/female connectors detach at the point where the buggy folds or dismantles, making it easy to reconnect on the next round (about 15 seconds in fact)

How does it work? You measure the diameter of the wheel on your buggy and enter this into the computer. The self-calibrating unit then counts the yards between tee and ball, providing you with a distance from where you hit, and then it calculates how far is left to the centre of the green. This fantastic product is simple to use and has many functions. As mentioned it scores, so there is no need to keep a scorecard while playing. Just detach the main unit only when you pack away the clubs put it in your pocket and fill the card in over a drink at the bar. It makes a great gift, but I reckon it's one gadget no golfer can do without. The social golfer will get a kick out of verifying the distance they hit. Top amateur golfers can use it out of competition to measure courses they are going to play so they are not at a disadvantage when playing way. At home it may be the difference between a club championship or a flyer through the eighteenth. A winner.

It won product of the year in Australia this year and was the highest selling golf product in Australia in its first year. For more information on how this great new product works check out their web site www.personalcaddy.com for $60 its the ideal gift for that golfer that thinks they have everything.