Lifestyle: Fairway to success for Staffordshire mom’s divot bag

A STAFFORDSHIRE mother has become a successful businesswoman after developing an innovative solution to the problem of divots on golf courses.

Nicola Morley launched The Divot Bag Company four years ago, initially more as a hobby, but demand has been such that it has now become a full-time concern with orders from some 200 golf courses in the UK and Ireland. Such is demand that the business has now begun exporting into Scandinavia with enquiries from other European countries, the USA and Dubai.

Her divot bags provide an easy and cost effective way of reducing divot damage on fairways. They are filled with a mixture of soil, sand and seed that members carry with them on their trolleys. When they make a divot or see one left by another player they can sprinkle the mixture which in time, helps to preserve the course.

The product helps to cut down the maintenance of courses leaving ground staff free to concentrate on more pressing matters.

Ms Morley, aged 41, from Codsall, turned the nearby Staffordshire Golf Club at Tettenhall into her first customer.

Craig Parry, the course manager there, said: “It’s the job my team and I least look forward to and ever since we introduced them, I haven’t had to worry about it since. Our members have really embraced it and help keep the course in top class condition – and it saves us a week’s worth of labour time and costs per month. The fairway divot issue would be overwhelming without this system in place.”

Ms Morley said: “There’s a lot of repeat business as divot repair is often last on the list of priorities for busy green keepers, who therefore find it difficult to keep up with the increasing number of divots and the demand for ever improving playing conditions – which seems to be the overriding factor in choosing a club now – so everyone’s a winner really.”