Our Story
PuttLink was founded in 2019 to solve a problem many golfers experience: putting practice is often mundane and does not replicate the pressure felt in a competitive round. There is no data being measured to evaluate putting performance or improvement. Launch monitors give many details for the full swing but very little is known about the most used club in the bag, the putter. This problem was especially true for the young son of PuttLink's inventor and founder. While trying to become a better junior golfer his son struggled with putting because it was not enjoyable or engaging. Attempting to solve this problem for his son, an early prototype of PuttLink was built which would connect to a phone and play a cheering sound when a putt was made. If a longer putt was made, the cheer was louder. His son loved this feedback and instant gratification. Putting practice became fun! Building on this idea, development started on a golf ball with a computer chip and tracking technology inside the core. Data would be sent from the ball during the putt to a handheld device over Bluetooth connection. Not only the data communication had to work, but the size and weight had to meet the standard of a regulation golf ball. It took four years for the design to be perfected. Then a mobile app for Apple and Android devices was created, which took another year. This has led to today, where PuttLink now available and is the world's only smart golf ball for putting. At the 2023 PGA Show, PuttLink introduced the Smart Ball and won the Best New Product Award. A few months later, PuttLink officially launched on June 1, 2023. The first Smart Balls began arriving to PuttLink customers on June 5th. PuttLink is our name because our vision is to link a golf ball to a handheld device. But just as importantly, link players to other players and players to coaches while enjoying and improving putting. PuttLink's mission is to modernize putting practice with technology. Drills offered in the App are intelligent - they know if the player succeeds based on the data coming from the ball. Statistics are automatically stored so that putting performance can be monitored. Competitive challenges will socially engage players to be recognized for putting accolades. The inventor and founder of PuttLink is Brian Heaton who lives in Fairhope, Alabama. Other business partners include Matt Smith, from Nashville, Tennessee, Jeremy Hamilton, from Portland, Maine, and Mike Smith, from Atlanta, Georgia. PuttLink has two locations: a main office in Fairhope, Alabama, and a manufacturing facility in Brewton, Alabama.
Awards
PuttLink was honored to win the Best New Product Award at the 2023 PGA Show