The TowCaddy idea was generated from Fullmer's simple desire to make his golf outings more ecologically friendly and healthy. Simply put, he wanted to ride his bike to the golf course and then walk with a push cart once he got there. So he combined both desires into one idea.

Now there are some courses — ones with a continuous cart path — considering renting out bicycles with the TowCaddy so golfers can ride and golf at the same time. The TowCaddy was the subject of a feature story by NBC's Jimmy Roberts during this spring's Accenture Match Play Championships. Two weeks ago a group rode, with Fullmer's TowCaddy and their clubs in tow, up Parley's Canyon to golf at Mountain Dell and Wasatch State Park.

Even though Nelson's device is more complex and instruction oriented, the idea had a similarly simple beginning. After missing the cut by two strokes at a Florida mini-tour event several years ago, Nelson realized he needed to rebuild his golf swing.

"I studied the swings of all the top players and noticed they all just let the club work naturally," Nelson said.

Driving range practice alone, however, wasn't properly developing Nelson's swing. He searched for a practice method that ingrained the symmetrical fundamentals of the swing and got the club back to square more consistently, and began constructing gadgets that helped develop those characteristics in his golf swing. The device he has today is the result of two decades of fine tuning.

"I've found that perfect practice away from the range is better than a lot of bad practice on the range," Nelson said.

More information on Nelson's device will be available soon at www.automaticswingtrainer.com. Information on Fullmer's product is available at www.towcaddy.com.

E-mail: jimr@desnews.com