I saw a lot of stuff at the PGA Show this year. I picked my favorites in our PGA Show awards, but that only gave me room to highlight six products. There are so many other tremendous products that I want to talk about, and the Byrd Golf Belt is one of them.
From a technology standpoint, this is a pretty low-tech device — it's a golf belt. But its usefulness is off the charts, as it takes the thing we use to keep our pants up on the course and expands its functionality by adding places for four things all golfers need during their rounds.
What makes the Byrd Golf Belt so genius?
There are two Byrd belt models — the regular Byrd Golf Belt and the new Braided Byrd Golf Belt. They both hold a ball marker, a couple of tees and a divot tool, but they're in slightly different places depending on which model you use.
On the older, more established Byrd Belt model, the ball marker is housed in the magnetic buckle, while pockets are on each side of the belt. One side has two small slots for a tee, and the other has a small slot for the divot tool. A Velcro patch designed to hold the golf glove prevents you from shoving it in and out of your back pocket. This can keep your best golf gloves alive longer, which is an added potentially money-saving bonus.
In the braided model, the ball marker is still on the buckle, though it's a buckle of a different style. The tees and divot tool go in a leather pouch on the actual belt, though they're together instead of on opposite sides.
They're both readily accessible, but I like the layout of the original a little better. Either way, putting these devices on the belt is such a no-brainer that I can't believe it took this long for a belt like Byrd to come out.
Taking the intelligent design a step further, the original belt is reversible, so if you're using it off the course, you can hide the pockets and wear it as your daily belt. Or leave the pockets outside and let everyone know you have a cool belt that holds your golf stuff. The choice is yours.
Byrd Belt price
The other thing that impressed me about this belt was the price. The Byrd Belt is $49, and the braided one is $59.
You'd expect to pay that much for a nice belt without the extras. However, considering it comes with a ball marker, divot tool and two tees, it's a solid value.
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