Bloomingdale East Resident's Invention Scores Big With Charities

A Bloomingdale East residents is helping charities raise thousands of dollars with the help of his own invention, a portable golf course.

Bob Gaudreau, who runs Portable Golf Solutions with his wife, Jerilyn, had always wanted to own his own golf course.

"But the cost of land was prohibitive," said Gaudreau.

So, instead, he created his own golf course that doesn't require acres of real estate.

"I sat down one day and designed an 18-hole portable golf course you can put on a truck and take to events and put together in under two hours," he said.

He had a company in Orlando that specializes in back-yard putting greens create the course from his design in 2006. In the five years since, Gaudreau has taken his portable golf course to hundreds of charity and corporate events.

After getting laid off from his corporate job at AllTel phone company, Gaudreau was determined to own his own business and control his own destiny.

"It was time for me to do something I wanted to do and I really didn't want to go back to corporate America," he said.

In 2002, he and Jerilyn, a network specialist at Burns Middle School, purchased a Leaderboard franchise, which provides photos and videos for golf tournaments.

"While doing that, we were able to use software to create sponsorships and create a good experience for the players," said Gaudreau. "We'd run the audiovisual at the golf tournament dinners to create an entertainment experience."

But in December 2007, after developing the portable golf course, Gaudreau gave up his Leaderboard franchise to build a fundraising company using the putt-putt course.

"People love miniature golf," he said. "It's played by a third of the world's population."

About 90 percent of Gaudreau's golf events are fundraisers.

"We're really a fundraising company," he said.

In the years since he started his company, he has done more than 260 fundraising events and helped raise more than $5 million for charity.

"And people don't even know who we are," said Gaudreau. "All of our marketing has been done by word of mouth."

Gaudreau now sells business licenses for Portable Golf Solutions around the world but his major focus is still on providing a fun venue for charity events.

"The portable course, made from pre-cut carpet, has pieces that come together like a giant Lego," he said. "We just roll out the carpet and it takes five to seven minutes to build a hole."

Among the charities he's helped is the University of South Florida women's soccer team, which will have its next annual event, Holes for Goals, April 1 at the USF Athletic Facility.

"We're also done events for Hospice, children's charities, Ronde Barber's Pocket Full of Miracles for diabetic charities, the veterans hospital, we've even done events on cruise ships," he said. "If you name a charity, we've probably worked with it."

Gaudreau said he's participated in the Hillsborough County Education Foundation's annual fundraiser for the past three years, helping to raise $450,000 for education.

"Most of the events are at night when you can't play regular golf," said Gaudreau. "And 60 percent of the participants are ladies."

Unlike a regular golf tournament, which involves 3 1/2 hours of play, this course can be played in under an hour, and players can eat and drink while they're playing.

"In this economy, people can't afford to be away from work all day long for a regular golf tournament so we've done very well," said Gaudreau. "Not many people can say they've worked with charities and made a living doing it. We offer a special service that generates income for them. The charities have told us we've helped them tremendously increase revenues."

For information on Portable Golf Solutions, visit www.portablegolfsolutions.com.