Congressman Larry Bucshon visits Neoteric Hovercraft

On July  26, NeotericHovercraft and Hovercraft Training Centers were honored to welcome Indiana Congressman Larry Bucshon, who visited to discuss his advice and advocacy on a proposal for HTC to provide hovercraft flight training to the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

Hovercraft Training Centers is proposing that the U.S. Government provide initial military hovercraft crew training at its Terre Haute headquarters. Not only would this expedite the process and lower costs, it would also improve recruiting and lower the current trainee dropout rate because light hovercraft could be used to attract and prequalify suitable candidates.

The Congressman’s tour began at the Wabash River, with media interviews followed by a hovercraft flight on the river …

“I am acting as an advocate," Bucshon told the media. “We have a sagging economy, high unemployment rate – although that’s getting better. Any company that wants to expand in Terre Haute or in the 8^th District and create some jobs is a good thing.” ...

“We’re already training firefighters and police officers from all over the world, along with personnel from the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Air Force. That’s been going on for decades,” said Chris Fitzgerald, founder of Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. and Hovercraft Training Centers ...

“I’m gonna get a hovercraft ride today!” Rep. Bucshon says with a smile as he boards an HTC Neoteric training hovercraft with his Deputy District Director, Matt Huckleby in the rear seat and Chris Fitzgerald at the controls ...

In their launch onto the Wabash River, Rep. Bucshon and Matt Huckleby experience the Neoteric hovercraft’s one-of-a-kind maneuverability due to its patented reverse thrust system ...

Via wireless headsets, Chris Fitzgerald explains hovercraft operation to Congressman Buschon and Matt Huckleby as they fly down the Wabash River ...

After the hovercraft flight on the river, Chris Fitzgerald (left) welcomes Rep. Bucshon (right) to the Neoteric Hovercraft factory. Here, they tour Neoteric’s fiberglassing facility ...

In deep discussion, Fitzgerald and Rep. Bucshon walk to Neoteric’s hovercraft assembly facility ...

Fitzgerald gives Rep. Bucshon a thorough overview of the final manufacturing processes for all Neoteric hovercraft. In the background, the rescue hovercraft owned by New Jersey’s Scullville Volunteer Fire Company awaits upgrades. Neoteric rescue hovercraft are used by first responders in more than 50 nations ... 

Rep. Bucshon has an opportunity to check out a Neoteric Hovercraft Golf Cart, to be delivered to the Superior Golf Club in Ukraine – the first non-U.S. golf course to own a replica of the BW1 hovercraft golf cart Neoteric manufactured for Bubba Watson ...

Deputy District Director Matt Huckleby (right) and Connor Lentz (left) learn how Neoteric hovercraft are custom manufactured. Lentz represents Congressman Bucshon's constituent affairs in Indiana's 8th Congressional District for the Department of Defense and Veteran's Affairs ...

The media take great interest in the factory tour ...

At the end of the factory tour, Rep. Bucshon and his representatives meet with Chris Fitzgerald to discuss how Hovercraft Training Centers’ proposal to train military LCAC and Ship-to-Shore Connector crews, as well as Homeland Security personnel, would benefit the U.S. Government as well as the Congressman’s district and state ...

See news coverage / videos of Rep. Bucshon’s hovercraft flight at:

Bucshon tours hovercraft company

Congressman in town to help local hovercraft company expand

Rep. Bucshon sees how military, first responders learn to use skill

Windy Knoll "Hover Bash" debuts Neoteric Hovercraft Golf Carts

Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, Ohio holds the honor of being the first of the world’s more than 35,000 golf courses to use the Neoteric Hovercraft Cart, the official limited edition replica of Bubba Watson’s BW1, also manufactured by Neoteric.

The club’s two Neoteric HoverGolf™ Carts were unveiled July 27 at their star-studded Hover Bash, with LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, golfer Paige Mackenzie and Tim Rosaforte of the Golf Channel. The day featured golf clinics, a shotgun scramble, a huge dinner party, a massive fireworks display – and hovercraft golf cart rides with Neoteric's president Chris Fitzgerald and flight instructor Steve Stafford …

Reporting live from the Hover Bash, the Golf Channel’s Matt Ginella got behind the controls of a HoverGolf™ Cart and quickly grasped its unique nature. “You’re piloting, you’re flying the hovercraft … it’s a lot easier than you might think, and it’s just an absolute blast! I’m impressed – going from the land to water is seamless,”  he said.

Watch the Golf Channel’s coverage of the Hover Bash on Morning Drive …

Just like their hovercraft golf carts fly on a cushion of air, Windy Knoll is floating on a cushion of national and international publicity, attracting attention from ABC News, NPR, the Huffington Post and more.

“They’ve already paid for themselves with the notoriety,” says Dave Duffey, Windy Knoll’s General Manager.

Managing Director Pete Duffey agrees, “We see this as a fun opportunity to promote our town and, of course, Windy Knoll Golf Club, and we’ve already started to reap the benefits.”

And there’s no doubt the benefits will continue for the long term: hovercraft always arouse more interest and curiosity than just about any other vehicle in existence!

Windy Knoll completes Hovercraft Golf Cart pilot training

Dave Duffey, General Manager, and Gary Price, Golf Course Superintendant at Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, Ohio, traveled to Neoteric yesterday to pick up their second hovercraft golf cart and to become certified pilots at Hovercraft Training Centers headquarters. Windy Knoll holds the honor of being the first of the world's more than 35,000 golf courses to have HoverGolf™ Carts, the official exact replicas of Bubba's Hover.

Gary Price (left) and Dave Duffey (right) prepare for their first flight training session
in their Neoteric Hovercraft Golf Cart with flight instructor Chris Fitzgerald (center).

With Dave Duffey in the passenger seat, Chris Fitzgerald launches the Windy Knoll  HoverGolf™ Cart
on the Wabash River. Don't try this in your traditional old golf cart! ...

From the floating dock, Gary Price follows Pete Duffey's flight lesson via wireless headset.

Eager for his training session, Gary says, "I've been a boater all my life 

and I've helped build golf courses everywhere, been on every piece of equipment.

But I've always wanted to learn to fly - and this is going to satisfy that!" ...

Now in the pilot's seat, Dave Duffey quickly masters the technique for

getting a hovercraft 'over the hump' ...

Flying easily on the Wabash River, Dave appreciates
the exceptional maneuverability of Neoteric hovercraft ... 

Any concerns about the HoverGolf™ Cart's noise are put to rest when it's obvious that

the geese don't mind it at all. If it doesn't bother the wildlife, it isn't going to disturb golfers!

After a productive day at Hovercraft Training Centers, Dave and Gary are all set to debut their HoverGolf™ Carts on July 27 at the day-long, star-studded Hover Bash at Windy Knoll Golf Club. And they both agreed that training was a "very humbling experience. We can't imagine owning a hovercraft without the kind of training and technical support Neoteric offers."

And their afternoon on the river showed them the versatility of a hovercraft golf cart. It isn't just good for the greens - it's good for a river cruise or a fishing trip after that golf game. Or how about ice fishing or hovering over snow during the winter when golf courses are closed? Yes, this is the only golf cart in the world that isn't just a golf cart!

Neoteric to be featured in Yahoo! Finance Breakout Profiles

This week film crews from New York City and Los Angeles traveled to Terre Haute to film a company profile about Neoteric Hovercraft - which will be seen by more than 6 million monthly viewers as part of the Yahoo! Finance Breakout Profiles series.

Yahoo’s Breakout Profiles feature unique companies doing extraordinary things, and as the media have reported in Neoteric’s recent tsunami of publicity, Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. “is certainly out of the ordinary.”

The Neoteric profile will debut on July 26, the day before the official launch of Neoteric’s HoverGolf™ Cart – the limited edition replica of Bubba Watson’s BW1 hovercraft golf cart, also manufactured by Neoteric. On July 27, Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, Ohio, will become the first of the world’s more than 35,000 golf courses to use Neoteric’s hovercraft golf carts, which will take flight in an all day star-studded Hover Bash at Windy Knoll.

Be sure to check out Yahoo! Finance Breakout Profiles on July 26! In the meantime, have a sneak peak with the following photos and video clips of this week’s filming ...

Neoteric President Chris Fitzgerald (left) and Yahoo! Producer Kevin Chupka from NYC

plan the morning's video shoot at Hulman Links Golf Course in Terre Haute ...

Tribune-Star photo / Joseph C. Garza

A Neoteric HoverGolf™ Cart awaits its flight across water hazards

and sand traps at Hulman Links Golf Course ...

Water hazards are transformed into joyrides with a hovercraft golf cart ...

Fitzgerald does a few "doughnuts" in the Neoteric HoverGolf™ Cart  on the 18th green,

without leaving a mark, because it floats 9 inches above the ground on a cushion of air ...

For the afternoon film shoot, the Neoteric HoverGolf™ Cart and a

Hovercraft Training Centers craft await launch onto the Wabash River ...

And you thought the Neoteric HoverGolf™ Cart was only good for your golf game? ...

On the Wabash River, the Yahoo! film crew, in the Hovercraft Training Centers

hovercraft, capture Chris Fitzgerald demonstrating  a golf cart that can go river cruising! ...

Tribune-Star photo / Joseph C. Garza

A few spins on the 18th green ... or a few spins on the river - 

the Neoteric HoverGolf™ Cart  can do it all! ...

Now here's maneuverability - Chris Fitzgerald easily flies the

Neoteric HoverGolf™ Cart  right up to the floating dock ...

At the end of a productive and exciting day, the Yahoo! film crew,
media representatives and Neoteric personnel are all smiles ...

Neoteric Hovercraft Golf Cart featured by Hammacher Schlemmer

The Neoteric HoverGolf™ cart, the official limited edition replica of Bubba Watson’s BW1, is now featured in an amazingly appropriate place – on the cover of the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog and web site.

What started as a small hardware store in NYC’s Bowery in the mid-1800s is now one of America’s most venerated and successful retailers. Hammacher Schlemmer offers the most unique and innovative products available anywhere in the world, exemplified by the company’s slogan:
“Offering the Best, the Only and the Unexpected since 1848.”

Hammacher Schlemmer is also known for its “firsts”: it sold the first steam irons, pop-up toasters, electric razors, electric pencil sharpeners, microwave ovens, answering machines … the list goes on and on.

The word “neoteric” means original, novel, unconventional … and the Neoteric HoverGolf™ cart and its Bubba’s Hover prototype are the first hovercraft golf carts in the world – the perfect product for Hammacher Schlemmer.

Sept. 2013 update: Because of the avid interest it received, the Neoteric HoverGolf™ cart continues to be featured in Hammacher Schlemmer catalogues.

Hover like Bubba at Windy Knoll Golf Club

Maybe you can’t drive a golf ball like Bubba Watson, but now you can fly a hovercraft golf cart just like he did in Bubba’s Hover, the viral video that took over the Internet a couple of months ago - which now has 9 million views.

Bubba’s one-of-a-kind BW1 is no longer one-of-a-kind: this month Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, Ohio will become the first of the world’s more than 35,000 golf courses to use the Neoteric HoverGolf™ cart, the official limited edition replica of the BW1.

                    The first Windy Knoll HoverGolf™ cart undergoing Neoteric’s final performance testing.

Each craft has a 65-hp engine capable of 50 mph, seating for up to four passengers,

a lift-up roof, space for two golf bags, and sand bottles.

Windy Knoll was built on the former site of a thoroughbred horse farm. After Managing Director Pete Duffey watched Bubba cruising the fairways in a hovercraft, he decided to make golf history with a different kind of horsepower.

“We wanted to be able to offer something no other golf course could – a way to further put Windy Knoll on the map … It was an easy decision. When we saw them on YouTube, we said, ‘We gotta have one of those!’”, Duffey told ABC News. “We’re always looking for a way to set ourselves apart from the competition. We’ll be able to offer something that no one in the area, in the state and at this point in the country can offer … it’s going to turn heads.”

Duffey called shortly after the video went viral and ordered Neoteric’s first two HoverGolf™ carts. The craft will make their debut on July 27 at a day-long star-studded HoverBash at Windy Knoll, featuring HoverGolf™ rides, a clinic with Tim Rosaforte of the Golf Channel, appearances by LPGA Hall of fame member Nancy Lopez and LPGA golfer Paige Mackenzie, an afternoon shotgun scramble, and a huge party with dinner, entertainment and fireworks.

Next week, Windy Knoll representatives will come to Neoteric to pick up their hovercraft golf carts and undergo pilot and maintenance training at HovercraftTraining Centers headquarters.

The Windy Knoll craft will be in general service at the course in August. “We rely on golf scramble events throughout the season and the hovers offer yet another incentive for entities scheduling and organizing the events to have them at Windy Knoll. We also plan to come up with a VIP golf package for foursomes wishing to use them,” Duffey explains, adding that the carts will not be “for the average everyday group of golfers.”

Word of Windy Knoll’s hovercraft golf carts hit the news this week, launching a media tsunami second only to the original Bubba’s Hover storm. Golfers and media personnel alike are wild about the idea of flying around a golf course on a cushion of air. As CBS Sports’ Kyle Porter wrote, “I asked my boss if I could move to Ohio!”

For more information, check out Windy Knoll’s web site and Facebook page, the
Hover Bash events page, and follow on Twitter @windyknollgolf.