Shortly after this year’s PGA Merchandising show, I wrote a Best of the Rest post where I talked about some of the cool products that the average golfer may not have heard of.  One of those items was the 7 in 1 Divot Tool from No Joke Golf.

John Yurek, creator of the No Joke Divot tool was kind enough to send of a few samples of the divot tool for review, as well as some of his keychains from shotgunparty.com.  Before we get to the review itself, let’s go over the 7 things John says makes his tool so unique:

• A Class divot tool for repairing ball marks on the green
• A ball marker for marking your ball on the green
• Cigar Holder
• Bottle Opener for, well, opening bottles
• Golf Club Cleaner, for getting the gunk out of the grooves on your clubs
• Golf Grip Saver, for keeping you golf grips off the ground and dry
• Shotgun device, for pounding beers

I spent a couple of rounds with the No Joke golf 7 in 1 in my bag.  I’ve thoroughly tested out all 7 of its functions, and overall I came away impressed with it’s capabilities.

As a divot tool, it performs as well as most any other I’ve seen (the one possible exception being the Greenfix Wizard).  Initially I was afraid that the impression on the tools where your thumb sits might promote improper repair (pulling up instead of pushing), but once I was on an actual green, it felt quite natural, and worked very well, without doing any additional damage to the green.

What can you say about a ball marker.  It’s round, and I used it to mark my ball.  As most built-ins do, it attaches to the divot tool magnetically.  The magnet is strong enough to hold the marker in place, but not so much so that it’s next to impossible to actually detach it from the tool.

The cigar holder capability is a bit of a mixed bag.  I’m more inclined to call it a cigar rest rather than a holder.  It works better with some cigars than others.  For me it worked best with what you might call an averaged sized cigar.  For some of my super toros it’s a little small.  For some smaller cigars it’s too big.  For boxed press cigars it will work, but it can be a little awkward.  It works well enough if you just need a quick spot to put your cigar while you putt, but as purely a cigar holder, there are probably better alternatives for the golfer.

The bottle opener features is pretty straightforward.  It either opens bottles or it doesn’t.  Great news, the No Joke Golf divot tools opens bottles.

For my money, the golf grip cleaner is the coolest feature of the tool.  The tips of the divot tool’s forks are designed to fit into the grooves of your irons where they can be used to scrape all the gunk out.  In this capacity it works extremely well.  I found it to be faster, and more effective than using a wire brush.  It should be noted that I’m actually using version 2.0 of the No Joke Golf Divot tool.  In addition to being better looking than the original, it’s also more durable, and stands up well to wear and tear of frequent groove cleanings.

The grip saver feature isn’t unique to the No Joke tool, however, because it wraps around the shaft a bit more than most divot tools, I found it a bit easier to rest my putter and wedges on than other tools.  It’s a small thing for sure, but nonetheless, a thing the No Joke Divot Tool does better than others.

Finally, let’s talk about the most unique (and interesting) feature of the tool.  The premise behind the tool is that drinking beer is a golfing necessity.  If you don’t believe as much, than the No Joke Golf divot tool probably isn’t for you.  If, however; you subscribe to that belief, than you should check out John’s rules for shotgun golf.

My buddy G and I decided to play closest to the pin with the loser being the one to actually test the tool.  I stepped up to my ball and promptly shanked it into the woods.  That was pretty much it for me.  Having not shotguned a beer for a while, it took me a minute to work my way up to it.  I eventually did, and once again the No Joke Golf divot tool performed as advertised.  I also ended up with a lot of beer on my shirt, but that’s neither here nor there.

Mediocre performance as a cigar holder aside, my only real complaint about the No Joke Golf Divot tool is  that it’s a can be a little unwieldy to carry around.  Generally I use divot tools that clip to either my belt or the inside of my pocket.  There’s no way to clip the No Joke Golf divot tool to anything (which isn’t surprising considering the multi-function design).  I tried keeping it in my back pocket, but found it more than a bit unpleasant when I sat on it.  In the end I found myself just tossing in my cart, which meant I had to go back and get it each time I forgot it.

At $14.99 the 7 in 1 No Joke Golf Divot Tools costs only slightly more than many divot tools that do a lot less.  For those of you who like to toss back a few on the course, it’s damn near essential hardware.  I plan on keeping mine in my bag.

There’s no risk involved since John offers a 30 day money back guarantee.  Individuals interested in purchasing the No Joke Golf Divot Tool can get one directly from No Joke Golf.  Corporate customers interested in branding, private label, and other marketing opportunities should contact No Joke Golf for more information.