Dragons’ Fire Doesn’t Incinerate Calgary Entrepreneur’s Desire
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- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2025-10-27
By Gord Montgomery, Senior Writer, Inside Golf
Golf entrepreneurs are embodied with the never-give-up spirit, kind of like Kevin Costner in his role as Roy McAvoy in the hit movie “Tin Cup,” where he repeatedly hit balls into a water hazard, seeking success and never giving up.
Such is the case with Calgary’s Alex Husain and his single-rider/powered pull cart, the GoCaddy (www.mygocaddy.com), which doubles as a powered pull cart. He’s seen his fair share of troubles in clearing his own hazards, including on a Canadian reality TV show and beyond.
About some of the issues he’s run into over the past decade of trying to market his invention he wrote in an email to this writer, “Some of the key highlights were securing a manufacturer in the U.S. only for them to pick a fight with Amazon and go under; be close to a discovery meeting with Club Car, then seeing them sold by Ingersoll Rand; and then the whole COVID nightmare impacting manufacturing capacity globally.”
All the same, Husain has refused to give up on his dream of seeing GoCaddy drive onto the golf scene even after being raked over the coals by the panel on the CBC show “Dragons’ Den” after some critical editing. The fact he was there, though, wasn’t necessarily to get the funding he asked for — $500,000 for 33% of his company — but for the exposure the show presented. That original airing ran in October 2015 and replayed in October 2025.
“The concept was probably in 2006 in my head,” he began, of this long, frustrating journey toward hoped-for success, noting that this was all spurred by a round of golf mid-week, which took over 5.5 hours to complete due to a cart path only rule.”
“I looked at my pull cart and thought, ‘What if I welded a pull cart to the back of a scooter, make it collapse down? You can ride on it. Pull it.’ All that stuff.”
Husain approached an invention development company in Calgary, which didn’t work out. “The only good thing to come out of that was a patent lawyer in Denver. That (Calgary) company went belly-up after they took 20, 30 grand from me.”
Calgary Entrepreneur Alex Husain Is Still Trying To Market His Single-Rider/Powered Pull Cart Even After More Downs Than Ups In His Journey. (Photo By Alex Husain)
The patent for the GoCaddy was issued in 2008 and is good for 20 years. Husain reached out to two more development companies, but again, things went out of bounds, making him decide to chase this dream on his own, beginning in 2013. From there, he found a company in Denver to construct two prototype vehicles, which led him to the “Dragons’ Den” taping.
“I really didn’t want a deal. I just wanted the exposure. At that time, maybe like 18 per cent of the actual deals went through on the show.” As it turned out, his TV debut was delayed thanks to the fact that the prototype he was to display was delayed in shipping. Fortunately, he was given a grace period and appeared for the taping early in the morning two days later.
“We filmed for about an hour. You saw about seven minutes of footage, I guess. People said, ‘Oh, you should have said this and you should have said that.’ I did. We had a really lively debate... and they all bailed. I could tell when the producers told them to turn on me. I thought, ‘Okay. Fair enough.’”
One of the Dragons got on the scooter but almost destroyed the set as the machine took off quicker than expected despite being warned, which wasn’t shown on the broadcast. “I told him this is like a Tesla. If you punch the throttle, you’re going to basically have issues. So, what does he do? He punches the throttle and starts running into stuff,” and the idea careened off the investor fairway and into the rough.
Now, a decade after that original airing and having found himself stuck in the hazards of entrepreneurship, the drive continues toward the short grass and success. One other obstacle faced was the fact that many courses don’t allow personal powered vehicles on their track, or they charge a trail fee. Thus, the focus on putting GoCaddy on the market became focused outside Canada.
There is some interest from abroad where the use of power carts is frowned upon unless a physical handicap can be proven. The single-rider cart, though, is a step away from a multi-rider unit and could prove to be the way to ride out the investor/invention storm.
Of that trans-Atlantic idea, Husain noted, “You kind of have to get North American buy-in. There are some companies that own multiple courses around the world. You get into one and have proof of concept, that would be the way to start.”
“I checked locally, but it was ‘You know what? There’s insurance, and we’ll probably charge you a trail fee.’ Others, though, said if it was a fleet concept, there may be interest.” Unfortunately, a manufacturer for that magnitude of production was never found despite numerous attempts.
At that point, the idea was shelved, which isn’t a surprise considering Husain estimated he probably put “a quarter million” into the idea that continued to struggle to catch on. With the patent still active until 2028, it’s hoped a cart path forward, if you please, can be found.
The GoCaddy Weighs In At 60 Pounds & Collapses In Order To Be Transported To Courses In The Trunk Of A Car. (Photo By Alex Husain)
“I think the thing for me is that this was too ahead of its time. My (original) argument always was that golf was too slow, and golf courses were closing. That’s all changed. It’s gone through the roof across the country.”
The hope continues for Husain. With the cost of the battery for the cart declining significantly, he’s optimistic a backer can be secured.
“Now people are interested in the single-rider world. We’re seeing it in ‘Golf Digest,’ golf cart magazines,” and while there are such units around, “You can’t pick them up and stick them in the trunk of your car like GoCaddy,” which weighs 60 pounds and is collapsible.
The cost of this unit, which was $4,400 on the “Dragons’ Den” episode in 2015 because of a $900 battery that’s now about $250, is likely to be around the $2,500 to $3,000 mark, and if the idea explodes, “They’d be under two grand, easy!”
In closing, Husain noted, “It’s been a learning experience: good, bad, or otherwise. I’ve heard from a lot of entrepreneurs who have done it and failed, and a lot of them who have bounced back years later. I’m hoping I’m one of the ones that bounce back years later!”
For more, head to www.mygocaddy.com.