History

In 1954, Joseph S. Garske couldn’t have known that he was launching a transformational business.  But thanks to almost 60 years of hindsight, we can see that all the required elements were in place for Par Aide’s successful future.

First, there was Joe Garske, himself. A gifted, self-trained pattern maker, Joe started and was operating a thriving enterprise, Progress Foundries in St. Paul, Minn. The next element was the idea: A PGA meeting in St. Paul gave Joe the inspiration to invent a “good ball washer,” as he would say. Joe possessed both the ability and the wherewithal to see the project through. Next, the better mousetrap. In a year’s time, Joe designed his game-changing “good ball washer,” created tooling needed to produce it, and received a patent to protect it.  End of story?  Not quite.

Like many success stories, Par Aide’s has a twist in it, and it happens here. Joe took his unique product, tooling and patent and offered them to two golf-accessory companies. Both declined, and Par Aide was born, first as a subsidiary of Progress Foundries.

In the following years, Par Aide thrived under the leadership of Joe Garske, Robert F. Gerding and, most recently, Steve Garske. Through it all, our die-cast dedication to innovation, quality and improving the golf experience for golfers while providing utmost value to golf course superintendents has elevated Par Aide to industry leadership. 

 While you’re here at our website, take a look at the hundreds of products we’ve created, all of which do honor to the legacy of Joseph S. Garske and his “good ball washer.”