It was a league championship on the line. A three-foot putt for par. The kind of putt every golfer dreams of making — and dreads missing. Michael missed it. And instead of walking away defeated, he walked away with a mission: to become the greatest putter in the history of putting, and to build something that would help every golfer avoid that same heartbreak.

That mission became the Pure Line Training Aid and Putter — a patented system designed to help golfers of every skill level align faster, practice more efficiently, and make more putts. The concept is straightforward: most golfers don't realize that putting accounts for over 43% of their final score, yet they spend the majority of their practice time on the driving range. The Pure Line system fixes that by making putting practice faster, easier, and more effective — even if you only have five minutes before your round.

Traditional alignment methods — like using a line drawn on your ball — require golfers to crouch down, line up the ball, stand up to check it, crouch back down to fix it, and repeat. It's time-consuming, hard on the body, and discourages older golfers or those with injuries from practicing at all. The Pure Line Training Aid eliminates all of that. You set the ball, place the training aid over it, rotate to your target line while standing, and you're ready to putt. Instant alignment. Instant feedback. No bending required.

On March 20, 2024, Michael took that story — and that product — to the stage at the Samuel P. Black III Knowledge Center at Penn State Behrend's Knowledge Park for the Ben Franklin TechCelerator in Erie Finale. After completing a rigorous 10-week business bootcamp alongside six other Erie startups, PureLine Putting was named Runner-Up, earning $5,000 in funding to continue development of the product.

The TechCelerator program — presented by the Erie County Gaming and Revenue Authority (ECGRA) and the Gannon Small Business Development Center (SBDC) — pushed every participant through weeks of financial forecasting, market validation, pitch development, and business planning. For a brand new company, it was an accelerated education. Michael credits the program's mentors, guest speakers, and fellow participants as instrumental in shaping Pure Line Putting into a real business.

That foundation has since paid off. What started as a training aid built around a missed putt at a local golf course is now a patented putter that has earned a Top 10 ranking from MyGolfSpy in their most comprehensive independent putter test — placing the Moment Zero among the best putters in the world. Not bad for a product born on the 18th hole at Whispering Woods.