Say the words "laser-guided" to any well-adjusted, non-vegetarian male and he will immediately respond with the word "missile". Men are just hard-wired to dream up ways of using new inventions to kill other people - preferably from a safe distance.

No-one likes to see top military technology abused by civilians, especially women, but once in a while something so handy comes along that even the most iron discipline must relax.

Surely the laser-guided putter is a fine example. In the words of the manufacturers: "The device projects a linear array of laser dots perpendicular to and bisecting the putter's `sweet spot' giving the user instantaneous feedback regarding putter head and target alignment."

Cool or what - you get to hit that target, and no-one actually dies. All this, and with practice your golf may improve too.

The LaserPractice Pro, around £100 (€126), is available from golf shops and from www.bushnell.com

Gizmo suggestions welcome: smaccarthaigh@irish-times.ie