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Local screen company has solution for homeowners who live on a golf course

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THOUSAND PALMS - It seems Monty and Scott Walker's golf ball-deflecting window screens are a product whose time has come.

So reports The New York Times in a recent Sunday front-page article, which illustrates how the Walker family's growing Thousand Palms-based company Screenmobile is being called upon to help more and more frustrated homeowners living along golf course fairways and greens.

As technology is increasingly being applied to golf clubs and balls, average golfers are hitting farther and farther - but not always in the right direction.

That has resulted in increased demand for Screenmobile's specialized screens, which are built on site.

Screenmobile fielded 400-plus phone calls last year from homeowners who got fed up with errant golf balls - and broken windows.

Scott Walker, Screenmobile's president and CEO, said the Times article has generated all kinds of feedback, and other newspapers have published it as well.

"Franchisees are getting calls from people who've read the article and want some golf ball protection," Scott Walker said.

Golf course superintendents and managers also have called, prompting the Walkers to send representatives to golf courses and homeowners' associations.

Walker said the screens that protect windows from stray golf shots always have been a natural product for the Coachella Valley. With 120-plus courses scattered throughout the valley, they're ideal settings for homes.

Monty Walker Sr. started Screenmobile 25 years ago, and he along with sons Scott and Monty Jr., vice president of operations and chief operating officer, have expanded it by signing on franchisees in more than 90 locations across two dozen states.

The company last week signed new franchisees in the Maryland-Delaware, San Gabriel Valley and Austin, Texas, areas.

Mark Russo has worked for the company 15 years, but it was only three years ago that he acquired a franchise in the Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs areas.

Russo said Screenmobile's sturdy screens offer protection from golf balls, but that's only one of many products for windows, doors, patios, porches and garages. The company also offers energy-saving sun screens, pet-resistant screens, heavy duty sliding doors and security doors.

Scott Walker said in the desert, there's a season from about October through May when customers want screens to keep out insects. During hotter months, they typically purchase sun-control screens. The security screens are always in season.

Scott Walker boiled the company's philosophy down to four words: "You call, we screen."

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