A recent New York Times story and an accompanying video that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how not to operate a golf car should be required reading and viewing for all golfers, according to officials at Augusta, Ga.-based Club Car.
In the story (“Golfers Test Limits of Good Sense in Golf Carts,” April 27), author Bill Pennington writes, “[Golf cars] do look like fun. But it is amazing, and a little scary, [to see] all the crazy things people do with golf carts.”
Dr. Lara McKenzie of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, was also quoted in the story, adding: “A lot of people are getting hurt because they do things in a golf cart they wouldn’t think of doing in an automobile.”
As the story and video point out, vandalism that can result in personal injury and damage to the vehicle and the course are not uncommon when drivers throw safety and caution to the wind. In the video posted on the Times’ web site, Pennington demonstrates several things golfers have been known to do while operating a golf car, such as driving into a bunker. going too fast over hills and around turns, or driving onto a green. But, as he notes in the video, these are actually some of the tamer acts some golfers have committed while behind the wheel of a golf car.
“A golf cart can make the game a lot more fun and accessible, but in the wrong hands, a golf cart is trouble,” Pennington says.
Robert McElreath, Vice President of Global Marketing for Augusta, Ga.-based Club Car, agrees. “Safety is the number-one concern of all golf car manufacturers,” McElreath said in response to the Times’ coverage. “We also provide educational materials for golf course owners and operators, and encourage them to impress on their customers the importance of caution and common sense when they’re operating a golf car. But in the final analysis, golfers must exercise good judgement.”
In a whitepaper published earlier this year by Club Car, which included results of a survey conducted by the National Golf Foundation, golf course owners and operators cited vandalism as one of their most serious operating concerns.
To help courses better protect their customers and course conditions, Club Car recently introduced a GPS-based product that makes it easy for course managers to limit vehicle use or maximum speed anywhere on the course, including near lakes, bunkers, environmentally sensitive areas and on steep downhill portions of the cart path. The Guardian system also allows courses to lock down their golf car fleets at the end of the day to deter joyriding, vandalism and vehicle theft.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.