Interesting Facts on Golf Carts

A bit of History

Electric golf carts have been used since at least 1951. Merle Williams of Long Beach, California was an early innovator of the electric golf cart. He started with knowledge gained from production of electric cars due to World War II gasoline rationing. In 1951 his Marketeer Company began production of an electric golf car. Two additional companies began production of electric golf carts in 1954: LEKTRO and E-Z-GO. CUSHMAN began production in 1955, CLUB CAR in 1958, TAYLOR-DUNN in 1961, and HARLEY-DAVIDSON in 1963. In 1971 the gasoline powered golfcart began production and soon after became a huge hit in a small town in Florida called The Villages.

Golf Cart Communities

There are a number of communities already nationwide where golf carts are used as an environment friendly means of transportation for every day tasks. Here a few of the better known ones:

Peach Tree City, Georgia has many miles of golf cart paths that link the city together. Golf cart travel is used by a great majority of the community, especially among high school students. McIntosh High School even has a student golf cart parking lot on campus.

On Santa Catalina Island, California, the use of motor vehicles on the island is mostly restricted. This is due to the fact that, by law, there is a limit on the number of registered cars allowed onto the island, therefore most residents, and visitors alike, move around the main city of Avalon, primarily in their golf carts.

The upper-class community of Bald Head Island, North Carolina, does not allow motor vehicles on the island (except for trams running to and from the ferry port and island-owned maintenance vehicles), so residents use modified electric golf carts instead.

The Villages, Florida, a retirement community of more than 70,000 people, has an extensive golf cart trail system (estimated at around 100 miles (160 km)) and also allow golf carts on many streets. It is the most popular form of transportation in this community.

A few famous places outside the U.S. where golf carts are used every day are spread over the whole globe. On Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia, where mainland vehicles are prohibited, golf carts are the main form of transport.

On the tropical islands of Belize golf carts are a major form of road transport and can also be rented by tourists. Discovery Bay, Hong Kong, does not allow public vehicles it has a total of 520 personal Golf carts not including the ones in the Golf Club or in the Marina Club.

Injuries

Along with the rising popularity of golf carts, the number of golf cart-related injuries has increased significantly over the last decade. A study conducted by researchers in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Nationwide Children's Hospital found that the number of golf cart-related injuries rose 132% during the 17-year study period. According to the study, published in the July 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, there were an estimated 148,000 golf cart-related injuries between 1990 and 2006, ranging from an estimated 5,770 cases in 1990 to approximately 13,411 cases in 2006. More than 30% of golf cart-related injuries involved children under the age of 16.

Here is a video on how to wreck your golf cart:

How to wreck your golf cart

Golf carts on interstate highways?

This may not be about the exact golf cart you are using now on the golf course, but there is a "green" future ahead of us...

If you trust the television images, it appears that soon we will all drive cars the size of golf carts because of Obama’s new fuel standards. Newscast after newscast illustrated the new 35.5 CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standard with a two-seater microcar. In some cases the image was juxtaposed with a threatening-looking SUV, usually black — Darth Vader on his way to crush the rebellion.

The message? Be afraid. Be very afraid. And to be honest, I was. My first thought? There is no way my kids are getting in a microcar.

Since then, however, I’ve looked into safety and small cars. True, small cars can be unsafe – but not necessarily.

Greencar.com offers an informative article by Kellen Schefter http://www.greencar.com/articles/smart-car-offers-drivers-new-high-mpg-option-top-crash-rating.php. Shefter describes crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Daimler AG’s 2008 smart fortwo. It is not as destructible as the golf cart it resembles. On the contrary, the smart fortwo earned the institute’s best ratings for front and side crash protection. For rear crashes, it was rated acceptable.

Schefter explains the technology behind the car’s crashworthiness. The smart fortwo is built to distribute the impact of a crash over its entire body; the rear-mounted engine breaks away and slides underneath the car if it is hit from behind, “absorbing energy and reducing the rebound inherent in such a stiff structure.” And the car has a short wheelbase so that in a side collision, it is more likely to hit an energy-absorbing axle.

In any case, we may not need small cars to meet fuel efficiency standards, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute. But the cars will need to be light. Lack of vehicle weight is typically linked to poor crash performance. RMI says, however, that light weight, like small size, need not mean danger on the road. The organization plans to issue a study in July that illustrates how big cars made out of light materials can have “crash safety comparable to, or better than, that of a similarly sized heavy vehicle,” according to a paper RMI recently posted on its website. Safety depends on good engineering. Because the engines need not be so big in the light car, “the crumple zone” can be larger, creating greater safety, RMI says. http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid603.php.

Still, the biggest challenge for the car industry may not be one of engineering, but psychology. Can marketing efforts overcome what Schefter calls the “bigger-is-better intuition” of the safety-minded American car buyer? As I think about my kids in a microcar, I realize that I’ll be a good test case.

And for the time being I shall not use my golf cart on the highways yet...

What is a golf cart?

According to wikipedia a golf cart or golf buggy (officially referred to as a golf car according to ANSI standard z130.1, since "carts" are not self-propelled). is a small vehicle designed originally to carry two golfers and their golf clubs around a golf course with less effort than the traditional method of walking.

Golf cars come in a wide range of formats and are more generally used to convey small numbers of passengers short distances at speeds less than 15 mph (24 km/h) per ANSI Standard z130.1 as originally manufactured. They are generally around 4 feet (1.2 m) wide × 8 feet (2.4 m) long × 6 feet (1.8 m) high and weigh 900 pounds (410 kg) to 1,000 pounds (450 kg). Most are powered by 4-stroke engines.

The price of a golf car can range anywhere from $3,000 - $15,000 per car, depending on several factors. These factors may include whether or not a fleet of cars is being purchased for a golf course or a country club, for example, and whether or not the cars are new or used. Other factors may include options such as equipment requirements, and how many people the car is meant to transport. With the rise in popularity of golf carts, many golf clubs or country clubs offer storage and energy options to golf cart owners. This has led to the modification of golf carts to suit use at the particular golf course. Typical modification includes windshields, ball cleaners, cooler trays, upgraded motor or speed controller (to increase speed and/or torque), and lift kits.

Originally golf cars were electrically powered, but in time gasoline-powered variants started to occur. Electric golf cars were the first mass-produced electric vehicles for private consumer use. This variety is now used in many communities where their lack of pollutants, lack of noise, and safety for pedestrians and other cars (due to slow speeds) are beneficial. When purpose-built for general transportation these are called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs), but with various operating limitations such as top speed and heavy regulation on which type of streets these types of cars are permitted to be used. These may resemble the golf cars shown above, although some are now being made with all–weather car–like bodies.

Amazon links added

You now can go to Amazon.com directly from this Blog to look for books and even golf carts and related products.

Just click on the appropriate link in the upper right column and you will be brought directly to the amazon site with the relevant books and products already listed for you. It could not be made easier...

Amazon is a well reputed book store and perhaps the biggest on the internet.
They also feature other products in their "shops" and you now also will find products related to sports and outdoors activities on their site.

They offer fair prices and a generous return policy in case you are not satisfied with your purchase. I have been a customer for many years and can only recommend them.

Fourth of July Golf Cart Parade

Whip-O-Will campsite showed an unusual frequency of moving golf carts today. It was especially odd because there wasn’t a golf course anywhere nearby. I wondered if you could rent them while you were visiting.
Nope. These people owned these golf carts. I found myself in a strange new land.
My wife, who chose this campground, told me that every 4th of July, they have a golf cart parade and everyone decks out their carts. It’s a big deal, she assured me. I thought, “Mmm, yea. Decorated golf carts. Really?”
Here is proof:

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog on golf carts and all related subjects.

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