![]() ![]() Another, a man from Michigan, ordered a cart equipped with a built-in hand-warmer.Ĭelebrities have fallen to the lure of the golf cart as sports car. One Planet Electric customer, an avid hunter from Montana, ordered a cart painted in a black-and-white cowhide motif. The custom jobs, however, can be had in just about any color the buyer wants. The generic golf course-only carts are almost universally painted white. Some, such as The Masters, can be equipped with a “swamp cooler” installed on the underside of the top-a device that acts as an air conditioner by drizzling a fine mist down on the occupants. The custom carts, however, are routinely fitted with head and tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, rear-view mirror, horn, stereo and receptacles for everything from ice chests to groceries. Most are electrically powered, built specifically for the golf course, and their features are limited to such accessories as drink holders, golf bag straps and, occasionally, a windshield. Most of the golf carts sold in the United States-perhaps 125,000 a year, one industry insider estimated-are made by three companies: E-Z-Go, Club Car and Yamaha. ![]() “Business has really picked up in the last couple of years.” More people are retired, and their recreation is golf,” Thomas says. The only Southern California municipalities that permit widespread use of golf carts, apart from those dedicated golfing communities, are Avalon on Catalina Island, and Palm Desert, where golf cart lanes have been installed on many city streets.īut Bob Thomas, owner of Electric Car Distributors in Rancho Mirage, says there may be more golf carts taking to the streets in the future. Many golf-oriented communities throughout Southern California (mostly in the Palm Springs area, where there are more than 100 courses) allow golf carts to share the streets within a one-mile radius of a golf course. “You can look at it as a golf course Ferrari, but it also functions extremely well as a second car.” “There are two ways of looking at our product,” said Scott Montana, vice president of Planet Electric, a high-end golf cart manufacturer based in North Hills. Think of them as sub-subcompacts with built-in ice chests. Ready-made and custom carts are being driven around the links-and nearby city streets-with the quickness and flash of golf club-laden sports cars. Try taking it on an actual street and you’ll get outrun by continental drift.īut in a handful of Southern California golfing communities, the mannerly, plodding, plain-vanilla golf cart is beginning to mutate into the fairway equivalent of Thor’s thunder chariot. Range: two short holes (as long as they’re downhill). ![]() Instead, you get something resembling a beat-up Tonka toy that feels like it runs on static electricity.Ĭreature comforts: a cup holder. It’s happened to every golfer: You’re ready to go charging out onto the course in a comfortable, spiffy, fully juiced-up golf cart. ![]()
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