Buggies/Carts and hidden course design/maintenance costs

[Thomas Dai]

Clubs think about the revenue they make from buggies/carts and there are obvious costs like the buggies/carts themselves, storage buildings, paths, power etc but are there other costs associated with buggy/cart use? Design and/or course maintenance costs say that are not immediately apparent but actually become so over time?
Just curious.

atb

[Jeff Schley]

I can tell you a big cost is the batteries on electric carts.  In desert climates that have extreme heat in the summer these batteries last maybe 3 years.  They cost roughly 1000-1400 bucks for the set.  That is a very large maintenance cost, which pushes many to gas.  Of course the cost of electricity is significantly less than the gas.

For the course I know supers get so irritated when carts get way too close to greens and I don't blame them.  Without roping off those areas, etiquette doesn't deter some. Heck Trump drives onto greens even!

[V. Kmetz]

I've worked with Club Car and EZ-Go and the standard practice for most clubs in this area was to lease the (electric) carts for 3 years for a set price, with a maintenance contract (above and beyond regular staff maintenance)...


After 3 years, the carts were changed out for new ones, and the company would do some re-outfitting and put them in a secondary market (not primarily golf, mostly personal or facility use).


This practice started getting standardized about 20-25 years ago and was inaugurated (in many cases) to change out 1/3rd of the fleet (20 of 60 carts) each year....at first though (when all carts were the same age) it left us with some hurting carts, which were in their 5th year of usage before the change-out policy kicked in for those 20.  We always used those 20 last and kept them in another barn unless absolutely needed.


The electronics in the carts and the chargers have gotten much better, more advanced in the last 10 years and so battery issues have lessened.


To be honest the costliest problem I've noticed with electric carts are the chargers themselves which are continually getting damage by being pulled/falling out of their elevated perch...the cart companies don't cover that in their maintenance contracts and so the outside managers/pros are a bear on that point to the staff.


cheers   vk

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks for the thoughts. Sounds expensive!
What about such things as turf compaction and alleviation, grass types/stress, design/routing in relation to traffic, slopes and no-go areas, drainage/wet areas?
atb

[Wayne_Kozun]

I agree with you Thomas there are a lot of hidden costs that are not taken into account.  If you had pretty much no motorized carts then it would substantially lessen your costs including not needing paved cart paths, curbs, etc.  And you wouldn't need a shed to store them in, you wouldn't need the chargers, etc.  You would have lots of space that could be used for productive activities rather than storing and staging carts.  I don't think most courses/clubs do a full and proper accounting when they say that carts provide additional income to the club.


But in North America, with very few exceptions, you have to offer carts to your members/clients.  So it is: in for a penny, in for a pound.

[V. Kmetz]

First another hidden cost...the raise in property tax assessment for any macadam/asphalt improvement or increase in total cart path footage...


But guys, one thing is that these shouldn't be/aren't hidden costs to club operators and personnel; and the carts are a clear profit for anyone who has a halfway decent fleet that is regularly used.


Once the lease terms I described were in their fourth year, I kept calculations and each cart cleared $2000 a year over their three year lease life.... (I don't know by how much the associated service contract lessened that figure)


I think this is true both in the public and private mode, even though public course are sure enough, where you'll find more gas carts, more old carts, more beaten up carts, more owned carts...they won't spring for the fancy newer models and the lease agreements, because they feel they can't pass on that $2000 a year  in that way to a public clientele. They try to make however more by spending less on the front end...secondary market carts, carts past a healthy battery life, carts not regularly serviced by mechanics...they may even own them in some cases.


cheers   vk

[Jay Mickle]

I can understand where carts are a profit center and an additional charge is added to the greens fee.  Here in the Sandhills of North Carolina it is the practice to include the cart fee in the greens fee. Many who would walk if charged an additional $25+ fee take the cart because they feel that they have paid for it. Hence, many of the hidden costs of carts are increased with no additional revenue offset.🤔

[Garland Bayley]

I can understand where carts are a profit center and an additional charge is added to the greens fee.  Here in the Sandhills of North Carolina it is the practice to include the cart fee in the greens fee. Many who would walk if charged an additional $25+ fee take the cart because they feel that they have paid for it. Hence, many of the hidden costs of carts are increased with no additional revenue offset.🤔

Sorry, but many people refuse to play where they have to pay for a cart to walk. How's that for a revenue offset?

[Mike_Young]

I can understand where carts are a profit center and an additional charge is added to the greens fee.  Here in the Sandhills of North Carolina it is the practice to include the cart fee in the greens fee. Many who would walk if charged an additional $25+ fee take the cart because they feel that they have paid for it. Hence, many of the hidden costs of carts are increased with no additional revenue offset.🤔

Sorry, but many people refuse to play where they have to pay for a cart to walk. How's that for a revenue offset?

Garland,
I don't think most owners would worry about it. 

[Garland Bayley]

I can understand where carts are a profit center and an additional charge is added to the greens fee.  Here in the Sandhills of North Carolina it is the practice to include the cart fee in the greens fee. Many who would walk if charged an additional $25+ fee take the cart because they feel that they have paid for it. Hence, many of the hidden costs of carts are increased with no additional revenue offset.🤔

Sorry, but many people refuse to play where they have to pay for a cart to walk. How's that for a revenue offset?

Garland,
I don't think most owners would worry about it.

Yep, they are too worried about whether or not they will have to close the operation. 😎