A History of Golf Carts
While the game of golf has been around for centuries, having been invented in Scotland during the Middle Ages, the means of transportation that most golfers use these days has only been around for several decades. Golf carts displaced walking as the way that most golfers get around the course, making the game faster to play and also more accessible for players with disabilities. Golf carts have also become a versatile vehicle for many other purposes. This brief history of golf carts will tell you all you need to know.
Prior to the 1950s
Golf carts became popular during the mid-20th century, but the first model was designed around 1932 by Lyman Beecher, a golfer with chronic health issues who struggled to navigate the vast course on foot. He wanted to play the game, so he created a rickshaw-type vehicle that two caddies pulled from hole to hole, allowing him to participate in his favorite sport. He debuted this creation at the Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, North Carolina. Adding a few batteries and two more wheels made the cart independently propelled, although it could not travel very long distances.
Most able-bodied golfers chose to continue walking the course, but disabled golfers were delighted at the prospect of this new, if somewhat rudimentary, form of transportation, which would pave the way for today’s electric golf carts after further refinements.
Mid-20th Century Developments
It was a Texas oil baron named R.J. Jackson who first built a three-wheeled gas-powered golf cart in the 1950s, earning himself a patent. He christened his cart the “Arthritis Special” as it was also used by disabled golfers, but golf courses banned the cart initially due to the noise and smoke it produced.
However, other manufacturers took note and began to produce both gas and electric golf carts between the 1950s and the 1970s, and celebrities began to use golf carts to improve their games. Soon, golf courses had no choice but to permit the vehicles, which had become much more refined and less noisy, so they didn’t create nearly as much of a disturbance as they had previously.
Today’s Carts
In the 21st century, you can seek out a gas-powered or an electric-powered golf cart, depending on your needs and wants. Golf carts can seat anywhere from two to eight passengers, and they have cargo spaces, dashboards with radios, windshields, canopies, and all kinds of other comfort-minded features that make golfing and other endeavors more enjoyable.
In search of golf carts for sale in Rockledge, FL? Stop by one of our dealership locations in Rockledge or Palm Bay today or browse our website to check out our full inventory of new and used golf carts for sale. Golf Cart Center of Rockledge serves Cocoa West & Cocoa Beach as well as Palm Shores and Merritt Island, FL.