The traditional golf cart is a wonderful thing. It’s an easy way to get to your ball, covering long (or not so long) distances in a fraction of the time it would take to walk. In Arizona, carts provide crucial shade and, for some players, a crucial place to store cold beverages. Golf doesn’t need an improved golf cart, but perhaps it needs an alternative.
Cue the 60’s surf music.
Cruising gracefully along the 9th fairway, Assistant Golf Professional Dan Bubany, leaves long ‘S’ shaped tracks in the emerald grass at La Paloma Country Club as he rolls on a Golf Board, which is part Segway, part surfboard, and part tradition golf hand cart.
“People, when they walk up to it, say ‘oh man this looks great’ and they want to get out there and ride it,” Bubany said.
La Paloma acquired a few of the boards about a year ago as it works to attract younger players.
“Before you know it you're racing with your buddies, you're having a good time, and what you're going to take away from the overall golf experience may have golf in the background its more about the golf board,” he said.
Driving the board is simple, riders hold down a tab on the handle bars and lean to steer. Balance and confidence are crucial.
Bubany says the board provides a benefit traditional carts cannot this time of the year La Paloma allows them on fairways while winter grass comes in.
How does it help a player’s game? “It helps you forget about your game,” Bubany said with a chuckle. “So if you're not a good player the golf becomes secondary.”
So, if a golfer's game goes south, least the surfing can be good.
