Taking the Walk Out of the Game: Public Golf Courses Mandate Carts

EAST MEADOW — One lady on Long Island is boycotting her favorite course. A man in Florida has published a book and even filed lawsuits to defend his rights. And a former golf executive thinks the game, under these circumstances, shouldn’t even be called golf.“It ought to be called ‘cart ball,’ it isn’t golf,” a bona fide golf purist who once served as president of the United States Golf Association and won an NCAA golf championship at Stanford, Sandy Tatum, said.A growing number of cities and counties are mandating the use of electric or gas-powered carts, believing they are necessary to speed the pace of play and therefore allow more golfers access to the course.Officials in Nassau County, on Long Island, came under fire last month when they announced that carts would be required for anyone wishing to play its premier municipal 18-hole course — Eisenhower Red, a Robert Trent Jones-designed loop that annually hosts a PGA “Champions Tour” event for golf professionals older than 50.It is not known how many other courses around the country have similar policies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it has become more of an issue in densely populated areas where large numbers of people are competing for relatively small number of tee times.Nassau County officials argued that Eisenhower Red is so popular that carts are necessary to keep up the pace of play. They contend that anyone who wants to walk can still use the county’s two adjacent 18-hole courses at the park named in honor of one of the country’s best-known presidential duffers.Of course, the added income from golfers paying up to $29 each to rent a cart won’t hurt the bottom line in a county that only several years ago teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.“We’re not doing it for the money,” Deputy County Executive Peter Gerbasi told reporters after the policy went into effect. “We’re trying to make the course more available to more people.”Adrienne Danzig of Westbury isn’t buying it. She is among the golfers who contend that mandating the use of carts is anathema to the sport they love.“I love to walk,” she said on a recent summer morning as she prepared to grab her pull cart from the trunk of her car. “I think golf is made for walking unless you’re at a resort where you have to walk a mile to the next hole. I’ve played here for many years, love to walk, love the Red Course, and they have completely destroyed this option.”Rich Martorana of Massapequa said it was wrong to mandate the use of carts, especially on a public course. He also questions whether carts have actually made for quicker rounds.“I use carts with my friend all the time,” he said. “However, you shouldn’t force people on a public golf course to now take up a cart. And it doesn’t speed up play. It hasn’t improved anything. … I think the county is simply making money on the deal.”Despite the exercise benefit, there are plenty of golfers would prefer that they never have to lug around a set of golf clubs for several miles on a hot summer day. They want to drive up to their ball, hit, and move on to the next shot — and hopefully finish their round in four hours.Mr. Tatum isn’t one of them.He argues that charging extra for carts inhibits people from all economic classes from enjoying the game.“I think it’s outrageous that they add that charge. One of the important problems we are trying to address is how to make golf accessible. Add that to the cost of golf and you deprive some people from coming out.”

Taking the Walk Out of the Game: Public Golf Courses Mandate Carts

Taking the Walk Out of the Game: Public Golf Courses Mandate Carts

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