A number of country
clubs began to develop
private courses during
the closing decades of
the nineteenth century,
and the United States
Golf Association (USGA)
was founded in 1894.
However, those Ameri-
can golfers who did not
belong to clubs often played
the game without designated
courses until after World War
II, using such sites as open
fields, orchards, and cow pas-
tures. The war’s end freed up
earth-moving equipment for
recreational use, and, as many
more private and public courses
were constructed, record num-
bers of Americans took up the
game. The self-propelled golf
cart as we know it today came
into use in the early 1950s. In
1953 only a few of the most ex-
The first step in golf cart
manufacture is floor and
body panel fabrication,
which is done by sheet
metal shearing or molding,
depending on the material
used. Next, the chassis or
frame is made by cutting,
beveling, and arc-welding
the tubular pieces.
clusive golf clubs owned motor
driven carts, but by 1959 the
little motor-driven carts could
be seen just about everywhere.
While caddies are still available
at private clubs, health-con-
scious players on public courses
often prefer to carry their bags
or rent hand-drawn carts, the
power-driven cart has supersed-
ed both of these options.
Raw Materials
The frames of golf carts are
usually made out of steel plates,
rods, and tubing. The bodies
may be made of sheet alumi-
num, fiber glass, or sheet steel.
Other components, usually plas-
tic or metal, are generally pur-
chased from outside suppliers
and assembled to the vehicle.
These include components such
as tires, which are made out of
rubber; seat cushions, which
typically consist of foam cush-
ion covered by vinyl; steering
mechanisms, made of metal;
and motors, brakes, batteries,
transaxles, suspensions, drive
trains, and electrical cables.
er draws the first line.
Should the body be made
from steel, aluminum,
fiber glass, or wood?
Should it seat two, four,
or six passengers? Is it to
have an electric or a gaso-
line engine? Must the cart
have a powerful engine
and strong brakes to nav-
igate hills, or a small engine to
insure efficient operation? Once
the capabilities, materials, and
appearance are decided upon,
a designer uses an integrated
CAD/CAM (Computer Aided
Design/Computer Aided Man-
ufacturing) system to draw the
cart and all its components on
the computer screen. Next, the
shop makes a prototype cart
that will be used to test the new
design. If the design proves suc-
cessful, the production system
is set up and the manufacturing
process begins. Generally, once
a design proves to be a good
seller it will not be changed
from year to year. There are few
style trends in golf cart design:
the vehicle is, after all, largely
utilitarian.
Part 2 Coming in the
December 2018 issue
Design
There is no standard design for
a golf cart. Many choices must
be made before the design-
NOVEMBER 2018
29