South Africa’s top golf resorts are turning to Club Car, the world’s largest manufacturer of small-wheel electric vehicles, to help cope with increasing demand for rounds on courses where golf cars are compulsory.
Sun City Resort, known for its two Gary Player designed courses, purchased 50 Tempo cars and two Café Express Utility vehicles in late 2021 while The Els Club Copperleaf, home to the second ‘Signature’ Ernie Els designed golf course in South Africa, extended its long-standing relationship with Club Car by implementing a fleet of 70 Tempo Lithium-Ion cars with Club Car Connect.
St Francis Links, located 100kms from Port Elizabeth and the first course to invest in Club Car’s Connect technology in December 2010, which prompted a surge of other South African venues to follow suit, also invested in a new 45-strong fleet through Smith Power, Club Car’s official South African distributor.
Ken Payet, Sun City Resort General Manager – Sports and Recreation, said: “The new fleet has been a huge positive because of its outstanding reliability. Not only have the vehicles allowed groups going out to play 18 holes at Lost City followed by 18 holes at Gary Player to keep the same cars for the entire day, they also enabled us to factor in many more rounds on the Lost City course when the Gary Player one was closed for the DP World Tour Nedbank Golf Challenge.”
Echoing Ken Payet’s comments on Club Car’s product performance and reliability, Els Club Copperleaf Director of Golf Thinus Rosslee said: “Club Car’s Lithium-Ion technology is market-leading. These batteries can charge twice as quickly as acid batteries, helping us save on electricity costs, while the USB charging ports on the cars help us ensure users can keep their devices charged at all times, making for a more enjoyable round and a more memorable overall experience at the club.”
St Francis Links CEO Jeff Clause, who operated his first Club Car fleet in Texas in the 1980s, praised Club Car’s fleet management technology, stating: “Club Car Connect is such a vital tool – not only can we communicate with people on the course and they can with us, we can also remotely check the car’s battery charge, where it is on the course, etc.
“With our guests coming from all over the world, the technology is very intuitive. It’s the push of a button to change from yards to metres, to contact the pro shop, the halfway house. It’s fantastic.”
All three agreed that, in terms of technicality, innovation, reliability and value for money, Club Car is a sound investment; coupled with Smith Power’s exemplary after sale service and maintenance support, “you have an unbeatable package.”
Club Car supplies many of the world’s leading golf destinations with its wide range of vehicles and is an official supplier to the DP World Tour, the 2023 Ryder Cup, the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) and St Andrews Links Trust.
For more information on Club Car visit: www.clubcar.com
For more information on:
Sun City Resort visit: https://www.suninternational.com/sun-city/activities/golf/
Els Club Copperleaf visit: https://copper-leaf.co.za
St Francis Links visit: https://stfrancislinks.com