SoloRider Golf Cars Helping Municipalities Comply With Accessibility Issues and Generate Revenues
Municipalities throughout the U.S. are discovering
a way to bring golf back into the lives of community residents while
increasing golf course revenues. Their discovery is a golf car designed and
engineered to get people with limited mobility back in the game.
In addition to privately owned public access golf courses, more and more
municipalities are adding the innovative vehicle at their courses as a way
to address accessibility issues defined by the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990. (The ADA provides comprehensive civil rights protections to
individuals with disabilities in the areas of employment, public
accommodations, and state and local government services.)
Municipalities also see the vehicle as a socially responsible way to provide
for the needs of their communities.
“We purchased our first SoloRider in 2004 with the intention of making golf
accessible to the entire community,” said Doug Stultz, golf manager at the
Hamilton County Park District in Cincinnati, Ohio. “The SoloRiders have
enabled us to reach out to the community, create awareness and continue to
build programs designed to meet the needs of golfers with disabilities who
want to play the game again.”
The SoloRider single-passenger golf car features a turf-friendly design that
makes it safe to go onto tees and greens, reducing the amount of walking
required and giving players greater access to the course. The car, which
meets or exceeds all applicable ANSI safety standards, features a stand-up
seat and hand controls for braking and acceleration. The patented seat
swivels and positions players in an infinite number of positions from which
to play their shots without leaving the comfort and safety of the car. The
car’s top speed of 14 mph is the same as a standard fleet golf car.
SoloRider golf cars not only help municipalities comply with accessibility
guidelines and promote recreational opportunities, they also create
incremental revenues, according to city and county officials who have
purchased the vehicles.
Stultz says there’s now an “active crowd” of 25 to 30 new golfers who come
to Hamilton County courses to use the single-rider cars to play and hit
balls on the range. He estimates the group played 100-125 rounds last year
and probably accounted for at least twice that many additional rounds based
on the able-bodied players they brought to the course.
Hamilton County’s experience inspired the City of Cincinnati to purchase
three SoloRiders; one more is on the way, compliments of a grant from the
United States Golf Assoc. Steve Pacella, regional manager for Billy Casper
Golf, which manages Cincinnati’s eight public courses, cites the
“trickle-down economic effect” of single-riders.
“The direct revenue they generate isn’t as significant as the indirect
revenue,” he said. “If I have three of these cars available, that may
inspire a league of players that we didn’t have before. If there’s a kid
with a disability who wants to play, that may get his whole family out
here.”
Pacella says the additional revenues complement the social importance of
helping people in his community spend time on the course. “To be honest,
we’re not worried about the dollars we recover from the carts,” he said.
“Whether they go out one time or 100 times, we know we’re doing the right
thing and helping people enjoy the game.”
In addition to Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati courses, a number
of well known municipal courses including Torrey Pines in San Diego, which
will host this year’s U.S. Open; Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y.,
which will host the U.S. Open in 2009; and the Santa Barbara Golf Club have
added SoloRiders to their fleets.
“The big challenge is awareness,” says Richard Chavez, director of golf for
the city-owned Santa Barbara Golf Club. “When you get people to actually use
the cart, they think it’s awesome. I remember one gentleman who must have
thanked me 20 times after playing a round in the cart.”
About SoloRider
Established in 1991, Centennial, Colo.-based SoloRider Management LLC
manufactures and distributes the industry’s leading single-rider golf car.
SoloRider is the only single-rider golf car that meets or exceeds the
safety, performance, stability, speed and suspension standards of
conventional golf cars. In 2002, SoloRider received the prestigious da Vinci
Award from the Engineering Society of Detroit in recognition of innovations
that empowered all people, regardless of physical ability. For more
information, please go to
www.solorider.com.