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Trying to understand the point to an electric push cart?

Yea it's quite clear based off of the responses I was super underestimating the physicality of pushing a cart. I had also never considered the idea of bringing the cart to you instead of having to walk back to it when you left it off in the distance to putt or look for a ball, so great feedback.
 
V14_Heels said:
I think there's a pretty big difference from walking and not walking a course, to pushing a cart vs. using a remote to drive the cart. Your still having to walk which is really the bigger component of it. I'm sorry it didn't fit your temperature check of being a super cool question. But many have highlighted other things outside of just pushing the cart which is precisely what I was looking for.
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So the multiple, numerous advantages are:

1) You don't have to push it.
2) You don't get as tired because you don't have to push it.
3) It's nice in hot weather or going up hills because you don't have to push it.
4) If it has a remote you can send it around the greens without having to push it.

Sorry, that's exactly one advantage. You don't have to push it.
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
So the multiple, numerous advantages are:

1) You don't have to push it.
2) You don't get as tired because you don't have to push it.
3) It's nice in hot weather or going up hills because you don't have to push it.
4) If it has a remote you can send it around the greens without having to push it.

Sorry, that's exactly one advantage. You don't have to push it.
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Bringing the cart to you after searching or putting was a benefit I didn't see. That doesn't exactly have to do with pushing it. It saves energy because you don't have to backtrack to pick up the cart, but it also saves time. So that was a benefit that didn't have a whole lot to do with pushing it.

But overall I'm not gonna sit here and argue about the value of the question. I'm at 2 pages and counting, people were eager to discuss it. No one is forcing you to be a part of the thread my man.
 
V14_Heels said:
So I'm definitely not in the pushcart mafia. I rarely walk to be honest, but it's only because I play all over the place and generally the cart is included. I'm very much considering a membership at either a semi-private or private club, and rarely are the cart fees included, so in this case it makes sense financially to walk as much as I can.

Which leads me to my question, I don't know that I really understand the advantage of an electric cart? Is it literally that I just don't have to push it? Or are they more intuitive than I realize as in they are pretty much self driving based off of GPS? I'm just trying to justify the 1000+ dollars if I were to go down this route? What are all the advantages I may be missing over a good ol push cart?
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Basically, its that it allows people to walk without having to push the cart. For some, they have some physical limitation, some just think its cool and some are just lazy.
Im with you. I dont get it either but some people like them. Ive seen some where you just kind of walk and it automatically follows you and thats kind of cool because its almost like having a caddy but its not worth it to me. Hey, to each their own.
 
Bought an electric trolley when I hit 50. Carrying had become a problem, and the chiropractor was seeing too much of my wallet. Never looked back.

Most seniors here use one and have two batteries , one on one off.
 
I'm getting older, and 50 is in the year view mirror, but I have no issues pushing my BagBoy Quad with a Sun Mountain Sync loaded up on it.

The courses I play is rather hilly, and you can feel it going up a few of the hills, but it doesn't bother me yet.

I will say my back gave me a hard stop to carrying several years ago, and the switch to a push cart was more amazing than I'd ever imagined. It makes me wonder if the difference between a push cart and simply walking the course would be similar????
 
Shoot I'm 37 and the thing that is holding me back from a membership is having to walk the course. Almost no memberships include the cart fee, so it kind "forces" you to walk it to get value out of it, and I just don't think my lower back can handle it twice a week or whatever I'd end up playing.
 
Badger_Golfer said:
Basically, its that it allows people to walk without having to push the cart. For some, they have some physical limitation, some just think its cool and some are just lazy.
Im with you. I dont get it either but some people like them. Ive seen some where you just kind of walk and it automatically follows you and thats kind of cool because its almost like having a caddy but its not worth it to me. Hey, to each their own.
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goalie said:
I'm getting older, and 50 is in the year view mirror, but I have no issues pushing my BagBoy Quad with a Sun Mountain Sync loaded up on it.

The courses I play is rather hilly, and you can feel it going up a few of the hills, but it doesn't bother me yet.

I will say my back gave me a hard stop to carrying several years ago, and the switch to a push cart was more amazing than I'd ever imagined. It makes me wonder if the difference between a push cart and simply walking the course would be similar????
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V14_Heels said:
Shoot I'm 37 and the thing that is holding me back from a membership is having to walk the course. Almost no memberships include the cart fee, so it kind "forces" you to walk it to get value out of it, and I just don't think my lower back can handle it twice a week or whatever I'd end up playing.
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Walking along freely with your arms swinging is simply something you have to experience. Read the first posts of people who use them and you'll read the amazement. I hope you guys get a chance to try one some time.
 
I wouldn't carry or push a cart in the summer here in NE FL. The motorized cart allows me to do so and feel pretty good after the round. Pushing, I was spent.
 
NEhomer said:
Walking along freely with your arms swinging is simply something you have to experience. Read the first posts of people who use them and you'll read the amazement. I hope you guys get a chance to try one some time.
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Oh, I get the appeal of them. It just seems like a frivolous, unnecessary luxury to me. Like I said to each their own.
 
The other advantage is that you can use a staff bag for your medication.
 
Personally, I love the electric buggy. Yes its true, you don't have to push it! I have a terrible back and cannot carry for eighteen or I would, I actually love the walk, thats a great part of me enjoying the game. I will still use a cart if its really hilly (especially side slope) as this damages my back or if its just unpleasantly hot, however, walking is what I prefer and having the electric buggy means I can still walk. Each to their own, I look at those in carts and don't really understand that (except in the cases I noted), but its really not up to me to question what others do. The electric buggy has increased the number of years I can walk the course for and I am a huge fan of them. I use the remote, but could happily go without that. If I play nine on a flat course, I will still carry, just because I like it...
 
So I have used all 3 options , and when 50 had motorised buggy , having played all over the country and variety of courses topography. From this individuals point of view, l don’t have affinity for the motorised buggy much prefer , walking and pushing and yes I am 60 now.

That said I am in fairly good health, just accept it as part of the game and get on with the next shot . Driving around in carts is ok for novelty particularly with courses with some distance between green and next hole tee.

Yes we get very hot dry weather , variations between 2-46 deg c. So you get long stretches of hot summers .

What ever you choose ask are you getting value from it ? Or is there a alternate ?
 
The more hills the course has, the more you will come to appreciate an electric push trolley over a standard push trolley if you go down that route

We both have a standard push trolley, but we also have an electric one that I use when I am the only one playing, but Jen uses it if we are both out, and I can feel a difference at certain points on our home course where we have a couple of climbs, especially if the weather is warmer

I personally don't see the need for a remote controlled one, as the additional cost of those models doesn't outweigh the few benefits - I just set the pace of the electric one and walk along either behind or beside it, but even keeping one hand on the handle doesn't cause any other fatigue on arms or shoulders
 
When remote controls first came out, there were some teething problems. One of our group, a guy who always wanted to show off what he had bought took great pleasure in testing the remote, until it was heading towards the lake. He did not realise that if it went out of range , it kept going................splash!

We did enjoy....:p
 
Leftyuk said:
When remote controls first came out, there were some teething problems. One of our group, a guy who always wanted to show off what he had bought took great pleasure in testing the remote, until it was heading towards the lake. He did not realise that if it went out of range , it kept going................splash!

We did enjoy....:p
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Oh dear heavens...lol that sucks.

Yea, I love all the feedback. I think if I was to finally lock into a membership that forces me to walk the course all the time I'd probably invest in one. But overall I'm still in the camp of I can't justify the cost of even the cheapest memberships in the area. There's a local course that was in great shape that is only $220 a month but you can only have tee times after 1 PM. So kind of like a "twilight-esque" membership. But that doesn't include range which is another $20 a month, and then cart fee is $18. So i'd have to golf all of 8 times a month for it to have value over all the courses I can play for $30-$40 that I get to ride a cart on. It's tough.
 
Just to be clear, by “forced to walk” you mean you want to walk to keep from paying cart fees?

If this is all just about saving money the best deal is a sub-$200 push cart (whatever brand looks decent and is on sale) and not a $1,000+ electric trolley.

These things have a finite working life and it will take a lot of rounds avoiding a cart fee to pay for anything beyond the most bare bones electric model. Maybe you to do a trial run for a little while before committing to a big cost like that.

In a lot of geographical areas any private club membership is going to be hard to justify on a cost per round basis. And as you’ve noted if you were going to ride in a cart every time it’s almost impossible to find a better private deal then playing at some of the cheaper public options.

My advice is figure out what way of playing golf you enjoy the most. If you enjoy it more riding then pay the cart fee. If you enjoy it more walking than try a pushcart or maybe get an electric trolley. If the private courses are more enjoyable to play then it’s worth the cost just for the better course. If not, stick to the public ones assuming you can find some you enjoy playing.
 
In my opinion, and i don’t mean this to sound ummm, odd, if you have to ask then you’ll never understand no matter how many times it’s explained.

it’s simple, you use more energy pushing or carrying than you do with an electric cart. That usually allows the player to conserve energy and play better deeper into the round. What else would want to know or expect to hear?
 
For those that already on a pushcart the alphard e wheels v2 is an EXCELLENT option and far less costly with the thp discount.
 
I walk about 85% of my rounds and use a pushcart. We have about 90 members with electric pushcarts at our club, and a buddy in my Wednesday group uses one. He does it to save energy and wear and tear on his 71-year-old body. He has arthritis, and the electric pushcart allows him to walk all of his rounds and he plays about 20 round each month. I'm guessing someday I will want/need an electric pushcart, but for now, I'm don't feel physically tired or strained pushing mine even if I walk my rounds 3 or 4 days in a row.
 
A few weeks ago they aerated the fairways with the big tines. So very, very bumpy until they (finally) healed up. One of the few times I missed my old electric trolley was pushing my Speed Cart up the one really steep hill on our course on a brutally hot day right after the fairways were punched. I literally had to stop halfway up the hill and rest for a minute. Rolling the cart over those little potholes made it feel like I was pushing a 75lb staff bag.

My buddy with an electric trolley was just sedately strolling up the hill following the trolley. He look back and saw me struggling and I said, "You know, I hate you right now".
 
Et Tu Brute? said:
Just to be clear, by “forced to walk” you mean you want to walk to keep from paying cart fees?

If this is all just about saving money the best deal is a sub-$200 push cart (whatever brand looks decent and is on sale) and not a $1,000+ electric trolley.

These things have a finite working life and it will take a lot of rounds avoiding a cart fee to pay for anything beyond the most bare bones electric model. Maybe you to do a trial run for a little while before committing to a big cost like that.

In a lot of geographical areas any private club membership is going to be hard to justify on a cost per round basis. And as you’ve noted if you were going to ride in a cart every time it’s almost impossible to find a better private deal then playing at some of the cheaper public options.

My advice is figure out what way of playing golf you enjoy the most. If you enjoy it more riding then pay the cart fee. If you enjoy it more walking than try a pushcart or maybe get an electric trolley. If the private courses are more enjoyable to play then it’s worth the cost just for the better course. If not, stick to the public ones assuming you can find some you enjoy playing.
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Yes, forced to walk because if I have to pay $20 each time on top of the membership it just serves very little value to me. But yes you are right in what your saying, the public course options are definitely still outweighing the private course options for me.

And before everyone goes bananas on me, I realize there are more benefits to a private club than simply unlimited play. I'm weighing it all, but I was strictly just trying to understand how much an electric cart is helping the walkers of the world, and overall the consensus seems to be it helps quite a bit, especially if you have back issues, or arthritis etc.
 
A) it is way cooler to control it with a remote
B) the walk around the course is a better experience IMO
C) that time you are out of position and your push cart is on the wrong side of the green, well with a remote I can have it move towards the walk off spot or even the next tee while still taking care of business on the green.
D) circle back to A.
 
The golfers I play with over a typical month probably average somewhere in their late 60's. The ones with electric trolleys (maybe 10-15%?) don't seem to all be the oldest or with the ones with most physical issues to deal with. I really think the electric trolley users just have them because they enjoy not having to push. Some of the guys in their 70's and early 80's still have the old fashioned push carts and manage just fine.

The one caveat is that 90% of our course is pretty flat and easy to walk (that one big hill excepted). I do think the number and type of electric trolley users might be very different on a super hilly course.
 
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