THE WANDERING GOLFER:
WHEN Marty McFly rode a hoverboard in the 1985 movie Back to the Future we were impressed by the special effects but knew it would never happen in real life.
Thirty years on, people are using them on the golf course.
At Curlewis Golf Club on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, passers-by are startled to see golfers gliding along the fairways on the GolfBoard with their clubs, dismounting to play a shot and then taking off again at speed.
Only closer examination reveals they are not levitating but standing on an electric fourwheel drive system, which has forward and reverse gears and is guided by moving your weight as on a surfboard or skateboard. Speed is controlled by a ‘dead man’s grip’ throttle and while there are no brakes, it stops when you let go.
It is doubtful if they’ll catch on at Augusta National or St Andrews any time soon but it is easy to see their appeal to a place like Curlewis, which has its own club but relies heavily on green fee players.
Unlike the Segway-style hoverboards of Christmases past that had batteries liable to catch fire, the GolfBoard has good technology and is easy to learn to ride, says Curlewis manager Brenden Caligari.
“We introduced them in July last year,” said the man who had spent his previous 10 years as sponsorship manager for the Geelong football Club. “They are a perfect fit for our club.”
The boards are hand-made in America and sold in Australia for around $12,000.
“We have four. If a club looked at them in terms of a financial return, you’d question their value,” Caligari added. “You can imagine going to a committee meeting and hearing: ‘You want to spend $48,000 on these? You’re nuts.’ But they have put us on the map. We had a lot of coverage in the main newspapers across Australia which would probably cost more.
“The PGA of America called it the best new product in 2015. Its four-wheel drive causes no damage to the course. We’ve tried hard to damage the turf with them and we can’t. Whenever we do something different here, we try our best to see what it will do and allow for the idiot element. We tried pretty hard to do things we thought idiots would do and did not get into any trouble.
“Players are unlikely to ride into a hidden bunker because the view standing up is better than being seated in golf cart. In the unlikely event of getting too close to a bunker, you just step off. We have not had one in a bunker yet.
“The boards are suitable for older players but not for those with a disability because they require a level of fitness. We’ve had ladies in their 70s on them. We are happy to hire them to young golfers aged 14 and upwards. Most kids have started to fill out by this age and you need your body weight to make turns, like on a surfboard. The under-14s, including my own son, struggle a bit. About 45 kilos is the lower limit.
“Most of the physical work is done around your core. After 18 holes, the quads are a bit tighter the next day. We took part in a street parade in Geelong earlier this year and did about 10 kilometres surfing all over the road. I pulled up a bit stiff the next day.
“A golf purist would look down his nose at them but he would probably look the same way at Curlewis. If you look at our dress code you will see that we are not your normal club. You will see our pro (Steve Brodie) wearing a T-shirt. If you look at (nearby)
“Barwon Heads they have a wonderful course where they uphold tradition beautifully. We hope they never change. There are a lot of clubs trying to find their point of difference. On our course you can play with your shirt out and you can wear your cap in the clubhouse.”
Other points of difference – since the course was purchased in 2015 by husband and wife team of wine and cider makers David and Lyndsay Sharp – are a rabbit-proof fence and this year’s introduction of footgolf. The club was facing bankruptcy and losing members fast. These innovations by the Sharps, who are also members at Barwon Heads, have turned this around and membership has risen from below 500 to 647 – an increase of better than five a week.
Players are now coming from Melbourne, 100 kilometres away, on a regular basis just to ride the GolfBoards and happily pay the $30 hire charge. And Australian golf’s first rabbit-proof fence is getting on top of the problem.