There is a saying that golf’s beauty “lies in between shots.’’ The meaning, of course, is that golf is best played and experienced when walking. Players, particularly in the United Kingdom, have lived by that mantra for over 500 years. Spoiled Americans, on the other hand, prefer hitching rides on golf cars.
Over the past five years, however, Stewart Golf has been making strides (pardon the pun) in changing the playing habits of habitual riders. Its collection of electric golf caddies is the most stable and user-friendly on the market.
How user friendly? Consider that the Stewart Q Follow combines handsfree “Follow’’ technology and ultra-responsive Remote functionality, each providing unimpeded freedom and control anywhere on course. In other words, it’s a caddie that doesn’t talk back, and you don’t have to feed.
The Stewart Golf VERTX, meanwhile, includes a first in golf: Active Terrain Control (ATC), which company Founder/CEO Mark Stewart describes as a sophisticated operating system that gives the user “ultimate control” of their trolley on any course, no matter how challenging its landscape. The Q Follow and each of the VERTX models easily fold and are lightweight.
“Small enough to fit in the front trunk of a Porsche,’’ Stewart told me with a smile.
Made in the UK and with a warehouse office in Houston, each cart has a 90-day, fully refundable trial period.
Truth be told, there really is nothing like any Stewart Golf trolley (cart) on the market today.
VERTX (Stewart Golf)
“Most of our customers are regular golfers,’’ said Stewart, who founded the company in 2008.“Since Covid, there has been a big walking boom (in the U.S.). Our business tripled overnight and continues to grow.’’
To be sure, Stewart Golf trolleys aren’t inexpensive. A Q Follow, for example, currently has a sale price of $2,199. But Stewart said that considering the future savings on not having to rent pull carts or golf cars, as well as the physical fitness each trolley provides through walking, and the costs reduce considerably.
Stewart cites the results of a study on fitness conducted by Professor Graeme Close of Liverpool John Moores University. Published in the European Journal of Sports Science, the study reveals the “truth” about golf’s health benefits, including how switching to an electric golf caddie could make you feel better, perform better, and still burn the same calories as carrying or pushing.
“We can prove the calories that you burn,’’ Stewart said. “We can’t measure how you feel, but we know there is more romance to walking. It’s a more enjoyable place of play. It’s about the cadence inside you that says, ‘This is what we should be doing.’’’
Feature Photo: Q Follow (Stewart Golf)
