Leaning Edge

Properties that offer personal transporters as an added amenity say it gives them a leg up on providing a memorable golfing experience.

by Joe Barks (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
June 2007
 

Properties offering personal transporters (PTs) as an option to golf carts now range from high-end resort courses like Tiburón Golf Club (above) to municipals in California that have as many as 20 PTs in their rental fleets.

There’s no shortage of impressive sights that catch your eye at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Fla.—from the way the grand hotel is reflected in the pristine pond across from the main entrance, to the classic mahogany billiard tables in The Bar, to the marble baths in the guest rooms. And the variety of intriguing visions continues at the resort’s Greg Norman-designed Tiburón Golf Club, with its stacked sod-wall bunkers, coquina sand, and semi-circle of pure-white Adirondack chairs arranged perfectly around the practice green.

During this past winter, reports Director of Golf Mark Bazley, a new sight at Tiburón seemed to generate as many comments from members and guests as all of these other wonders. After hosting the Merrill Lynch Shootout in November 2006—during which its developer and operator, WCI Communities, Inc., gave a Segway x2 Golf model to the winner of the Closest to the Pin contest held during the Shootout’s Pro-Am—Tiburón added nine x2 Golf units to its rental fleet, as an option to golf cars. And instead of keeping them all in the cart staging area, one of the units was positioned in a foyer near the entrance to the golf shop.

“Having it out where people could see it really got a lot of attention,” says Bazley. “Just about every day we’d have people stop and say, ‘Hey, is that a Segway? That’s neat; can I use it?’ ”

The on-the-spot marketing opportunities prompted by the display led to a steady stream of rentals—at a $45 premium over regular cart fees—during Tiburón’s peak months of winter play, Bazley reports.

“We expect to see them used less during the summer, as it gets hot and we start to have more price-conscious customers,” he notes. “But for the first three months of the [peak season], they were going out regularly. Everyone who took them out really seemed to enjoy them and said they had a great time riding the course that way, and indicated they would be back to do it again.”

Tiburón’s experience mirrors that of a growing and varied group of properties that have decided to include personal transporters (PTs) in their amenities mix, as they seek to continually offer new ways to enhance the golfing experience.
“It’s like the air-conditioned carts we’ve added, or our special golf fitness programs, or our cooled, covered driving range,” says Ryan Eckroat, Head Golf Pro at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Arizona, where Segway PTs have been available to golfers since 2005. “Any new pieces we can find that will add to someone’s enjoyment of the game is something we want to try to provide.”

Studies have shown that PTs are kinder to turf than golf carts; course operators also like the light-electric vehicles’ ease of maintenance.

The Westin Kierland has also recognized the unique marketing appeal of the equipment. The resort includes two photos of golfers riding Segway PTs on its Web page of “Essence of Kierland” photos, right along with other unique features of the property such as its flowing river, water slide, Western-themed saloons, and the Scottish bagpiper who plays each night at sunset.

The resort also uses Segway PTs behind the scenes, with security and maintenance staff finding them useful for decreasing response times and enhancing guest service.

At both properties, first-time users are given 20- to 30-minute training sessions to get used to the technique of driving a PT, which responds to the operator’s body movement to go forward, backward or turn, and stops when the driver straightens up.

“After watching them ride for that amount of time, you can get a pretty good read on how comfortable they’re feeling,” says Tiburón’s Bazley. “When we can tell the comfort level’s not quite there yet, we make it easy for them to opt out and take a golf cart instead.

“But it’s usually not too long before they’re back to try again,” Bazley adds, “because they hear from someone else in their group, or elsewhere, who comes back after taking one out and says how different and interesting it was to go around the golf course that way.”