Not a skateboard or a golf cart, Tetherow Golf Club in Bend, Oregon, introduces a new adrenalin-pumping mode of transportation around the golf course, the Golfboard. Tetherow is the first golf course in the country to host a fleet of twenty Golfboards at the resort.
Golfing with a GolfBoard, or GolfBoarding as they like to call it, changes the golfing experience, without changing the game of golf. The ancient game and all its’ traditions are safe. Traversing from shot to shot across the golf course, however, has now taken on a whole new dimension of fun, action, and excitement while improving speed of play, reducing turf wear, and allowing golfers to “Surf the Earth” in a way previously reserved for surfers and snowboarders. Young or old, every golfer will now have the opportunity to enjoy golf with an added adventure.
The GolfBoard is powerful, while stable and safe for the rider. The electric board is fifteen inches wide, contributing to its secure platform and is operated with a wireless remote and has two speeds – low (seven miles per hour) and high (11 miles per hour). It can be operated with a bag mount and stability handle or by carrying the clubs. It can travel up to 36 holes between charges, depending on conditions such as rider weight, turf conditions and grade. The battery powerhouse is designed to give users confidence and is sized to carry a heavy rider (250+ pounds) over 18 holes on some of the longest and steepest courses in the world. Not to mention, easy on the turf, designed with four inch turf-saver tires from commercial lawn mowers that are wide and secure.
The history behind the GolfBoard reads like a “who’s who” in the sports, fitness, and technology world. The concept of a GolfBoard was formulated when self-described snowboard addict Don Wildman, founder of Bally Total Fitness, had the original idea to use an electric skateboard to ride the steep slopes of his local Malibu course as a fun way to “get in some turns” during the summer months. But as much as he tried, an off-the-shelf, one wheel drive skateboard wasn’t safe or powerful enough for some of the steeper fairways.
The initial objective was to entice new golfers to the game, “a totally radical new way to play golf,” Radenbaugh said. It can still serve as an inducement to new, younger players, but the product has been tailored to golf “to make the game more enjoyable for every player.”
As fate would have it, Wildman had the good fortune to befriend surfing legend Laird Hamilton while on a visit to Hawaii. A periodic golf partner to the Wildman when the ocean is too calm for surfing, Hamilton was interested in the concept and wanted to see this idea progress. Enter EV entrepreneur Star Faraon, a surfing friend of Hamilton’s who happened to have been forging the concept for an all-purpose and high performance electric mountain board. Faraon, with friends Paul Hodge (now company President) and Mike Radenbaugh (now Technical Director), teamed up to develop a highly robust and rugged electric mountain board that, with the influence of Wildman and Hamilton, was refined into today’s safe and easy-to-use GolfBoard.
The group got together and over several years of intense design and testing efforts, built a product specifically for golf that was powerful enough to carry a golfer and gear for 18 holes, yet gentle enough on the turf that even Golf Course Superintendents eagerly welcome the concept. More at www.golfboard.com.
“Whether golfing or looking to “surf the earth” at Tetherow, in search of the perfect mountain views, we are thrilled to be the first course in the country to start the newest trend in golf course transportation that inhibits adventure combined with the traditional game of golf,” said Chis van der Velde, Managing Partner at Tetherow.
www.tetherow.com
