With the use of buggies restricted, we take a look at whether walking golf will become the new normal.
Image: BIG MAX
The post-COVID-19 landscape means that we have to adapt to a 'new normal' in every area of our lives, and that includes the way we play golf. One change to the game is the lack of buggies available, meaning that whether we like it or not, walking the course may often be our only option.
Many of you might already have preferred walking anyway, but equally some of us will be hitting our daily step goal much more frequently than we used to.
Another consequence of these new restrictions is that golf trolley sales have exploded, particularly in the USA where 44 percent of courses remained open throughout the pandemic with a ban on using buggies.
So significant was the surge that the Wall Street Journal even used the headline, “We’re Out of Toilet Paper, Hand Sanitizer—and Golf Pushcarts.”
This is a stark contrast to the drop in business that many areas of the golf industry have suffered during recent months.
Rick Oldach, CEO of BIG MAX USA commented on how they have been tackling the increase in demand: #
“It’s been such a counterintuitive situation to be in. We’ve watched the entire golf industry grind to a halt around us while we’ve been caught in this frenzy of demand. BIG MAX USA saw our year over year sales go up by over 1200% in April with visits to our website increasing 800% from March. We reached our entire 2020 target for push carts in 6 weeks.”
“It’s reached the stage where there isn’t any push cart inventory for sale in the U.S. We are very lucky that because of our huge global presence, we have a solid manufacturing supply chain that has enabled us to increase production. We have shipments of push carts arriving each week over the next several weeks to help us satisfy the demand we are seeing."
Rick also thinks that walking golf is a trend that's here to stay:
"Golfers that typically ride in a buggy will experience the joy and camaraderie and wonderful pace of play that walking alongside your playing partners brings to the game - keeping proper distancing of course! I think this new experience will take many by surprise and hope that it will continue long after we’re through this period.”
So what do you think? Do you prefer walking or taking a buggy?
You can find out more about BIG MAX by visiting www.bigmaxgolf.com.
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