Taking a Bite Out of Crime
By Bill Bryant
New technology can help operators reduce the incidence of vandalism 

Earlier this year, three men in Racine, Wisconsin, stole golf cars from South Hills Country Club and drove them through a nearby wheat field. They ruined a farmer’s crop before crashing the vehicles into one another in a reenactment of the bumper car scene in the first “Jackass: The Movie,” an 80-minute homage to adolescent inanity. More recently, charges were filed against four teenagers in Muskegon, Michigan, who commandeered golf cars and cut doughnuts into greens at the newly restored University Park Golf Course. The golf cars and a utility vehicle were driven into a creek, leaving the course with an estimated $50,000 in damages.

Those are among hundreds—maybe thousands—of acts of golf course vandalism each year, according to Joel Willis, program director of Clubsurance, a division of The Commonwealth Insurance Group, which provides property and casualty coverage to golf courses. 

“Golf course vandalism is a growing problem across the country,” Willis says. “Vehicle and equipment replacement costs, plus lost revenues if the course has to shut down for repairs or prepare temporary greens, make these kinds of incidents an owner’s worst nightmare.” Repeated incidents could also prompt an increase in insurance premiums, according to Willis.

The golf car fleet, which is a leading source of revenue at most courses, is the most popular target of vandals. Whether inspired by the movie that one critic called “possibly the most irresponsible picture ever released by a major studio” or too many beers, many thrillseekers can’t seem to resist joyriding in a golf car. Their acts have resulted in higher fences and bigger locks at some courses. Others have turned to a more high-tech solution known as the IQLink Fleet Manager, which was developed by UpLink, a provider of GPS-based course management systems, in cooperation with Club Car.

IQLink’s graphical user interface connects to the motor controller in golf cars. The technology enables courses to define areas where they want to restrict or control golf car use and program the cars’ performance in those areas. 

While designed to keep vehicles from entering environmentally sensitive areas and limiting speed on steep grades, the technology also gives courses the option of locking down their entire fleet from the clubhouse management computer. Once the system locks down a car, vandals aren’t going to take it anywhere, even if they have the key.

Congressional Country Club used the system’s “replay” feature recently to track one of its vehicles that had been driven off club grounds before it was locked down for the night. “The system showed us exactly where the vehicle entered the woods,” says John Lyberger, director of golf at the Bethesda, Maryland, club. “We went there and found it under a deck, under a tarp. The kid who took it was sleeping off a hangover when the police knocked on his door.”

Although Lyberger admits these kinds of incidents are rare because his course is located in an affluent area, he appreciates the peace of mind this type of technology provides. “Kids in affluent areas also do some things they shouldn’t do, so this is nice reassurance to have.”