Too cold for 'golf carting' ??
 

Since Kathy and I aren't residents of TV (yet, but soon), one question that I have often thought of, and would appreciate input from many:

Q: When it's cold in TV, and you are an avid golf carter for nearly everything, do you brave the cold and still cart to Rec Centers, the Grocery and other places (appropriately dressed), or do you park the cart in the garage and take the car?

I have read where some residents -- who swear by their do-or-die of golf carting -- rarely use a car. Is that fact or fiction?

When it's cold, what do you do for your transportation needs at TV?

Gene

I personally, still use my golf cart. I just put the sides down, bundle up, and take off. If it is REALLY cold, I have a Coleman heater that I can use, but I have rarely used it. It's all part of the ambience of TV!

Personally, for me, I do 99% of travel in The Villages in my cart. If it gets really cold, it just depends on how I feel if I want to go to the trouble of bundling up for my ride. Chances are, I will still take the cart. But if I have an early morning trip after getting out of a warm bed, I might just take the car.

We still use our cart when it is cold out....that being said, tonight happens to be more than cold out. It is FREEZING!! Currently 35 degrees and I do not plan to use the cart. For the most part when it is cooler than norm, we dress for the conditions, if necessary we drop the sunbrella sides and go about our business. Our car is used very little.

We keep using the golf cart.....zip down the enclosure and it is snug. It keeps the wind out and that is the biggest part of staying warm. We too have a Coleman GolfCat heater that sits in the cup holder, and it works unbelievably.....gets really hot! Only had to use it about 3 times last winter.

Here is an Amazon link to the GolfCat heater (it's the tiny icon here:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-GolfCat-Perfectemp-Catalytic-Propane/dp/B0009PURBI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325650614&sr=8-1[/ame]

Admittedly, the cart is more fun to drive, but then so is our Prius. They both get about 45 mpg and the car is "street legal", but is not restricted to 25 mph. When it's hot we take the car because it's air conditioned. When it's cold, we take the car because it's got a heater. The golf cart is more of a play toy for us except when we use it for actually playing golf. The girls love riding on the back of it though, so when it's not too hot or too cold, we will take them for a ride.

Our street legal cart has actual doors and windows (not the sunbrella enclosures) which does a pretty good job of cutting down on the wind chill, but on days like yesterday and today, we fire up the Coleman golf cart heater--it works better than my car's heater.

We use our cart 98 percent of the time. The times we don't use it are when it is cold like yesterday and today and we need to go over to the grocery store or to visit my father-in-law. Bbrrr.

Even a 10 minute golf cart ride with the Coleman heater is too cold for me. I honestly think it is a convenience thing. We hate to unroll and zip the sunbrella and then unzip and roll it back. Get the heater out and put it in the cup holder and then put it away when we get home. Sad, but true.

:agree:

Golf carting when it's cold
 

Great input so far. Thanks!

But Kathy and I would like to hear from a lot more -- men and women. Because when we move to TV, we are debating do we want to have 1 car and 2 golf carts, or 2 cars and 1 golf cart (or 1 car and 1 golf cart).

Please -- speak up regarding your use/non-use of golf carts when it's cold.

Gene

Yup, I agree about the heater thingie We don't have one, but it just seems like it would be more trouble than it's worth, for us. I did see one of the golf ambassadors had one in his cart yesterday. Now that would probably be worthwhile, where you have to be out in the cold all day.

Gene - Your best conclusion will be what feels right for you folks after you've been in TV for a while. All the combinations you mention are reasonable - - - you'll just need to pick the one that makes the most sense to you given your personal situation.

Ex. - Few people seem to feel the need for two cars. Yet if your situation is such that you and your wife will both have a regular need to drive "off-campus", for example, then two cars would be a must for you.

Bill :)

We are now officially "wimps" after living here since 1998. We do not like feeling cold so our cart stays in the garage on cold days and nights. We enjoy the heated seats in our vehicle and like being warm. We have one car and one golf cart and have never felt that we needed to change this arrangement. We all have different tolerances for cold and you will decide how much you can take after you have spent some time here in the winter.

there are far too many nice days to worry too much about going about in a golf cart when it is too cold....but when one must....put on a jacket and gloves and you will be fine.....you will also take them off when the sun comes out....but keep them close by!:)

btk

When it's cold we use our car instead of the golf cart. We don't use our golf cart as much as our car. We just recently purchased a gas cart and we have a Prius which gets better gas mileage than the cart. Prior to getting our new cart I was concerned with the distances travelled in the electric cart but now with a gas cart that "problem" has been solved. We also have a MEEI cabin in our cart and can close the doors when it's cold. However, with the present low temps to be comfortable you would need a coleman heater also.

When we arrived in TV we had 2 cars and purchased one cart. After a few years we thought that maybe we could get rid of one car. We had lent our second car to our son for about a year and during that time we realized that we could get along with just one car. There have been very few times where it would be nice to have 2 cars but not worth the expense.

John