Golf Course Cart Fee at 360,000 Won? ... 'Limousine' Cart Four Times More Expensive Than Regular Cart Emerges

Korean Leisure Industry Research Institute Announces Limousine Cart Status
Up to 4 Times More Expensive, 15 Public Courses Have Twice as Many
New Issues Raised Following Green Fee Surge

Following the surge in green fees, cart fees have also skyrocketed.

According to data on the introduction of limousine carts released by the Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute on the 11th, some golf courses have introduced 6-seater electric limousine carts. The limousine cart fee ranges from 160,000 to 360,000 KRW. This is up to four times more expensive than regular carts, which cost between 80,000 and 120,000 KRW. Currently, 15 public golf courses and 7 membership golf courses have adopted them. The Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute criticized this as "some public golf courses receiving tax reduction benefits focusing solely on profit-making."

This is a limousine electric cart used at domestic golf courses.

The cart fee per team at public golf courses was 73,000 KRW in 2010 but surged by 29.7% to 94,700 KRW this year. Membership golf courses also saw an increase from 78,900 KRW to 97,900 KRW during the same period, a 24.1% rise. The number of golf courses charging 80,000 KRW per team dropped sharply from 177 in 2019 to 41 this year. Conversely, those charging 100,000 KRW increased dramatically from 29 to 213. Additionally, golf courses charging 120,000 KRW rose from 2 in 2019 to 17 this year.

There are criticisms that cart fees are too expensive considering the purchase cost of carts. Assuming the purchase price of a 5-seater electric cart is 13 million KRW per unit, the investment can be recovered within 6 to 7 months. Since it has become difficult to raise green fees further, golf courses are maximizing profits by increasing cart fees, according to harsh criticism. The Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute estimated that last year, the total cart fee revenue from all golf courses was approximately 1.1509 trillion KRW, accounting for 14.9% of total sales.

The issue of raising cart fees stems from the lack of control mechanisms over golf course usage fees, meaning they can be increased whenever the opportunity arises. Director Seo Cheon-beom stated, "Cart rental fees should be drastically reduced to about half," and criticized, "Introducing limousine carts and charging high cart fees can be seen as targeting golfers entertained with corporate cards."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.