Officials at the two largest golf-cart manufacturers hailed federal efforts at stunting a Chinese scheme to undercut American-made products.
Club Car and E-Z-Go, both based in Augusta, Georgia, were the victims of China’s unfair trade activities that involved government-subsidized low-speed personal transportation vehicles, or LSPTVs, according to a report by Joe Hotchkiss in the Augusta Chronicle, which cited a recent Commerce Department ruling.
“We’re glad to see the U.S. Department of Commerce take a stand for American manufacturers and workers,” Mark Wagner, Club Car’s president and CEO, said in a statement. He called it “a first step in the right direction to restore a fair marketplace for the American LSPTV industry and to help us and our hardworking employees recover from the unfair trade practices of the state-backed Chinese producers.”
Rob Scholl, president and CEO of Textron, the parent company of E-Z-Go, hailed the “decisive action against the unfair trade practices of the state-supported Chinese LSPTV industry.” READ MORE
The city of Gulf Breeze, Florida, won an eight-year legal battle to retain the tax-exempt status of Tiger Point Golf Club, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
The Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser’s Office had challenged the tax-exempt status of Tiger Point, which was purchased by the city in 2012 with the primary purpose of serving as a disposal site for treated wastewater effluent, because the course retained the private for-profit management company IGC in 2015 to run operations.
The Florida Supreme Court upheld the city’s ad valorem exemption, ruling that the course has been used exclusively by the city even after Gulf Breeze entered into the management agreement. READ MORE
Warren Stephens, 67, the son of the late Jackson “Jack” Stephens, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club in 1991-1998, is to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Stephens, a billionaire member of ANGC and a major Republican donor, is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Stephens Inc., a private investment bank in his native Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Warren has always dreamed of serving the U.S. full-time,” President-elect Donald Trump said in making the nomination, which needs Senate approval. “I am thrilled that he will now have that opportunity as the top diplomat, representing the USA to one of America’s most cherished and beloved allies.” READ MORE
TAP-INS
The number of rounds played in the U.S. soared 11.5 percent in October compared with the same month in 2023, Golf Datatech reported. The increase, spiked by unseasonably warm weather in much of the nation, bumped the year-to-date increase to 2.6 percent compared with the first 10 months of last year. READ MORE
Logan Olson, an eponymous putter manufacturer headquartered in Fontana, California, has been acquired by TaylorMade Golf. READ MORE
Kevin Hammer of Boynton Beach, Florida, has been nominated as president-elect of the U.S. Golf Association as the governing body released its 2025 Executive Committee slate. Fred Perpall of Dallas, Texas, will serve his final year of a three-year term as president. The election of the 15-member volunteer committee will be held March 1 at the USGA’s annual meeting in Pinehurst, North Carolina. READ MORE
Jack Nance, who spent 40 years with the Carolinas Golf Association, including the past 33 as executive director, will retire December 31. He will be replaced by Andy Priest, who is returning to the CGA after having led the Southern Golf Association. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon