Golf carts – Fun, useful, and not just for golf!

Harmony Golf Carts is a great place to visit because golf carts are just plain fun! From Hwy. 52 in Harmony, go east on 4th at Kwik Trip toward Harmony Golf Course – you can’t miss it. Owner Ivan Vreeman and his wife Tami say they sell about 100 carts a year from their huge selection of Yamaha and EZ Go, new and used, “Plain Jane” or fully loaded, gas or electric carts. One reason Vreeman believes his carts are popular with buyers? “Lots of people sell golf carts but not everybody works on them. I service the carts too. Golf carts don’t need a lot of service. Oil changes yearly and a new battery every five to seven years for electric models.” 

Vreeman could list many reasons to own a golf cart:

•Golf, and…

•When camping, to get around the grounds quickly. Carts can be hauled to the site on a pickup, on a 4×8 trailer, or in a “toy hauler” camper. 

•For car or tractor shows. 

•For yard work. There is an optional back seat with a cargo carrier that folds down. It’s easy to get in and out of the carts and they won’t damage your lawn.

•To get around town. Golf carts are street legal in many towns as long as you have a permit and some basic equipment. Carts go about 12-20mph. “It’s legal in Harmony and we always drive a cart down to Main Avenue for the Fourth of July Parade,” say the Vreemans. 

•Grandparents in the country like having the carts because grandkids can drive them. The Vreemans’ grandson, Dillon, knows all there is to know about the carts. He first started driving (with supervision) at the age of three. He’d sit on Grandpa’s lap and ride. Then he started steering. One day he said, “I can do it myself!” and he could. 

“I’ve sold carts to people from near and far,” Vreeman says. There were buyers from Arizona and a California buyer who said used carts here were in better shape than ones he’d found back home. “I’m fussy,” Vreeman confessed, “but fussy works – I have good used carts.” There were dairy farmers from Mexico driving through town who noticed the carts, bought one on the spot to use for feeding calves and drove it right up in the back of their truck. “My favorite sale,” Vreeman recalled, “was when two couples stopped by. They were older and the guys really wanted carts. Their wives weren’t even going to test drive but got talked into it. They took off down the road reluctantly. By the time they came back, they were laughing their heads off, having a great time. I sold two carts.” 

It was by chance that Vreeman got into the business. He was a mechanic working at Bigalk’s Chevrolet in Harmony and had an S10 pickup with 150,000 miles. He learned of a Camaro motor with fuel injection that could boost the power of the truck. It cost $600.  Vreeman didn’t have it. The junk yard owner negotiated, “I’m looking for a golf cart. Find me one and I’ll trade you.” Not long after, Vreeman made a lunch hour trek to the Mobile Station for a soda. “I remember it was snowing that day. Mark Lenz was there looking through the classifieds. Mark noted that there was a golf cart for sale and commented, sarcastically, that it was a “good time” to be selling one of those. Vreeman took the paper home and made a call. Turns out it WAS a good time! 

When he called the seller, Vreeman learned that there were two carts available. His friend Dennis Bergey came along that day and each bought a cart. Vreeman cleaned his up and planned to use it for Men’s Day at the golf course but wasn’t feeling well. Lee Bigalk golfed with it and told Vreeman that lots of people at the course wanted to buy it. So Vreeman put the Camaro motor on the back burner and sold the cart. He still needed a cart for the motor, wanted one for himself, and had a growing market. He sourced a supplier 300 miles north and drove up and back nearly every Saturday to get more. The first year he sold nine carts. “Every year I sold more and more… You have to sell a lot of golf carts to make a living.”  

Vreeman is good at what he does and enjoys it. “He worked at Bigalk’s until 2006 then went into the golf cart business full-time. “Here I work for myself. I get to meet all kinds of people. And I think it’s more fun to buy a golf cart than a car.” 

Golf carts last a long time. “Some are 40 years old,” Vreeman marvels. “I just sold an ’84 that was still going.” Used carts start as low as $2,200 up to about $5,500. New ones start at $5,600 for the Plain Jane (no accessories), $7,500 (some accessories), and over $10,000 (bunch of accessories). About 90% of sales are gas, 10% electric,” says Vreeman. “Batteries turn some folks away.” Grandson Dillon has a good pitch though: “Listen to that motor – you can hear it. If this was electric you wouldn’t be hearing anything!”

Harmony Golf Carts, 110 4th St. NE, is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.-noon Saturday, or by appointment. Visit www.harmonygolfcarts.com or call Ivan Vreeman at (507) 273-6928.