Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Around christmas 2007 Shannon and I played a round at Merewether Golf Club which is in Newcastle. For those unfamiliar with it, it roughly fills the area north of the army barracks in Adamstown, and west of the pacific highway that cuts along the ridge through Charlestown. It’s a beautiful location, lots of trees and features. Even in the heat it’s a really cool course to play because the trees along the edge of the course are very well advanced and probably quite mature. There’s a terrific water feature at the Adamstown end of the course with lots of native birds and ducks. The greens are very lush and even in the rough there aren’t many bare spots.

The club has a number of full time grounds keepers who are always planting and tending the landscape. The club is financially supported by a number of high profile businesses in Newcastle. The club has a big function room and bar with bistro. It was great to sit back and relax with a few cold ones and some hot potato wedges after the days golfing.

Yesterday (27th January 2008) was my first opportunity to test the prototype remote control electric golf buggy. Shannon and I played a round at Beresfield Golf Course (Newcastle NSW Australia) and I was quite impressed with the remote option.

The change to the base model includes a standard on/off remote control unit similar to the ones used for garage door openers or to disable security systems. It works as an override to the existing built in on off switch of the buggy. The remote is a simple keyring type control with two soft touch buttons.

Range was around 20m, once it exceeds this range the buggy will continue on its course, some care is required to ensure that it is not accidentally driven into a dam.

A few aspects which I would think worthy of revision if it ever reaches the production buggies are:

• a failsafe trip system so that if it gets out of range it automatically stops
• the aerial lead on the handle would be better incorporated into the chasis somehow. Perhaps it could be run down the inside of the handle tube though I’m not sure how that would affect the performance of the remote and its range.
• i found myself fishing around in my pocket for the remote often. After a while I attached it to my keychain and that made it easier however the positioning might be quicker to use as a wristband or as Shannon pointed out it works well when clipped to the belt guide on the top of ones pants.

Something cool we tried out which probably you wouldn’t do to a production buggy. We found that the buggies would drive quite well with us standing on the frame and motor housing. There wasn’t enough torque to go up much of a gradient but on the flat it moved along well. We’d already done 10 holes by that stage and there was plenty of power available. The golf buggies aren’t realy designed to carry a passenger but Shannon and Anthony make these buggies very strong and durable.

Status: Married
Wife: Trish
Age: 34
Hobbies: Motorsport, Golf, Rugby League, Soccer and spending time with friends

Home town of Newcastle Australia; Shannon grew up playing Rugby League representing the hunter region, Newcastle rep side and Lakes United President Cup in his junior years.

At the age of 20, Shannon moved into Rallying with current Australian Ford works driver Michael Guest. Throughout the years of competing at the top level Shannon has worked for Team Mitsubishi Ralli/Art Australia, building production cars for overseas customers.

Shannon competed in the Round Australia Trial in 1995 as a mechanic; a rally which covered 18500km’s in 20 days in which the team finished 2nd to the Holden factory team after leading the event for 8 days before some minor setbacks slowed their progress. The Holden team consisted of Peter Brock, Ed Ordinsky and Ross Dunkerton. This was his start to bigger and better things moving into circuit racing in production cars and also competing in the Bathurst 500 and 3 Bathurst 1000 races in V8 supercars, with The Race Centre team owned by Rod Salmon.

As all good things come to an end, Shannon now resides back in Newcastle building a business with a long term goal, (EMG GOLF) whilst still keeping a keen interest in Motorsport.

Building Electric Golf Buggies was never on the agenda but is now a big part of his life. Now in business for over 4 years Shannon has watched EMG grow at a consistent rate; probably not as fast as he would like. With so many other manufacturers producing Electric Golf Buggies, EMG are always developing their products to keep up with the bigger Australian companies.

Shannon’s comments:
Building an Electric Golf Buggy to be reliable, sturdy and unique really wasn’t that hard. We started out building buggies for another manufacturer which now is retired from production. This gave myself and Anthony the bug to pursue even further the possibilities to build a buggy that would one day be a market leader.

Rick MacLean has been unbelievable towards EMG obviously with his whole life involved with golf and being a retailer of all the brands of electric golf buggies and golfing accessories. Rick has added the golfing personal touch, so that golfers could relate to our product as a electric golf buggy not a race car.

During the summer period I have averaged playing 3 games of golf per week..

During this time I have also reduced my handicap by 2 strokes. I have experienced the outstanding performance of the EMG buggy over the last 2 years and still have the same confidence in the buggy I am using. This allows me to spend more time on my next shot rather than my buggy negotiating the course. These games have been played on several courses in the Newcastle / Hunter Valley and can confidently advise that my EMG Buggy has been very reliable negotiating the hills and hollows of these courses at all times. At times I have had to run to catch up to the speed and power of the EMG buggy even up hills.

Because the buggy is light weight and easy to unfold I am also able to be on the course for a few practice holes in a short time after “a hard day at the office”. The reliability of my buggy has been measured against many other brands on different courses and I can honestly say it has powered past then even up hills at a standing start.

It is also comforting to know that the Sales Reps of EMG are still keen to follow up the performance of their older buggies in the market as I have been contacted several times over the last 2 years to check on the performance of the buggy.

I still have no hesitation in recommending EMG Buggies to every golfer and am sure all will enjoy the same reliability.

Wendel Musson

This year in our local area we will be making a bigger presence on the golf course.

EMG will be supporting local competitions in 2008.

Some of the events EMG will play an active part in:
Lakes United Newcastle Rugby League Club fundraiser
Newcastle Panel Beater Association Fundraiser
Kyzac Powder Coating Customer Golf Day

We already have interest from some of the Woman’s Golf Associations and we are also interested in supporting other golfing associations.

If you are a Golf Association or have an event coming up, we can provide demonstrations of our buggies on your golf day.
If you can help us, EMG can help you!!! Please email Shannon Jeffries on Shannon@emggolf.com.au

Awesome is the word that comes to mind at the transformation of the Newcastle Golf Practice Centre. Over the last 6/8 months, Rick and the team are slowly overhauling the total look and atmosphere in the shop and out on the range.
With colour coded distance markers on the range, they have matching distance boards on all tee off areas, explaining the distance to the markers.

All areas of golf are covered; with a bunker for chipping practise, artificial and turf for putting practise, practise mats and two seperate, grass tee off areas.
The pro shop has the full range of EMG Electric Golf Buggies, new batteries and buggy components.
A full range of golfing accessories including the top brands are available, complete with a full fitting service and repairs on your golf equipment.

Rick MacLean; AAA rated PGA golf professional has clinics for groups, one on one, chipping and putting courses. The clinics cater to all golfing types, from beginner to the most experienced.
Why not visit Newcastle Golf Practice Centre today “the perfect place to practise
Astra St, Shortland: Phone: (02) 4951 2692

The most complained about component on an Electric Golf buggy. Everyone has there theories on which are the best way to charge them. Some people will tell that they let them run flat after a few games and give them a full charge believing that this helps.
Maybe sure but the way our batteries are designed and the chargers that we use, it’s not quiet the case. All battery manufacturers and suppliers will tell you that you should have your battery on charge with a smart charger at all times when the battery is not in use. The way a deep cycle battery works is that they are designed to work without being charged for a period of time, then they need to be rejuvenated by being charged right up until next use. Not like a car battery, as you are driving the alternator is rejuvenating the battery at all times.
The most important thing that I have learnt about deep cycle electric golf buggy batteries, is that when you strike a problem on the course; hopping on the 17th hole or similar, most people would take the battery to the auto electrician or the buggy manufacturer and they will perform a battery load test.
Problem, most cases they will tell you that the battery is okay, but this does not simulate it driving on a golf course. This procedure works with car batteries as they are testing the cranking amps which would start the motor of your car. Golf buggies don’t rely on cranking amps so this is not a true test.
They accurate way to test the Deep Cycle battery is to fully charge the battery then set them up on a system that drains the battery over a period of time drawing the amps that it would on the golf course. Times logged of procedure started and the rate that it loses its charge and the final outcome is worked out mathematically with the specifications of the battery. Sounds boring but it’s the only way to truly test the battery.

Wendel has been a very loyal customer to EMG. Wendel plays alot of golf and has some championships to her name. Over the last couple of years any new development parts engineered, EMG have trialed those components on Wendels electric golf buggy. For all Wendels help we have supplied her with a new Icon MKII in the colour of pink. The comments Wendel has recieved at courses all over NSW has been amazing. It really stands out amonst the rest.

Hoping to have the silver electric buggy released before christmas, EMG will now leave it to late january, so we can keep up with the demands of the metallic grey electric golf buggy and the metallic blue electric golf buggy. The buggy is gaining great feedback and sales in our local area are growing at a rapid rate. With buggies in all states except Northern Territory EMG are planning a full assault on 2008. Mid next year will see some new changes to the buggy making the buggy easier to assemble and even a new model might be on its way.

Another month has passed and it has been a satisfying month for myself. No great results to report of but just satisfied with my game most of the time. Have been chatting with others during the month as well as comparing my results with other players on golf link and most of those have the same feeling as myself – just want to enjoy the game & be consistent. When they do have a good game keep asking themselves what am I doing different to when my results aren’t so good!!

Earlier in the month took the opportunity of playing a game at Warringah. Although a shorter course than most in our area the layout made it very challenging. The surface seemed a lot harder than courses around here so a long accurate shot was sometimes ruined by “the bounce of the ball” Even the greens surface was a lot harder than my home course therefore different approach shots were often required. If you ever get the opportunity to play on this course I would definitely recommend it. Presentation was of a very good standard. I have been advised that it would be one of the most used courses in the Sydney area and was in very good condition on the day.

During the month of May I also participated in Muree Ladies Open day and proud to advise was amongst some of the winning teams on the day. We played a 3 person team event with 2 scores to count and it was a very good all round team effort with us only missing first place by 1 point.

This day was sponsored by EMG buggies so a big thank you to Shannon, Trish and Anthony for their contribution to the day. They were able to spread the word of their good quality buggy and have heard some very favourable comments about their buggy since that day.

Another event that I participated in during in May was the Ladies District qualifying round of 3BBB Par. Again proud to report I am in the qualifying team to now go forward to the next level in September.

For now good golfing to all

Wendel