Marilyn Stenten

Marilyn Stenten, president of Stenten’s Golf Cart Accessories, died at her home on July 31. Stenten was a pioneer in the golf cart industry and brought many products to the market. Stenten became friends with many dealers throughout her 35 years in the business and used a “keep it simple” approach with everything she did.

Stenten introduced the first golf cart lighting kit to the industry. Factory or aftermarket headlights and taillights were available, but cart fleet managers had to run the wiring. She had her friend and employee, Jim Rasmussen, make the different wire harnesses for all the different golf cart makes. Dealers’ initial responses were negative, but the gamble ended up paying off.

Another innovation she brought to the market was the first fold-down windshield. Prior to this, the industry was using a two-piece windshield. The two pieces of the windshield had Velcro attached to the edges and would adhere to the windshield frame. The top could be removed and attached to the lower piece, which would often fall off and get run over. Stenten came across a clear plastic hinge at one of the vacuum formers she was working with. After some research and development, she had a hinged fold-down windshield.

One story regarding the windshield she shared was about a phone call she got from someone at the Bay Hill Club. The person wanted to know where they could get another one of these fold-down windshields because Mrs. Palmer was always taking Arnold Palmer’s cart (he had the hinged windshield).