The superintendent-designed Cushman Hauler is here

If you sent me an email last week and I haven’t yet replied, my apologies. I spent a few days in Augusta, Ga., and Graniteville, S.C., hanging out with the fine folks at Textron Specialized Vehicles, checking out their new Cushman Hauler.

The new Hauler is in production right now (saw it firsthand in the Augusta facility) and is built specifically with superintendents in mind. Of course they’re also hoping to sell these to a broad range of customers — from athletic fields groundskeepers to airports — but deep-dive conversations with superintendents (at places like the Golfdom Summit!) is what spawned this new vehicle.

No spin-outs in the new Cushman Hauler Pro! Me behind the wheel, with Matt Zaremba riding shotgun.

“If you can make the guy who spends eight to 10 hours a day in it happy, you’ll make the guy who spends two hours in it happy,” said Matt Zaremba, director, Golf Product and Specialty for TSV.

Some of the things they considered: does the driver slouch, or sit up straight? Does he carry an iPad or an iPhone with him? If he drives with a drink, does he need something that can hold a can? A can with a coozie? A Big Gulp? Or a coffee cup with a handle?

Or how about all of the above? Because that’s what they built: a vehicle for the sloucher and the sit-up-straighter; the Big Gulp guzzler and the coozie carrier.

Zaremba said their were four key ideas they wanted to go for:

• Discreet — Superintendents want to go unnoticed by golfers, so goodbye alloy wheels
• Versatile — Superintendents want this vehicle to be able to complete every task expected of a utility vehicle
• Control — Confident braking and safety was a must, hence the Intellibrake System
• Intuitive — Anybody can use it, but few can abuse it

I got to take the Cushman Hauler Pro on a test drive with Zaremba. Nice ride. As many airplane seats as I have to fold myself into, I’m always a fan of any mode of transportation that allows me to stretch out (one reason I will not be buying the new Camaro, sadly.) I also appreciated the Intellibrake System, and how it brings the vehicle to a slow stop on a steep hill (my golfing partner at Pine Hills CC in Sheboygan would have appreciated this feature after I spun our car out at the last Wee One tournament there). Lastly, it stood out to me how much thought the team in the golf division of TSV put into the vehicle… from the net storage pocket behind the seats to the inclusion of 12V and USB outlets in the dash.

More can be learned in the next issue of Golfdom, as well as at HaulerDemo.com. Oh, and if you sign up for a demo soon, you and your crew will be entered into a drawing to win a “Build it Your Way BBQ Bash,” valued at $4,000. My only request is, if you heard it here first and you win? You gotta invite me to your ‘Q!

Photos: Golfdom