CASH AND CARRY; GOLF CARTS HAVE TRADITION AND PROFITS ON THEIR SIDE.

Byline: Jarre Fees Daily News Staff Writer

Did the horse come before the cart?

The Scots are credited with inventing golf in the 15th century, and one can safely assume it was a game for noblemen - peasants generally lacked the time, equipment or permission to play a quick nine holes.

Noblemen owned horses (and servants, the first caddies no doubt), and when has a nobleman walked when he could ride?

Carts, one must then admit, are a golfing tradition, no matter where one stands on the issue of Casey Martin. And they're not going away. Golf courses earn too much money from their use.

Their modern origins, however, are a bit mysterious. What's known for sure is that carts first came off the assembly lines following World War II, when Americans had more leisure time to play golf and the economy boomed.

``In any real quantity, the mechanized cart has been around since the 1950s,'' said Tom Marble, a manager with Club Car in Corona, one of the two largest cart manufacturers in the nation. ``But long before they were mass produced, people were using whatever they could to get around on the course. They used other vehicles, and that eventually evolved into golf carts.''

Although carts were mass-produced in Texas and other areas by 1958, Clint Airey, head pro at Westlake Village Golf Course, says an early version of the cart was in use in the late '40s.

``When I got out of high school in 1948, I was at Palos Verdes,'' Airey said, ``and they were already being used. They were crude, but they were here.''

Martin, who suffers from a rare circulatory disorder, in February successfully sued the PGA to be allowed to use a cart in PGA tournaments. The PGA argued that walking is an integral part of the game.

But consider British ruler and Edinburgh native James I, who is believed to have introduced golf to London in 1608.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, James I was a ``thin man of average height who was constantly on horseback. . . and whose English subjects derided his weak and spindly legs.''

Not exactly the picture of a rugged Scottish golfer. One has to suspect James rode to each tee on horseback. Maybe the royal caddies followed him with shovels.

Sepulveda Golf Complex head pro Troy Rodvold said the dispute over the use of carts is misguided.

``It's not like walking makes everything that much harder,'' he said. ``It's not like you're jogging. Most better players still prefer to walk because they get into a good rhythm. But you get a fair amount of exercise walking around at any job, unless you sit and type all day. When they say using a cart is an advantage, it's not really. It still comes down to how well you can hit the ball.''

Larry Atlas, head pro at Woodley Lakes, said the cart is an advantage to player and golf course alike.

``There are huge revenues for golf courses, especially private courses, if they hold the cart concession. Municipal courses don't usually profit as much,'' he said. ``And it helps speed up the game, especially in this heat.''

More players using carts means more players are able to play in a day, which means more profits for golf courses even if they don't own the cart concession.

Manufacturers like Club Cart and EZ Go also reap their share of profits from the cart boom, but getting an exact figure turned out to be harder than digging up the history of golf itself.

``Well over 100,000 carts were manufactured and sold last year,'' said Marble, who declined to give a specific figure for the Ingersoll-Rand subsidiary. ``And believe me, that's a very conservative estimate.''

However obscure its history, however derided by professional organizations, the future of the cart looks solid - especially as baby boomers retire and take up the game.

``Carts have been manufactured and sold for at least 40 years,'' Rodvold said. ``The PGA and USGA don't allow carts in competition, but all the local courses do. It hasn't just improved the game for golfers. It's also the revenues for the golf courses.

``You figure $20 apiece for a couple of people to play 18 holes, multiply that for each cart on each course nationwide. You can figure out how good it is for the game.''

Time for some driving lessons

For those playing on hilly courses or who just like to ride, here are the rules of cart etiquette:

``In order to keep up the pace of play, the driver drops a player off at his ball, then goes to his own ball,'' said Woodley Lakes head pro Larry Atlas. ``That's good etiquette. But sometimes one player will sit and wait for the other, then they'll both go across to the other ball.

``By and large using a cart speeds up the game in the heat, in the rain, even in the wind. The guys that drive in a bunker or too close to the green - those are the guys who don't belong on a golf course anyway.''

- Jarre Fees

CAPTION(S):

Drawing, Box

Drawing: (Color) Golf cart

THOMPSON

Box: Time for some driving lessons (See Text)