Club glossary
What Is a Cart Fee at a Golf Club?
The charge for using a golf cart for a round, billed per rider or per cart; members often prepay through an annual cart plan, guests pay it per round.
A cart fee is the charge for using a golf cart for a round. Clubs bill it per rider or per cart, for 9 or 18 holes, and price it differently for members and guests. Many private clubs offer members an annual cart plan — a flat yearly charge that covers every round — while guests pay a cart fee alongside their guest fee each time they play.
How it works
The golf shop sets a cart fee schedule, which typically varies by:
- Player type — member, member on a cart plan, accompanied guest, unaccompanied guest, reciprocal player.
- Holes — a 9-hole rate and an 18-hole rate.
- Riding arrangement — a single rider in a cart, two riders sharing, or a walker who pays no cart fee (some clubs charge walkers a trail or caddie fee instead).
- Season and day — peak-season weekends priced above shoulder-season weekdays.
At check-in the golf shop confirms who is riding, rings the fee on the point of sale, and charges it to the member's house account — including the fees for any guests the member brought.
Example
A member plays 18 holes on a Saturday with two guests. The member is on an annual cart plan and pays nothing at check-in. Each guest rides and is charged an 18-hole guest cart fee of $30 on top of the guest green fee. Both charges post to the member's account and appear on the month's statement with the guests' names.
Why it matters at a private club
Cart revenue is a meaningful line in the golf department, and it leaks easily. If the tee sheet does not record who rode and who walked, the shop either charges walkers by mistake or misses riders entirely. Cart plans add another wrinkle: the system has to know which members hold a plan so they are not charged per round. Getting it right at check-in keeps members from disputing charges on the statement later.
Related terms
For more on golf shop pricing and check-in, see golf shop operations.
In Bubs: the club prices guest play by season, guest class, day, holes and transport — riding or walking — and each rate carries its own green fee and cart fee, charged to the sponsoring member from the tee sheet.