Golf cart is a hovercraft

Sports brand Oakley has created Bubba's Hover, an all-terrain, low footprint hovercraft that replaces the traditional golf cart.

Having announced its partnership with Bubba Watson earlier this year, Sports brand Oakley has created Bubba’s Hover, an all-terrain, low footprint hovercraft that replaces the traditional golf cart.

In order to promote the partnership, the sports apparel and equipment company decided to work with the professional golfer on a new design for the traditional golf cart. Using a hovercraft model from Neoteric, the vehicle was adapted to include the standard features of a golf cart. Because of the nature of its air cushion technology, the hovercraft puts less pressure on the ground, meaning it is free to travel across the green – and lakes – rather than being restricted to cart paths. For club owners, maintenance costs could also possibly be reduced. The video below shows Bubba’s Hover in action:

Unfortunately, the vehicle isn’t commercially available to golfers at the moment, and was created as a one-off for the video. Consumers would also need to undergo training to operate the hovercraft, which is on a technical par with a helicopter. The spot was produced by viral marketing agency Thinkmodo, which helped Oakley gain 8 million impressions and – according to reports – a 40 percent increase in online sales a few days after the video was released.

Despite this, golfers at Windy Knoll Golf Club in Ohio recently negotiated with Neoteric to receive two versions of the hovercraft used to create Bubba’s Hover. Could a similar vehicle be developed for commercial release?