Hitting the Fairway on A Segway

Kyle Smallegan hovers greenside on a Segway GT at East Potomac Golf Course. Teaching pro Byron Terrell lines up a putt. (By Mark Finkenstaedt For The Washington Post)

There are certain things a player might miss about a golf cart, in addition to the chance to sit down. There's no relief from the sun on a Segway other than your hat. While there is an insulated cooler bag hanging off the front to hold the golfer's favorite iced beverage, and a scorecard-and-ball caddy affixed between the handlebars, there's no basket to toss a head cover or sweater into.

But then, the guys who ride in regular carts have nothing to talk about at the 19th hole other than such mundane topics as the Norman Course's punishing par-3 finishing hole, or the combined value of all the Pro V1s they left in the woods. Over our burgers and iced tea, Josh and I were able to compare notes on hitting top speed on the par-5 fairways, the pleasure of rumbling across wooden bridges on two wheels and even the curious satisfaction of scouring the boundary lines looking for a lost ball from a higher vantage point.

By then we were feeling good. We were sitting down.

Craig Stoltz is editor of Swing.

More at washingtonpost.com/swing

· See a video of the Segways

in action

· A link to

Golfthemidatlantic.com's

full review of Lansdowne's

Norman Course

· A link to information on the

Segway GT