Ogre’s Politics and Views

Several high-profile cases involving people who have used golf carts have led experts to caution that such vehicles have a unique environment that could be a breeding ground for criminal minds.

– 61-year-old Allen Coker was killed when his golf cart was struck by a car — while he was riding in the golf cart.

– 65-year-old Edwin Payne was killed when his golf cart went over the side of a 75-foot cliff. He was riding in a golf cart at the time.

– 79-year-old Charlotte “Sally” Steward was run over by a golf cart driven by her partner. While she was not in the golf cart at the time, the cart tipped over after it hit her.

– Another man was killed in Pala Mesa when his golf cart went over a 70-foot cliff.

Golf carts — or “Karts” as they’re called — can foster more vulnerability than there might be on other similar type vehicles, where people may suspect they have safer equipment and are less vulnerable to crashes and death.

“When you’re in a situation like that — playing a game, having fun — you’re comfortable with the people and equipment you’re playing with,” said golf cart victim Jane Hitchcart, president of Working to Halt Abuse of Carts and Karts (WHACK). “People are just not very careful. They lose all sense of reality and themselves.”

Such conditions can lead participants to be more trusting of each other and less cautious. Players tend to be focused not on taking care of themselves, but on getting through the game, working as a team and concocting strategies to win. The pressure to make a good impression and project a certain persona is off.

Since teammates typically don’t compete using their usual clothes and demeanor, but instead take on characters and act differently, they frequently feel safer and less exposed than they might if they were putting up personal profiles and sitting at home.

“You’re hiding behind a mask of false bravado and secrets,” said University of the Greens criminologist Dr. Geoffrey Ivanhoe Flog. “The game forces you to assume an alter ego.”

Flog said that because defenses are down, people can be more susceptible to the advances of predators or those who are mentally unstable.

But it isn’t just the social-lubricant aspect of the hobby that is cause for concern.

The common goal of winning the game by violently hitting a small ball over and over again can bring out a belligerence that sometimes spills over into real-world interactions, especially within those who become addicted to what they’re playing, said Bobert McMee, a professor in the law and police science department at Jay Joe College of Criminal Justice in New York.

“You observe people playing these games — it draws out a kind of aggressiveness and competitiveness in their behavior,” he said. “There is a concern for people who become obsessively involved with golfing.”

While there are some who believe that real-life dangers lurk in the golfing world, others say that just the opposite is true because the game is complex, requiring smarts and quick, sharp thinking.

“The majority of people who play these games don’t fall victim to this sort of thing,” said Flog. “They’re either savvy, or they’re very rule-bound.”

Furthermore, most of those who participate are primarily interested in devising ways to advance, defeat the ball and win, not prey on unsuspecting fellow golfers.

“The goal is not specifically to meet friends but to play a game,” said Goody Michealman, a director at golf entertainment research firm Golfee Group. “I would argue that it is a little more difficult to mislead. You know coming in that the person is not who that character is. You know the person on the other side is not an elf.”

Researchers are taking a closer look at a variety of relationships formed on multiplayer golf sites, and with good reason.

About 25 to 30 million people worldwide now play golf, according to Golfee Group. As many as 7 to 9 million of them are in the United States. And as with other types of popular sports, the incidents of friendship, dating and even marriages that result are on the rise.

Research gathered by Banford University Ph.D. Slick Tee, a golfing expert, found that 77 percent of female players ages 12 and up and 27 percent of males in the same age range reported dating someone they met in the world of golf games.

Tee used survey data collected from various common public golf courses around the country. The findings are particularly significant because only one-third of players are single to begin with.

Pony Online Entertainment said last year that at least 20 couples have married after meeting as players of its “golf with the experts” game series.

At least 20 weddings have happened between pairs who met playing another favorite called “Golfers For Truth” according to its Demark-based creator, Puncom GV.

It remains to be seen whether golf-related violence will flourish as the number of players continues to grow — and the popularity of golfing entertainment rises.

And while it might be a stretch to liken golf to a modern-day Pandora’s box, the analogy does hold some water.

“You’re going to see a lot more of these stories, unfortunately,” predicted WHACK’s Hitchcart. “Nothing surprises me anymore in terms of the ways golf can be used to harm people.”

In case you don’t get it, this is a parody of news reports that claim that online games are evil destructive places where only criminals gather to kill innocent people.

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