A notification pops up on the touchscreen: the green is 187 yards away, wind is at 8 mph and the beverage cart is approaching the seventh hole. Would you like to place an order?
GPS-enabled golf carts used to be a novelty. Not anymore. On today’s courses, they provide yardage, digital scorecards, food and beverage ordering, pace-of-play tracking, and messaging from the pro shop. GPS cart adoption has grown more than grown 20% in the past three years, and the global golf cart market is projected to projected to nearly double over the next decade.1
Golf carts are usually seen as an operational asset, but they’re also connected network devices. A fleet of connected vehicles spread across the course can introduce security risks that deserve the same attention as any other connected device.
Today’s GPS golf carts are part of a club’s growing network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. They provide real-time GPS navigation, pace-of-play tracking, messaging, food and beverage ordering, and payment processing, helping operators manage the course more efficiently.2
For course operators, if a vendor is managing the GPS system for you, you’re still responsible for making sure the network is secure, segmented, and regularly updated. If those connections haven’t been evaluated, they can become an entry point into the rest of the environment. In most golf course environments, those entry points have never been evaluated.
When members order food and beverages right from their golf cart, their transactions may be on the same network supporting the rest of the property. That means the cart has to meet the same PCI DSS security requirements as every other endpoint. If your cart-mounted payment system is running on outdated software or connected to an unsegmented network, it creates unnecessary risk.
GPS-enabled cart systems provide the real-time data pro shops, starters and marshals need to monitor pace of play and manage the course more efficiently. When carts are connected to systems that support daily operations, that creates a security risk. An attacker could potentially access your guest booking records and other sensitive systems.
A well-managed GPS cart system needs a dedicated, segmented network that’s separated from the guest Wi-Fi and other operational systems. If you give a vendor access to your cart management software, be sure to keep it time-limited, document it, and log their usage. Just as important, add cart firmware and payment apps to your regular patch management process. Don’t leave it up to the vendor.
At ESP, a NexusTek company, we help golf course operators manage and secure the entire connected environment, from GPS cart systems and wireless networks to payment infrastructure and technology that keeps daily operations running.
Our 24/7 expert support and a hospitality-first mindset helps keep daily operations running smoothly, so your team can stay focused on delivering a great experience for members and guests.
Talk to a golf course IT specialist about a network and device assessment for your course.
Sources: https://www.nexustek.com/contact-us
1. Industry Research Biz, Golf Carts Market Size, Share, Growth, and Industry Analysis, Regional Insights and Forecast to 2035, April 2026
2. Roamr, The Future of Golf Cart Management: IoT and Connected Fleets, accessed July 2026