Jane and Steve Smith show off their custom golf carts at Smitty’s Golf Carts in Aransas Pass. Smitty does the custom work while Mrs. Smitty handles sales and service. Staff photo
No coastal lifestyle is complete without a customized golf cart for quick runs to the beach, mail box or grocery store. Lenient laws in local towns help push the popularity, creating a demand that Jane and Steve Smith, owners of Smitty’s Golf Carts in Aransas Pass, are ready to fill.
“It’s really taken off,” said Jane Smith of the business she and her husband moved from their home in Round Rock to a storefront in Aransas Pass. “We said we needed a few things to happen to make it work. When smaller towns started voting golf cart ordinances in, the ground was ripe for us to do what we’re doing.”
Coupled with a boost in the economy, Texas laws allowing golf carts on streets with a 35 mph speed limit has created a golf cart craze in smaller communities, especially in the Coastal Bend. The Smiths meet that demand by customizing carts they buy used from country clubs.
“We put lift kits on them, lights and tail lights, fancy wheels and tires,” Jane Smith said. “Anything you can do to a car or truck, you can do to a golf cart. People pick out the options they want.”
Those options include custom paint jobs and even custom bodies. Steve Smith, also known as Smitty, installs stereos, fans or heaters while keeping the vehicles street legal. Mrs. Smitty, as Jane Smith is known, told of one customer who had his golf cart upholstery redone in ostrich. A souped-up paint job joined under-cart lighting for a pretty tricked-out ride.
The Smiths keep six to 10 carts in the showroom, offering a range of price points so just about any income level can afford to cruise island style in their community. When people come in with an old cart to trade up, the Smiths often talk them into fixing up what they have.
“We’re golf cart recyclers,” Jane Smith said. “We try to find a home for a golf cart.”
If someone comes into the shop and doesn’t see something they like, the Smiths take their info, find out what they are willing to spend and call them when something comes in that fits them.
“It’s not just about making money,” Jane Smith said. “Sometimes, we are just filling the need of someone and recycling a golf cart at the same time. That makes me the happiest.”
The Smiths ran the business from their home in Round Rock for three years “on the side.” He worked as an electrician and she worked in a corporation. After honing their skills in Central Texas, they retired and moved to Rockport to open up Smitty’s Golf Carts in nearby Aransas Pass. The first dose of reality came when both pointed to the other and said, “you be the salesman.”
“I woke up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweet, worrying who’s going to sell,” Jane Smith said. “I’m not a salesman. Neither is my husband.”
She soon learned their product sold itself.
“All I have to do is give a little information,” she continued. “People wanting a golf cart have already done their homework. They know what they want."
She also discovered that sales is fun.
“I love meeting people and talking to people,” she said. “Everyone here is just great!”
The biggest challenge they have faced in their two years in Rockport has been the recent cold, rainy and dreary winter. Dropping sales have been countered by an uptick in service, however, and the Smiths are now ready to roll into spring and summer. They have also been brainstorming other sources of golf cart-related income.
“Winter Texans don’t want to transport their carts every year,” Jane Smith said. “They would like to have a way to store their carts. We can do that for them. We can also sell parts. There are lots of ways we can expand the business.”
The Smiths vow never to get so big that they can’t provide the personal customer service and satisfaction that brands their business. They don’t want to lose the joy of a job well done and a customer well pleased.
“Some of our happiest moments are when we deliver a cart to a brand new customer and watch them get on the cart with their dog,” Jane Smith said. “The final parting shot is the best: people and dogs, everyone smiling.”
Smtty’s Golf Carts is located at 1540 W. Wheeler Ave. in Aransas Pass. It can be reached at 361-226-1478.
Smitty’s Golf Carts Fast Facts
• Smitty’s sells both electric- and gas-powered carts. Gas carts have more power, making them best for the beach. Electric carts conserve energy and protect the air quality.
• Golf cars or golf carts? People in the industry call them cars. Carts are what you pull, they argue. The people who buy them and drive them mostly refer to them as carts.
• In towns such as Ingleside, Rockport and Port Aransas, golf carts are often used as the family’s second vehicle.
• Most country clubs retire their golf carts after three years’ use. That’s when the Smiths get most of their supply of carts to customize.
