For those who think golf cars are just for the course, think again. Brian Cheever, partner and CEO at Clear Creek Golf Car & Utility Vehicles, said the cars are gaining popularity as a way to get around the neighborhood.
“We say that a golf car can be the first and last thing a person ever drives,” he said. “We have young teens that learn the basics of driving in a golf car before advancing to an automobile, and we have seniors that aren’t able to drive an automobile any longer that are able to maintain some freedom and mobility through the use of the golf car.”
The 45-year-old business is a top seller of American-made golf cars and prioritizes customer service and partnering with customers after the sale.
CEO Brian Cheever
“We are in the relationship business,” he said. “Our journey has been shaped not by selling golf cars but by providing second-to-none value and service.”
The business is headquartered in North Little Rock and has three locations in Arkansas, in addition to locations in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. It was founded in 1980 in Springfield, Missouri, by Jim Ferguson.
Cheever said when he joined the company in 1999, it had a single location. Clear Creek added a northwest Arkansas location in 2003. Then, in 2020, the ownership team changed, he said, and the business began taking a more aggressive approach to expansion, growing to 10 locations.
“During COVID[-19], people were forced away from crowds and into open spaces, which led to growth in any business that dealt with outdoor activities,” he said. “The golf car business definitely benefited from that.”
Clear Creek employs 107 people across all locations, including 19 employees in Arkansas. The company sells Club Car products at all the stores and E-Z-GO products at five locations.
“We represent the two top golf car brands in the world, both of which are American-made,” Cheever said. “Clear Creek sells golf cars, but we also offer parts, accessories and service, plus we offer rentals that can range from one day all the way out to multiple years. If you have a golf car or utility vehicle need, we have a solution.”
In addition, the company provides Taylor-Dunn vehicles and Global Electric Motorcars in the commercial space. Day-to-day activities revolve around the core services of sales, parts, services and rentals.
“Every day is different, but we are typically doing several things in each of those respective areas each and every day,” Cheever said. “We tell our team that the work starts after the sale is made, as that is where Clear Creek becomes a partner with our customers. From there, we do everything we can to ensure that our customers get maximum value and satisfaction out of their Clear Creek experience.”
While the company has the largest inventory in the country across its 10 locations on any given day, Cheever said having a team of people dedicated to providing the ultimate customer service experience and going the extra mile to keep customers happy is what sets Clear Creek apart.
“Our desire is to make customers, not sales,” he said. “There is nothing more satisfying to our team than when a customer returns to do business with us again or they send someone our way, and both of those things happen a lot because of how we partner with our customers.”
With the tagline, “The choice is clear,” staff members work hard to ensure Clear Creek is the clear choice when it comes to golf cars and utility vehicles, he said.
“Our service and support, how we treat people day in and day out, is the foundation of our business,” he said. “Along with that, we attract and hire incredible people, and with that, we create a circle of service, satisfaction and support that is continuous and seamless. We treat our employees the same way we treat our customers, and the success and retention follow.”
Clear Creek has been named Club Car’s top distributor in the U.S. five times, including twice over the past four years, he added.
He named the imported golf cars flooding the market as one of the biggest challenges in the industry and expressed hope that new tariffs enacted by the U.S. government will drive consumers toward American-made products.
The demand for golf cars has skyrocketed in recent years, he said, adding that about 80 percent of the company’s retail business is for vehicles that will be used for uses other than golf, such as driving around lakes, neighborhoods, businesses and farms.
“Golf cars continue to evolve away from golf and more and more into the neighborhood transportation vehicle that so many people use to go to the pool, to their neighbor’s house, to the dock or my personal use of choice, taking my dog for a ride,” he said.
He added that golf cars have transitioned from plain Jane to fabulous over the years and now boost more color options and add-ons.
“Now there are almost endless combinations of colors, wheels, seat options, stereos, light packages and much more, and it is not just in new golf cars that you find those things,” he said. “Many people want their used car customized and accessorized with those bells and whistles.”
In recent years, electric golf cars have become a great option for drivers, he said, adding that lithium batteries have allowed for exceptional performance and made power and range nonissues.
He added that the company hopes to continue growing and potentially adding new locations.
“Whether we grow or not, we want to continue to lead the industry in service, hard work, creativity, innovation and customer satisfaction,” he said. “Bigger is great, but better is where our focus is, and if we achieve that, growth will follow.”
Photos by Sarah DeClerk
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