London, June 16 : A golf club in the Forest of Arden, near Solihull, UK, has introduced golf buggies with satellite navigation systems programmed with the club’s map, to tell players how far they have hit a drive, and what distance remains to the hole.

Many believe that the sat-nav system, which uses computers, being used by the West Midlands Golf Club may help members do away with caddies altogether.

The hi-tech devices also enable a person to order a drink remotely from the bar.

"We like to think we are a forward-looking golf business. We had been looking around at ways to progress and considered a number of buggy models. They are very popular with the senior members, who are offered them at a cheaper rate, and with visiting golf societies,” the Telegraph quoted John Harrhy, 65, co-owner of the club, as saying.

"You can enter your scorecard on the on-board machine and it knows which other buggies are in your group. This means you can also see how everyone is doing and what score you need," he added while explaining what led him to introduce the 25-strong fleet.

Player Ian Sheppard, 23, a 20-handicapper, enthused: "The buggies are a great idea, especially if you don't know the course. What is really handy is knowing exactly how far you have to the pin. The buggy is always a big help and makes the game quicker and more enjoyable."

Harrhy also recalled one incident when a dim-witted player tried to steal a buggy by driving it off the course, and hiding it behind some bushes.

He said that the sat-nav system could track where the machines were, and helped the golf professionals to retrieve it within minutes.

"Someone tried to pinch a buggy once and hid it in a field around the corner. But we can track them on the computer, so we just drove up and found it very quickly," he said.

He further revealed that the buggies were also capable of revealing any misbehaviour to the eagle-eyes at the clubhouse, even though there is no camera fitted to the them.

"If someone drives somewhere they shouldn't, like over a green, we can tell them off,” he said.

"I had one guy who swore he hadn't done anything wrong, so I said to him, 'Just come round here and look at this screen.' He had to admit it then!" he added. (ANI)