The stunning Frederica Golf Club occupies 300 carefully manicured acres on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Named by Golf Digest as one of the best clubs in Georgia, it attracts a discriminating membership that includes more than a dozen PGA and LPGA Tour players, including Davis Love III, a two-time U.S. Ryder Cup Captain with 21 career PGA Tour victories.
“It’s not uncommon to see a Major Champion or other high-profile golfer on our course,” says Director of Golf Course and Grounds Asa High.
To highlight its affiliation with Love and the Ryder Cup, the club showcases a Precedent Golf Car Love drove as co-captain of the 2018 Ryder Cup U.S. Team. The club purchased the vehicle, customized with seats embroidered with the Ryder Cup Trophy, the American flag, and a decal kit from Club Car shortly after that tournament. After being displayed for a while, the batteries stopped working, and it was eventually stored in Frederica’s barn.
In Early 2022, Zach Johnson, another of the club’s PGA Tour Members, was named Ryder Cup Captain. Energized by that news, High and his team restored the 2018 vehicle. “The seats had mildewed, the batteries were shot, and most of the decals had faded. With the help of Club Car and a local upholstery shop, we restored the car to its original condition and upgraded it with Trojan Lithium batteries,” High says.
Every morning, an employee parks the vehicle under a majestic oak near the first tee for the members and guests to enjoy.
Frederica Upgrades its Back-of-House Fleet with Trojan Lithium and AES Batteries
The club leases a fleet of golf cars equipped with lithium batteries and owns 30 work vehicles powered by flooded lead-acid batteries for maintenance, housekeeping, facilities and engineering, and other jobs.
High notes that the course is busier than ever, with several shifts of employees who often share cars. While flooded lead-acid batteries can deliver long, affordable service, they require careful watering, maintenance, and a full 8 to 10-hour charge after each use.
“We have been so pleased with the lithium batteries’ performance in our golf car fleet and the Ryder Cup car that we are transitioning our back-of-house fleet to maintenance-free Trojan Lithium and Trojan AES batteries,” High says.
High and his team also tested the Trojan AES Battery in a Toro Workman MDX used to haul heavy loads of sand and wet divot mix. “We work this vehicle as hard as possible and wanted to see how the Trojan AES improved efficiency,” he says.
Trojan AES batteries are maintenance-free, offer 3x the cycle life of standard AGM batteries, perform well in extreme temperatures, and withstand partial state of charge with no issue.
Solving Problems, Improving Efficiency
The maintenance-free lithium and AES batteries delivered the solutions Frederica needed.
Neither lithium nor AES batteries need a full charge after each use. Both technologies work in PSoC and accept opportunity charging without harm. And they have shorter charging cycles, which cuts downtime considerably.
Lithium batteries also reduce the total cost of ownership. “Lithium batteries last up to 10 years and require fewer and less frequent replacements. The course used eight flooded
lead-acid batteries in each vehicle, which require only three lithium batteries,” High said.
For these reasons, lithium batteries deliver a lower TCO over their life span.
“I selected Trojan because it has always been a trusted name in golf car batteries, and they have been a wonderful partner. Trojan provides unsurpassed customer and technical support, and we have not experienced any supply chain problems or delayed deliveries,” High says.
“The new batteries give our vehicles more pep, solve the maintenance and charging issues we’ve experienced with other technologies, and let us meet the high expectations of our distinguished members,” High says.
Photo Caption – Frederica Golf Club’s Asa High, director of golf course and grounds, with the customized vehicle member Davis Love III drove as co-captain of the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup team. The Club showcases the vehicle at its first tee.
