Golf is a game that was designed for walking. Although riding in a cart can be enjoyable and has its own advantages, walking the course comes with an intangible set of benefits, including high calorie burn from hours of moderate-intensity exercise and experiencing the beauty of a golf property in a more immersive way.
I’ve always preferred walking over riding in most situations, but as I’ve started to move into the midlife years, carrying my bag has become a larger burden with each passing season. The pushcart is a natural upgrade for anyone looking for a boost to enjoy the benefits of walking with slightly less physical labor required. At the start of the season, after incurring countless pushcart fees at my club in prior years, I decided to purchase my own manual pushcart. Lo and behold, that led to more rounds walked in 2022 than in previous seasons, more calories burned and better physical fitness.
The next step up from the manual pushcart is the Electric Caddy. Similar to the E-Bike, the E-Caddy is a great way to have a leisurely walking experience on the golf course without the burden of hauling around many pounds of clubs and gear.
This past Fall, as the season wound down, I retired my manual pushcart to storage and upgraded to my first E-Caddy, the Kam Kaddie V1. This easy-to-use, affordable model took the “push” out of pushcart and allowed me to finish the season in leisurely style.
Assembly and First IMpressions
The Kam Kaddie V1 requires some assembly, but even for an extremely unhandy person like myself (my wife will attest to that), it took me just 15 minutes to get the product up and running. The assembly instructions were concise and easy to follow, with all of the necessary tools supplied to put the major parts of the model together. Once assembly was complete, I charged the battery, which took several hours. The battery charge is strong enough for a longer golf marathon – after 18 holes, well over half of the charge remained.
Charged up and ready to go, I took the Kam Kaddie for a spin around my yard to orient myself with the remote control and the various speed settings, and to see how well it handles slopes. It didn’t take long to get a good feel for the model, and after just a few minutes of testing it out, I was ready to take the Kam Kaddie to the course.
Functionality and Performance
The functionality of the Kam Kaddie is fairly basic, which makes sense given its low price point in the market. The model is only set up for straight-line remote control, with no remote steerability. For that reason, it works well for an assisted push with manual steering, but is limited in terms of being able to drive out ahead of the golfer for long periods. However, it could be more autonomous on a flatter course with fewer doglegs. Nonetheless, it was very nice to have a heavily-assisted push and shorter bursts of touchless walking throughout the round.
Five speeds are available, ranging from a slow plodding walk to a power-walk or jog pace. It also can be operated manually while idle. A screen between the steering handles displays all relevant information including speed and battery power.
While the Kam Kaddie has relatively basic functionality, it has worked well for me thus far and enhanced my walking experience. It maintains a smooth pace, responds to the remote control quickly, and handles slopes adeptly. While it does not steer remotely, it is easy to steer manually with its swiveling front wheel and can handle tight curves well.
Like other E-Caddies, the Kam will have trouble maintaining a straight line if left to its own devices for too long, especially if there is not ample weight in the bag. That was the case for my lite carry/stand bag, and I expect it would maintain a straighter line for longer with a cart or staff bag.
The model folds up nicely and fits easily in my SUV’s trunk, and is not prohibitively heavy to lift to and from a car.
The storage capacity on the Kam Kaddie is limited, with only a small storage panel on the front of the model. I think this is fairly standard for E-Caddies, but it still stood out to me as my manual pushcart has large pockets that can hold a moderate amount of gear. This is another area that makes a cart or staff bag more ideal to use with an E-Caddy, as they can hold large amounts of gear in lieu of stowing items away on the cart.
The Kam Kaddie comes in four color options – black, white, green or pink. Lastly, the Kam Kaddie’s cupholder is a nice feature and held my beverage very well over some bumpy terrain. The model also comes with an installable umbrella holder.
Pricing
The Kam Kaddie V1 comes at a retail price of $598, which is a very affordable spot in the E-Caddy ecosystem. It is one of the lowest-cost remote control E-Caddies I’ve seen in the market; however, there are some other brands out there that offer full-direction remote control at only a slightly higher price point. That said, given the strong performance of the model, I think its price point is very reasonable and competitive. A two-year warranty on all new units adds to the value of the Kam Kaddie, too.
Closing Thoughts
The Kam Kaddie has given me a fantastic introduction to the E-Caddy lifestyle, and I highly recommend it to those of you considering upgrading from using a manual pushcart or from carrying your bag. Despite only being able to use it for a few rounds before early snow fell this year, I gained a great feel for the model as it was very easy to set up and take to the course. I do plan to upgrade to a staff bag next season to optimize the experience.
As if the countdown to next spring weren’t intense enough already, I absolutely cannot wait to take the Kam out to the course again.
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