It seems as though there once was a sporting clays shooter, who was a devout Texan, who had the misfortune of ending up in Hell.
The Devil looked down one day and saw the Texan in a lawn chair with a smile on his face relaxing, seeming to not be disturbed by the heat even though the thermostat was turned up as far as it would go. Frustrated and upset, the Devil went down and asked the Texan why he wasn’t bothered by the heat.
The Texan replied, “Hell, I shot the U. S. Open at American Shooting Center on July 4th weekend in Houston, Texas, and the Nationals in San Antonio in the first part of September. This here heat ain’t nothin’ compared to that.”
The Devil left more frustrated than when he had arrived and went back to his office. In an attempt to wipe the smile off that Texan’s face, turned the thermostat as far as it would go in the other direction. After the temperature change had taken effect, the Devil looked down and there was that Texan in the same lawn chair with an even bigger grin on his face… hell was frozen over! Even more frustrated than before, the Devil went down and asked the Texan what in the hell he was grinning about.
The Texan looked out from under his cowboy hat with icicles hanging off it and said, “Well, with Hell frozen over, one of two things have happened. Either the Aggies have won the Southwest Conference or Mike Hampton has finally let the shooters use golf carts at the National Championships!”
Yes, we have come a long way when it comes to the equipment that we use in this sport. Few have come as far as the E-Z-GO Clays Car.
Just to set the record straight, and because I had to go through a definite learning period, you push or pull a cart. You drive a car. That’s why they are called cars, not carts. From modified used golf cars that most would agree first came from Peanut Kreneck’s imagination at Liberty Golf Cars in Liberty, Texas, to cars manufactured specifically for shooting, E-Z-GO has developed a vehicle that has found many more uses than just in the shooting market.
Believe it or not, there was a time when the only way you could use a golf car at the Nationals was to have a doctor request one for you. And there was a time where there was no place to practice when you went to a tournament, not to mention a 5-stand or shooting games or added events of any kind. The ranges just barely had enough traps to throw the event, much less set up traps to practice on.
So, as you can see, we have come a long way since 1984, when it all began as a game described as “golf with a shotgun.” Little did we know then what an impact our little game would have on the golf car industry.
Back then, we all walked around with a bag of some sort, either in hand or over our shoulder, with five boxes of shells, chokes, glasses, and assorted paraphernalia. Our bag of choice was a green batten twill shoulder bag made by Orvis. One of the best parts of getting toward the end of the round was that the bag was getting lighter.
Then came pushcarts or pull carts, and we even remember little red wagons. They took on different sizes and shapes with different size wheels to different ways to hold the gun while going from station to station. We even remember someone putting a plastic milk crate on a two-wheel dolly with a bungee cord to hold it on to keep from having to carrying all that stuff. The unfortunate thing about the evolution of stuff carriers is that the amount of stuff typically expands by a factor of just a little more than the room set aside to carry it.
When we began to teach professionally in 1994, we purchased a Yamaha golf car and put a platform on the back made of wood that would hold 4 guns and shooting stuff for 4 people. No one could ride because all the room was used to carry stuff. Then a guy in Liberty, Texas at Liberty Golf Cars named Peanut began to put lift kits on used gas golf cars, installing gun racks and storage bends on the front and a back seat so you had places for your guns, stuff, and four riders under a roof with a windshield if you wanted one. Then at the National Championships in 2001, E-Z-GO came with surveys and focus groups to determine what shooters wanted on a shooters’ car. The next year the E-Z -GO Clays Car was born.
We have used them ever since then and have watched as they have made their presence known across the nation. Rather than just deciding where and what time to meet to shoot sporting clays, now you also decide on who will bring the clays car.
In the early ’80s, Gil was quoted in Fortune Magazine as saying that sporting clays would “save the shooting industry as we now know it.” And it has certainly had a large impact.
When there was only skeet and trap, the number of different skeet and trap guns was small. You could pick up a Browning or Remington catalog and there were more photos of field guns and clothing and knives than there were clay target guns. Enter sporting clays, and within 3-5 years manufacturers began to build sporting clays guns in different configurations, and the number of selections for all types of shotguns expanded, just because of this game called sporting clays.
Well, it maybe didn’t save the shooting industry. But it had a great impact positively and definitely expanded the number of people shooting recreationally in this country in a very short amount of time. And that influence continues today.
We ran Peanut Kreneck down and asked him a few questions about how it all began. It was early 2000 and he had just gotten into the golf car business. While he was at a shoot, Rick Story, an avid sporting clays shooter, and father of Junior All-American Cole Story asked if he could “lift” a golf car.
Peanut, being the can-do person that he is, gave it some thought and said he would try. He had no lift kit or any manual to go by, and he said not only did he have to figure out how to do it, but that he had to manufacture his own parts. When word got out to other dealers in the area that he was lifting golf cars, they thought he was crazy.
Well, we’ve learned that a big part of being sane is being a little bit crazy, And Peanut fills that bill to a “T”.
Peanut shared with us that back then, it took him nine hours to lift one car and today it takes about one and a half hours and the parts come as a kit. He shipped cars all over the South and Eastern United States for clay shooters as well as other events. His cars have been on the inner circles at NASCAR events, on the fields at NFL football games, on ranches, beaches, industrial plants, hunting leases, and in short just about everywhere but a golf course.
In fact, Peanut told us that during the time he was in the business that he hadn’t even sold 100 cars to go on a golf course, and if the clays car concept hadn’t come along, he probably would not have been in the golf car business very long. When asked about how many he had sold, he said his memory wasn’t that good but somewhere around four of five thousand.
What impact did E-Z-GO manufacturing their clays car have on his business?
He said that he was worried about it affecting it negatively, but it didn’t because it just increased awareness of the lifted golf car and the possibilities for more people in the market to want one. He was manufacturing his lifted cars from previously owned cars, and now he had a new car configured just like the ones he had been modifying for the buyer that wanted new.
He did confide that he sold many more used cars that had been lifted than new ones, just because of the price. We commented to Peanut that it was a good thing when NSCA agreed to allow everyone to use a golf car when shooting at the National Championships, and he was shocked that shooters weren’t allowed to use them in the beginning.
Doug Mellen, the operating partner for the group that now owns Liberty Golf Cars, has seen the demand continue. Now his customers want custom paint jobs to match the color of the towing vehicle. Doug did say that the biggest difference he has seen in the clays car concept is the addition of the 13 horsepower engine over the 11 horsepower that it began with, and we echo his comments. The larger engine gives more low in torque and higher cruising speed.
E-Z-GO has also beefed up the front end, and this will make steering on off-road conditions much easier. As we understand it, the Clays Car has evolved from an actual product to a concept, and cars are now being configured with shooting options from E-Z-GO or options at your local dealer that will fit any of their “ST” vehicles. Whether it’s the 2 + 2, ST 400, ST Express, or ST Sport, all are unique and will accept a wide array of options from E-Z-GO or custom options from your local dealer.
Whatever your need—whether it’s seating for up to six adults, or an ample rear dump bed, or a rear-facing seat that converts to a spacious cargo deck— E-Z-GO makes a vehicle to meet it.
Doug shared with us that when someone refers to a Clays Car, he configures the ST 2+2 with a front basket, gun racks and a fold-down rear seat, and a full-length top. He was quick to point out that he felt that the Clays Car market was eventually going to move to the ST Express with four forward-facing seats and a dump bed on the rear to carry shooting stuff. He has been using one and says it has a better ride and is just more convenient for the people in the backseat to be facing forward because it is easier to carry on conversations and adds to the overall enjoyment of the shooting experience. The ST Express has an overall length of 138 inches. The original Clays Car was only 107 inches, it weighs 150 pounds more and has 23-inch wheels, which give it a ground clearance that is three inches higher than its predecessor.
So, from a hunting game of walking through the woods carrying your gun, bullets, chokes, and glasses, to a game more like golf using a clays car, our sport has evolved into something larger than any of us would have imagined. So too has the clays car evolved. It began as an object and now it has become a concept. To us, it seems that the concept of the lifted car started as a question from one shooter to another and as it evolved, it found its niche as a personal recreational vehicle that can come in just about any configuration the buyer wants.
According to Kathleen Searle, Vice President of Communications for E-Z-GO, “The Clays Car has been a big success for E-Z-GO, but we are always aware of the changing and shifting wants and needs of the customer. The sporting-clays market is evolving, and recreational shooters want to be able to customize a wide variety of vehicles for their needs. To that end, we have created aftermarket, genuine E-Z-GO parts, and accessories, such as front baskets and gun racks that can fit a number of our ST vehicles.
Through such customizations, sporting-clays enthusiasts are not limited to our classic ‘Clays Car’ configuration. If they need six seats, they can customize our ST Express vehicle for use on the range. If they need a bed, they can personalize an ST Sport for sporting clays use. We’ve really worked to expand our offerings and give the consumer more choices.”
It looks to us as if the Clays Car has evolved into more of a concept as opposed to a product like it was in the beginning. Don’t know why we are so surprised. Look at the sporting clays guns and how far they have come.
When we traveled and shot sporting clays there were no “sporting clays” guns. We used Browning skeet guns that Gil worked over and customized to be sporting clays guns. In fact, he built about 35 of them for people all over the country, and eventually, that gun evolved into the Browning Special Sporting.
Back then, Bud Decoct was the only shooting glasses specialist, and hearing protection was foam earplugs or bulky earmuffs. Now we have earplugs with electronic technology that back then would have been the size of a tennis ball. Barrel length back then was 28 inches max, and most of the ammo we shot was field loads.
If you had told us in 1984 that in 25 years, people would be shooting shotguns painted with wild colors and configurations like race cars and driving around in golf cars, some with the same paint colors and configurations as they had on their guns, I would have told you that you were crazy. In our travels we have seen all manner of configurations, from platforms for dogs to fans in the ceilings, to stereos, running boards, mud flaps, and rearview mirrors, to name a few. Just about the time you think you have seen it all, well, guess what? You were wrong.
So, will the Clays Car as it first began still be around in the future? Only time will tell. But we can assure you that the concept is here to stay and we are all glad of that.
