Stewart Golf launch the Q Follow

British trolley Manufacturer Stewart Golf has done it again with the launch of the all-new Q Follow. Their first compact Follow model, the Q Follow looks like nothing else on the market.

When Stewart Golf launched the X9 Follow trolley, no one had ever seen a golf trolley like it. A trolley that follows you around the course? Black Magic! The trolley has been in the line-up a number of years and been their most popular model, golfers embracing the ease of not having to control their trolley, whether that be from the push handle or a remote control.

Priced at £1,749, the Q Follow is a sequel long in the making, taking everything they learnt from almost 20 years of designing and building golf trolleys, and putting it onto a smaller, sexier compact package that can be folded with ease and picked up one-handed.

As an engineering firm first and foremost, Stewart is actually on the seventh generation of its follow electronics, constantly updating the technology. Allowing the golfer to go truly handsfree on the course, the Q Follow’s killer feature is achieved through the world’s first three-dimensional distance measurement technology with a constant Bluetooth connection which allows golfers to walk naturally along the fairway with the Q Follow in tow behind.

The aesthetics are like nothing you’ve ever seen before from an electric trolley. The all-new chassis, main support, and handle are manufactured using a unique and lightweight microcellular composite structure. Its honeycomb structure is lightweight and extremely strong and durable, but it looks amazing. It looks like marble, or as if there is smoke swirling just beneath the surface. No two trolleys will look exactly alike.

Its other big new feature is the 36 hole SmartPower lithium battery that comes as standard, that comes with a smartphone app that lets you monitor battery usage in real-time, allowing the golfer to never have to worry about whether their trolley is going to run out ever again.

These are the basics but we caught up with CEO Mark Stewart, for a deep dive on the new model.

This is your first launch in a long time

We launched the X9 Follow back in 2014, but we’ve constantly updated it. We’re an engineering company, and we believe you only launch a new product when you have one significantly better or different to what we had before. We’re also perfectionists so this has been gestating in the background for at least four years.

Despite everything going on this year, we’ve actually managed to double our business, and North America is really growing for us, so we’ve been quite busy! All of our trolleys are hand-built in Great Britain, so while other manufacturers have had to wait for finished units from China, we’ve been agile enough to be able to supply retailers and consumers. It’s enabled us to react quickly, and another reason we’ve held the launch of the trolley back, as we’ve had no factory capacity despite increasing our workforce by 50%.

What did you set out to achieve with the Q Follow?

Primarily to make it smaller. The main objection we’ve ever faced with our older models were that they took up too much space in the car. Our products are often sold to golfers with expensive impractical cars that don’t have much room! Producing a trolley that folded much smaller, while offering the Stewart experience was a key objective. The Q can be folded down and placed in a boot one-handed which is a big advantage. There seems to be an arms race to make the most compact electric trolley, however, we’re not trying to be part of that. We’re just trying to make the best Stewart Golf trolley possible.

What have you done to improve the Follow experience?

The Follow system is a lot smoother. We’ve managed to expand the range which makes the experience more consistent when you’re using it, and we’ve made big improvements to the handset as well. We’ve improved performance uphill by adding two stabiliser wheels, so the Q Follow continues up hills and doesn’t lose the follow signal. The stabiliser automatically deploys and retracts as the trolley folds, so it’s not something the user has to remember.

What other key features are you proud of?

The battery is now a plug and play unit that integrates into the chassis of the trolley. We’ve designed it to be long and thin to redistribute weight to the front of the trolley, which helps stability when in use. Plus, the new smartphone app is designed to let you know how much power you have left at all times (even when the Q Follow is switched off). It’s a guaranteed
36-hole battery.

The contrast between the finish on the chassis and the carbon fibre finish on the wheel arches is very classy. I also love the detailing behind the wheels too. We’ve made our Follow aerials look like red brake callipers, which is a nod to those expensive cars I mentioned earlier.

Can you explain the science behind the new moulding material on the frame?

It’s a microcellular composite, which is extremely strong while being very light. If you were to look inside the material under a microscope it would be like a very fine honeycomb, with lots of air in-between. It takes weight out while giving the material additional strength. And the finish is very premium and looks unlike anything else out there, with no two trolleys being identical.

What should a retailer do if they’re interested in stocking Stewart Golf Products?

With our price points, we don’t necessarily expect retailers to hold stock in the traditional way, although they are obviously welcome to. If anyone has a member or a customer interested in a Stewart trolley, then please give us a call and we will be happy to help.  GR