Perham Selects Steel-Frame Golf Carts After Competitive Bidding Process

The city of Perham awarded a bid for steel-frame golf carts after a competitive purchasing process, selecting the steel-frame design over other options based on its structural advantages for the city-owned Perham Lakeside Golf Club.

The 27-hole Lakeside course, located one mile north of Perham and owned by the city, operates under a lease with the private management company PBC LLC. Because the city retains ownership of the facility and its equipment, cart purchases flow through the public bidding process, making taxpayer scrutiny of the choice appropriate.

City officials determined that the steel-frame carts offered design advantages over competing models. The specifics of those advantages, including durability under the heavy seasonal use a 27-hole facility demands, were cited as the basis for the award. Steel-frame construction is generally favored in fleet settings for its repairability and longer service life compared to alternatives, factors that carry weight when equipment must hold up through Minnesota's short but intense golf seasons and months of off-season storage.

Perham Lakeside operates three nine-hole courses, the Maple, Oak, and Pine layouts, and draws golfers from across the lakes region as one of the area's larger public facilities. The cart fleet is central to daily revenue, with riders paying fees that contribute to the club's operating budget.

The selection adds to a series of recent infrastructure investments at Lakeside. The city approved plans earlier this year to put a new 5,720-square-foot cart storage shed out for bids, a project funded through a private donation from a Perham business owner, that will house up to 91 carts.