Electric bikes are not a new issue on golf courses. Throughout Colorado, golf courses and golfers have different opinions on e-bikes. Recently, at Colorado National Golf Course, people on e-bikes caused damage to the greens, resulting in thousands of dollars in repair costs.
As more people use e-bikes, it’s difficult to ensure that both the golfers and e-bikes benefit without causing further destruction. To ensure the protection of the course grounds, local courses are banning e-bikes entirely. In contrast, some are implementing security measures, allowing the use of e-bikes while preventing damage.
On October 15, 2025, there was a rogue e-biker on the course when it was closed, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to greens four, five, and six. Colorado National has not allowed any outside motorized vehicles besides push carts for years. With this event occurring, they will be sure to increase their security. The damage done to the greens ruins the experience for golfers who worked hard to get out and play. It also makes the course managers’ jobs more difficult.
Repairing damaged greens is a very costly and time-consuming process. Most courses have to close off the green to start repairs. This can lead to frustration for golfers, and depending on the course, they might have to close early to care for the greens. This can lead to less revenue for courses because they aren’t having their regular number of tee times.
Golf course officials say that e-bikes can cause a massive amount of damage if not handled properly. Greens are the main worry for damage because they are fragile and carefully maintained. In addition, it’s very dangerous to have e-bikes out on the course. Some officials believe the best way to fix this problem is to ban e-bikes entirely.
E-bike users believe that their bikes should not be completely banned from golf courses because it allows people to access the entire course with ease. If they follow the rules, the bikes cause very little damage to the course. On top of that, bikes are much lighter than golf carts. Many believe that clear rules will solve this issue.
As e-bikes become more common among a variety of age groups, golf courses must decide how to handle this issue. Some courses want to solve the problem simply by banning e-bikes, while other courses want to work around it and enforce rules that will prevent future problems. Whatever decision these courses make will affect both the golfers and the course managers in the future.
