Feds bought golf carts for $8.4 million
Topline: The federal government spent $8.4 million on purchases that included golf carts in fiscal year 2025, according to spending records obtained by Open the Books.
Key facts: Of that, the Department of Defense spent $4.5 million, more than half of the government-wide total. Veterans Affairs spent $3 million, Homeland Security spent $435,615, the Department of Agriculture spent $269,152 and the Department of the Interior spent $171,203.
Federal records typically don’t say what items were used for, and it’s possible some of the golf carts were used for transportation and not on actual golf courses. There were also a few golf cart orders that included other vehicles in the price tag. For example, one $363,526 purchase paid for three golf carts and two ATVs, with no itemized breakdown.
The Air Force base in Warner Robins, Ga. got $1 million worth of golf carts for its 18-hole course and driving range. The Windy Harbor Golf Club in Atlantic Beach, Fla., located on Naval Station Mayport got $228,661 in golf carts.
Golf carts cost $3.5 million in September 2025 alone. Federal agencies often spend more money right before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 to avoid returning unused funding to the Treasury.
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Background: Golf spending goes beyond just carts. The military owns an estimated 145 golf courses around the world and spent $200 million last year on renovations for five of them.
There are few recent estimates on the total taxpayer cost of golfing, but it has had critics for a long time. In 1975, Sen. William Proxmire blasted the Pentagon for spending $14 million per year maintaining its golf courses. In 2012, MIC.com reported that the cost had increased to $140 million per year, which they called a “very conservative estimate.”
The issue extends to local governments. The Reason Foundation found in 2022 that county-owned golf courses had a net loss of $61 million in fiscal year 2020. Courses in New Jersey, California and more even got bailed out with federal Covid-19 stimulus money.
Summary: Extravagant government spending has been par for the course for decades, but taxpayers deserve better value for their money.
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