Pimp my cart

David Vahala is looking out for your backside. Once you sit in his Ultimate Golf Seat, he promises you'll be able to walk to the 19th hole.

It is said golfers will bear any pain to hit a round.

David Vahala plans to make it a little easier for those with aching backs to hit the links with a Ferrari-style seat for the golf cart.

The plush, supple seat is designed to match the curve of the spine and includes headrests, lumbar support, a center-locking console and fold-down arm rests. Prices for the golf-cart seats vary from $745 to $1,295.

Vahala, 50, and his brother Dan Vahala, 49, hope sales of these seats will relieve the downturn in their other business, Vahala Foam. Based in Elkhart, Ind., that company provides material used to make seats for recreational vehicles, boats and custom vans. “It's tough up there right now,” says Vahala.

The Vahala brothers established Ultimate Golf Seating in Naples, hoping to capitalize on the trend of accessorizing the golf cart. In some communities, such as the giant retirement town called The Villages in central Florida, the golf cart is the principal mode of transportation. “People use golf carts to go to the grocery store,” he says.

In October 2008, when the economy was taking a turn for the worse, the Vahala brothers knew they had to find new products because the RV and boat businesses were among the hardest hit. “After it star ted tapering off, we had to start looking around,” Vahala says.

Both brothers are avid golfers and find any excuse to come to Naples. Although they're in good physical shape, they realized golf-cart seats aren't comfortable after 18 holes. “You sit in your seat for four hours and you know it,” Vahala says.

So the entrepreneurial brothers assigned their research and development team for six months to design a luxurious golf-cart seat that could fit any of the carts of major manufacturers. The seat they designed is made with marine-grade vinyl that won't rot outside, the frame is made with specially coated steel and it's filled with foam that's used in high-end furniture.

The Vahalas knew that using top-quality materials and manufacturing it the U.S. would cost more, but they figured that would be the way to keep away the cheap imitators who will inevitably launch their own seats if the idea is successful. They are outsourcing the manufacturing to another U.S. company and will finish and ship the seats themselves.

David Vahala brushes off concerns that sales of these high-priced seats might be weak in a tough economy. That's because the market for golf carts is huge. About 200,000 golf carts are sold or resold every year. And the after-market for accessories is substantial as owners personalize their carts. Vahala says people might spend as much as $8,000 for a cart and then spend the same amount to personalize it.

Vahala declines to say how much the company has spent to design and build the golf-cart seats, but says he obtained bank financing for the manufacturing. He also declines to say how many he hopes to sell, but he anticipates profitability within one year.

One of the challenges the company has is how to market the seats.

The Vahalas are talking to golf-cart dealers and also marketing the seats directly to consumers. Because Vahala Foam works with a handful of seat manufacturers, the brothers have had to learn how to market their product more broadly. “I'm learning how to sell to the masses,” Vahala says.