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Steward Golf Q Follow – Official MGS Forum Review by PMookie
My Game and a little about me
 
I live in West Monroe, LA, which is in the Northeast part of the state, 4 ½ hours North of New Orleans, 3 ½ North of Baton Rouge, and I’m only about 45 miles from the Arkansas line, 55 from Mississippi.  I’m 53 years old, and I’ve been playing since I was little. I learned to play at Pat’s Par 3 in Ypsilanti, MI, now called Miles of Golf. My Dad was a high school golf coach, and my first official tournament was the Ann Arbor Junior Open in the summer of 1982, finishing third. I play to a 4.7 GHIN as I type this, but my lowest ever score is just 74.
 As far as testing the Stewart Q, I’m going to be testing it on the course I play all the time, and I will perform some tests in my backyard as we have a pretty good slope that I wouldn’t find on local courses. One thing I’m really happy to learn is that my greens fees will be going from $48 per round to just $20 per round because I’ll be walking! BONUS!!!
I’ve watched a few video reviews of the Q Follow on YouTube, and read some reviews on various sites online. There only a few issues I’ve seen with the device and one was posted here on by someone who also posted the same issue over on WRX, and it’s an issue with the handle coming apart from the cart. I’ve also seen it mentioned that there are some who had carts that simply couldn’t go straight (others had corrected the issue themselves), and some “jumpy carts”, so we’ll see. For something that costs $2,700, I don’t foresee many problems, but that’s why we’re testing isn’t it?
 So, that’s about it for me for now. I really look forward to getting the cart and getting it out in the backyard, and on the course. Thank you, MGS and Stewart, for the opportunity to be a tester! I greatly appreciate it, and I look forward to y’all’s questions all along the way.








Stewart Q Follow- Official MGS Forum Review by PMookie
First Impressions:
From the moment the Q Follow arrived at my door I was impressed! The box had a great look to it with the big “Q” on the side, the styrofoam that encased the Follow had the Stewart logo on it, and there was a BUNCH of information in the box to guide a user! Really nice. Once I got the Follow out of the box and was able to look it over, I really didn’t want to get the thing dirty! I’m big on how rims/tires look on cars… I don’t like huge ones, but I like them to look “muscular”, different. Well, the Follow has just that, and add the red accent behind the wheels?! Wow! Next were the carbon accents, the finish of the body, all of it black… Man! Such a great looking cart! I took a bunch of pics and added them in my “unboxing” so you can see them there. Add to all of this the CART BAG that showed-up a few days later and I was completely taken-aback! I even mention in one of my videos that it’s an impressive looking machine! 
As far as getting the Q Follow on the course the first time, and getting it underway, I found it to be VERY easy to learn the controls and to get used to them. I had not “practiced” at all at home before I took it out of my vehicle and began to guide it across the parking lot to the driving range before my round, so I was a little nervous, but there was no reason to be. Easy-breezy. I used the arrows on the remote to guide it at first, but once I got on the first hole I engaged “follow mode” and was highly impressed! It worked just as I’d hoped it would by staying right behind me. It really did feel like I had my own personal caddie! So many people at the course stopped to take a look because I’m the only person that plays there that has a remote controlled cart. I had a number of people ask me about it, I could hear folks say, “Look at that,” and even had a college kid tell me how cool it was. Overall, all things included, I was quite impressed. 





5 out of 5 stars!
 
Aesthetics: 
I mentioned a lot in the first impressions paragraph above about the aesthetics, so I won’t belabor the point too much, but I found this to be a beautiful machine, and the carbon accents do add a degree of refinement to it for sure. Are they worth an additional $300? Nope, but they sure look good! I’m going to take a minute here to talk about the bag, even though it isn’t being reviewed… Aestheically, it’s gorgeous. It has some of the same carbon looking accents, the red coloring on it really pops especially since it’s “shiny”, and the Stewart logo on the ball area looks awesome! Really cool!

5 out of 5 stars!
 
The Numbers:
This didn’t really apply to our review so I’m giving a perfect score anyway…
5 out of 5 stars!
 
On-The-Course:
The Q Follow performed better than I expected on-course. Follow mode was fantastic and I ended-up using it about 80% of the time the last two rounds I played using it. The MAIN feature of this cart is the follow mode, and I wouldn’t want any other remote control cart if it didn’t have this same ability! Really, it’s that good! I was able to trust it to follow me up-and-down hills, mounds, across “bridges”, and even up to the teeboxes and it never wavered, fell over, or had any issue keeping-up. There was only ONE time it had difficulty and I showed that in a video. The issue, I believe, was that my bag just didn’t weigh enough to keep the cart tilted forward so it got “caught” on a steep incline. The instructions for the Q Follow to have one’s bag weigh around 31 pounds (not sure how many “stones” that is for those across the pond, HA!) and I would say that would be one piece of advice I would “follow” (ha!) for anyone that gets one of these. Weight of one’s bag DOES make a difference in performance, not just going up hills, but in the general on-course performance it’s smoother and not as “jerky”. 

5 out of 5 stars!
 
The Good, the Bad, the In-Between:
Well, one thing I have not mentioned until this point was that when my Q Follow was taken outside for the first time to try and practice, I started to “unfold” it and the right “fender” or “wing” fell right off. It was broken… Wow. A $3,100 machine and the carbon wing was already an issue. It turns out that the piece is not carbon at all, just plastic finished to look like carbon, and the two connections are VERY flimsy, thin pieces that can break easily. It was a complete bummer, and I was pretty upset. A positive about having something broken? I was able to test the customer service right away! I emailed them and had a response within an hour or two that new ones were on their way. The new pieces arrived just two days later, but no instructions were in the box. The wings are not “snap-on”, they are “screw-in”, so I had NO idea how to replace the wing. I email again, and I get the response within hours. Stewart sent me two wings, and I was glad they did because it turned-out the left wing was broken as well! Ugh. Not a good look, again, for SUCH an expensive machine. I got both wings on after a little difficulty, but I would definitely suggest that Stewart design those parts to be a little thicker, and able to take a beating. The Q Follow is going to be folded, and unfolded many times over years I would hope, and flimsy plastic isn’t going to cut it long-term. I was not impressed by how cheap the wings were, and I’m glad I didn’t have to pay the excessive fees to replace them. On that note, all of the accessories are over-priced in my estimation. We didn’t get anything that wasn’t made of plastic or rubber, so for someone to pay $40 for a phone holder is a bit much for a $.10 piece of rubber. I guess they figure one is spending three-grand so money isn’t an issue… Maybe, I just think it’s excessive.


2 out of 5 stars!
 
Play it or Trade it:
There is NO doubt it’s a PLAY IT! 100%, no questions asked. It’s a great machine, and I REALLY enjoy it! I still need to calibrate the thing so it stops drifting left, but it has been awesome to go to the course and walk 9 again once-a-week. The Q Follow REALLY makes the rounds more enjoyable. I can stay in-tune with my round, but not have to PUSH or CARRY my bag. I can hit the “follow mode” button, put the remote on my rear pocket, and just walk. It’s fantastic. I thoroughly enjoy it!
5 out of 5 stars!
 
Conclusion:
The Q Follow is a great looking remote control cart that does everything Stewart says it does, and it does it with flying colors! It’s simple and intuitive to use, the follow mode is amazing, it really is like having one’s own caddie, and outside of some manufacturing shortcuts, it’s something I think anyone would enjoy having! If one can afford it, I say “go for it”!
 
FINAL SCORE: 27/30
Literally, the only issue I had was with the wings and the lack of quality in their construction, but everything else about the Q Follow was top-notch and lived-up to its billing. 

 

Greetings Spies.  My name is Bill and I reside in southwest Montana. I'm ecstatic and honored to have been selected among the thousands of who applied to test the Stewart Q Follow Electric Caddie.  A HUGE THANK YOU to the folks at Stewart Golf and MyGolfSpy for providing this great testing opportunity!!  I find these forum-based product reviews to be very informative and meaningful.  Marketing claims are "put to the test" by fellow amateur players with no strings attached.  I have used these reviews as part of my recent equipment changes and will do my best to provide you all with a meaningful review of the Stewart Q Follow Caddie.

Please check out my introduction/bio here.  
So as many of you may know, through our discussions on the forum, my preferred mode of travel on the course is walking. 
18th hole at Wine Valley during this years PNW Spy Meet-up.

Unless the course does not allow walking, I rarely opt for an electric/gas cart. To be brutally honest, I just don't like bouncing around, getting in/out and traversing the fairway.  Further, many courses limit where power carts can go (i.e. 90 degree rule, off fairways altogether, and green approach areas).  I prefer the cadence that walking affords - allowing me to think about the upcoming shot (or blowing off steam from the previous shot 😊). If I want to stay in the shade of a tree line as the group makes its way down the fairway, or just mosey along enjoying the sights, I have that option. Plus, it's great exercise and helps keep me stay loose - especially on colder days. I recently upgraded from a Sun Mountain Speed Cart to a Caddy-Tek EZ-V8 (which I did an unofficial review on here). 
I've seen some of the various electric walking carts on courses and always was interested in them. At 62 years of age, I'm still in pretty good shape but will admit that some course terrain is beginning to tax the legs and lungs a wee bit.  Having a multi-mode, powered push cart seems like a great option. So when I saw the opportunity to test the Stewart Q Follow Caddie, I was really excited. From what I've read, this looks to be an industry leader in lightweight, compact design, and follow/tracker technology.
A few questions that immediately come to my mind and are of interest include;
battery life and how much it drops off (or not) during a round or even 27 holes recharging time stability on side hills ability to power through heavy rough and uneven terrain do I have to switch out of follow mode when walking onto the greens and tees? how easy is it to drive/steer using the remote? and, ultimately for me, will having the powered functionality offer a seamless transition from my many years using a simple push-cart? If you have any specific questions or things you would like myself and other testers to investigate, please reach out to us and we'll do our best to cover them in our reviews. 
 
Final Review - Stewart Q Follow Golf Trolley
 First Impressions (4 of 5 stars)
Once again, I want to open this review with a HUGE Thank You to both Stewart Golf and MGS for providing us the opportunity to test/review the Stewart Q Follow Caddie.  I don't mind repeating myself in saying that these forum product reviews are of more value to me than most all other reviews I read.  In fact, now when I consider buying new golf products, I always check to see if a forum, Hit Squad, or both have been done when whittling down information leading to a buy or move on decision.
My initial impression of this product was very well engineered and excellent build craftsmanship.  The shipping box was heavy duty and packing protection top notch. The packing arrangement makes for easy removal and, perhaps as important, easy to repack (I had the opportunity to test this out with our move to AZ).  Help instructions are in the right places - isn't that so often overlooked these days. My shipment had definitely seen some rough handling, and gave the protective packaging a serious test.


Upon getting the cart out and unfolded, I was quite impressed by its look - which I would describe as quite modern, stylish, and sleek.  The "black carbon" version we received has some nice accents (wheel fenders) that give it just the right amount of "pop".


Little details like pressed-fit, sealed wheel bearings, and cooling fins on the drive motor, are not features one would see on low end products.

The key technology of the Stewart Q Follow is the Bluetooth follow mode. With that function selected, the cart is seeking the handheld pendant. When I first trialed this in the yard, it was without a bag on the cart, and I found the cart quite erratic.  At first, I thought it was due to not holding the pendant still (as in clipped to my belt) but, after getting the clubs aboard, the cart became quite steady.  It still makes some jerky direction changes but nothing excessive.  The bottom-line is that the follow technology works as advertised.  Soon into my third round, I began not really thinking about the cart too much and just felt confident my clubs would be within arm's reach when I got to my ball.
Personally, I found trying to hook the pendant onto my belt or pants/shorts pocket each time I selected "follow" a pain.  Upon arriving at the ball, you can stay within the "no follow" zone, and it won't attempt to move to you.  But, on a several occasions, I would just get outside that range while setting up for the shot and the cart you suddenly swivel and move towards me. What worked best for me was simply carrying the pendant in my hand as I walked to my ball, then place it on my bag, take the shot, pick up the pendant and start walking.  My testing showed the carts steering to be nearly identical whether on my belt or in my hand.  I even swung the pendant around while watching and the carts steering was hardly affected at all.
 
Aesthetics (5 of 5 stars)
I really like the look of the cart. As I mentioned above, it has a very modern look with just enough bling in the right places. The light grey rubber handle inserts and bag strap, the exposed carbon fiber basket-weave fenders, grey wheel rims, and red inner wheel covers blend really well. Overall, it is quite compact folded up and not as large as one might think a "battery powered" cart would be.  

The battery nest fits perfect and simply blends into the cart base for a streamline look.


The Numbers (4 of 5 stars)
Unlike the accuracy of a range finder or carry distance for clubs, this category for a bag cart is a bit challenging.  But, I will touch on a key thing that can definitely effect "one's numbers (scoring)" and that is fatigue.  I've used non-motorized golf push carts for the better part of 45 years and while their designs have evolved to make them more compact and feature rich, they still require manual labor.  As we get older, that effort becomes more and more noticeable.  On courses with significant elevation and slope changes, I've really started to notice that my stamina wanes as the holes roll along.  Add in some heat index and that just makes manual carts feel heavier with each passing yard.
The rounds I have played using the Stewart Q Follow Caddie have significantly reduced the level of fatigue I feel as compared to my manual push cart. I cannot yet equate better scoring with the Stewart Q but it stands to reason that being less fatigued over the course of a round will more likely than not help ones scoring.

On The Course (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Stewart Q Follow worked better than I expected in both manual drive and follow modes. I say better than expected because I had visions of looking back for my clubs only to see them some distance back and off-track. I used the follow mode about 90% of the time and it always kept up with me.  With the exception of it finding a pothole as it left the cart path and falling over, it never had an issue.

The first course I tested on had a really good mix of terrain. The carts paths are mostly gravel and some not so smooth.  There were plenty of bumps and lumps which did tend to knock the steering off course a bit, but the tracking technology did a very good job of making corrections.  It did get a bit jumpy at times when this happened, but nothing all that drastic. 
While the cart does well going up hills, going down steep hills isn't so good - particularly if you walk at normal pace.  What I found worked was to just walk slow and kind of guide it along close behind. On a few grades, I noted the brakes having to engage to slow travel and skid the wheels. Of course the instructions suggest using manual steering and use of the handle in these situations, but what fun is that? 🙂.
The course also had plenty of side hills and I purposely walk up the slopes and in a zig-zag manner to see how the tracking worked.  It did a good job making steering adjustments but definitely was working the two wheel motors pretty hard.  Still, I was quite impressed with its ability to keep up.

The Good, the Bad, and the In-between (3.5 of 5 stars)
The "good" points are:
The cart is very compact folded up which will really help those driving cars with limited trunk space. It is very easy to unfold and refold once you get the sequence down. Battery life is as advertised. We received the 36 hole battery and, following each of my 18 hole rounds, the app showed close to 60% remaining. The battery app is easy to use and provides status whether connected to the cart or charging cords. The quick dis-engage design of the rear wheels, for full manual mode, is very easy.  Removing and replacing the battery is easy and the recharge time for it and the remote pendant as described in the user manual. The cart adjusts well to the players walking pace.  I found this really helpful when slowing down and "helping" the cart through odd terrain.  This even works on moderate downhill grades. Switching to manual/pendant steering is easy and one quickly gets the feel for how much left and right arrow is needed to make course adjustments. The cart had very ample torque and climbing power.  I took it up a few quite steep inclines and it had no problem.  The two "wheelie wheels" do a great job at keeping the cart from tipping over backwards.  The "bad" points are:
The handle is a bit on the flimsy side.  On several holes with moderate contours around the greens and tees, I dis-engaged the rear wheels from the motor and pushed the cart.  I found the amount of flexing in the handle a little concerning.  When using my current cart, I sometimes will give it a pretty hefty shove going over curbs. I would be concerned about this handle holding up under similar situations. To be fair, maybe it will sustain way more flexure and stress than I think... but it just made me nervous. Storage is pretty much non-existent. I found myself really missing the mesh cargo net bag, storage tray, and zippered storage pocket on my current Caddy-Tek cart. For me, this was a big negative that affected scoring. The "In-between" points are:
The cart folded is a bit heavy and I could see this maybe being an issue for older folks (even more so for women) lifting in/out of car trunks. It seems the "glide stop" mode should be the default.  The carts stops quite abruptly if this mode is not on, and I should think most users will want this on... so why not make it the default? The cart does work fine with lighter than optimum weight bags, but the tradeoff is that the cart tends to pop wheelies a bit more when starting off and when following up steeper inclines. Play it or Trade it? (4 of 5 stars)
To be brutally honest, I'm on the fence on this one.  I walked one of my (new to me) courses today using my cart and was taking note of all the uneven surface changes I went through moving from greens to tees.  Most of the cart paths stand several inches higher than the ground and I could see myself having to do quite a bit of "helping" the Stewart Q cart through this - whether in follow or manual steering.  Staying on the concrete paths would be a solution but there are a good many more direct/shorter paths through packed gravel that the walking folks use. I need to get a few rounds in with it on the courses here to make this final decision.  I do think it will help reduce fatigue, especially on hot days, and that is a BIG incentive. While my Caddy-Tek cart is quite light and easy to push, I still feel it towards the end of rounds.  I'm definitely going to put the Stewart Q through more paces and testing here and see how it works out.
One factor I'm interested in is battery life and and adverse effects of use and storage in hot climates - like Arizona hot in summer months. They recommend charging at near room temps, which is fine and doable, but what about use and storage in a garage that's near 100F?
I'm quite sure I would not have spent the MSRP for this cart.  I had previously looked at battery powered, manual steer units and opted not to invest the $700 to $1000 for some of those. I do think the build quality and technology are excellent, and the follow mode a really helpful feature, but the price seems a bit high IMO.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Stewart Q Follow Caddie is the real deal and does what it was designed to do.  With the exceptions noted above and two key design aspects (weak handle and virtually no storage), the cart manual and follow steering modes work very well. It works well over moderately uneven terrain; gravel paths, over tree roots, and low curbs (say up to an inch).  Straight out of the box, the cart is assembled and, with the help of fantastic instructions, requires only a few base and handle movements to be ready to load your bag and head off to the tee.  After the round is done, the fold and store sequence is very easy and surprisingly compact.  It is a little on the heavy side and could be an issue for some lifting into and out of deep trunks. 
The ability to quickly disengage both the rear wheels is great in the event of either the cart or pendant batteries running out, a system malfunction, or forgetting to bring the pendant with you (which I nearly did 😬 ). With the wheels disengaged, the cart feels very much like any other push cart.  It rolls along fine but keep in mind the weight of the battery will require expending a few more calories.  It's also worth noting that the handle is no where near as rigid as most carts and tends to twist/flex a bit if pushing forward over curbs, cart paths, etc.  There are other reviews on this product where handles breaking have happened - so just something to consider and remember when using.
It seems to work well with various golf bags.  I used my Sun Mountain Four 5 kickstand bag and it had no issues.  Stewart Golf does recommend using a bit heavier bags to minimize "wheelies" during drive motor starts, but I did not find that an issue.  While perhaps not optimum, it's nice to know the cart can be used with a pretty wide range of bags.
The $2699 to $3099 MSRP (depending on options) is pretty high as compared to other battery powered, manual pendant steer carts.  Because I'm not real familiar with the competing products, I won't try and justify the cost of this product except to say I think the Stewart Q Follow is a top-shelf product with respect to engineering and build quality.  
I think the bottom-line is that if you really love to walk but are finding doing so with a manual push cart too taxing, and you want a high end, quality built cart with state-of-art follow mode feature, the Stewart Q Follow should definitely be on your list.  I must say that the follow mode is quite cool.  Simply walking from shot to shot with "Stewey" tagging along and having your clubs there when you get to the ball could be habit forming.
Thank you for reading this review.  Be sure to check out the "comments" section with the many posts we testers made chronicling our experiences using this product.  Also, check in periodically as myself and the other testers will be adding more findings in the comments section as we get more experience using the product.  
Final Score (25 out of 30 stars)