How the pope got his golf cart
The special, six-person electric cart helped him get around St. Charles Seminary.
THERE ARE bound to be countless stories emanating from the pope's weekend visit. Most figure to last a lifetime. So why shouldn't one of them involve golf?
It seems his holiness needed a way to get around the grounds at St. Charles Seminary, where he stayed during his time here. And it happened that a member of the Union League of Philadelphia, who prefers to remain unnamed, was part of the group responsible for helping bring Pope Francis to Philly. Since that organization recently purchased Torresdale-Frankford Golf Club in the Greater Northeast (now known as the Union League G.C. at Torresdale), he took it upon himself to try to solve the problem. Sean Palmer, who formerly was an assistant at Merion, is the head pro there. He got in contact with the man who runs the company that supplies them with their carts. And the rest . . .
"It had to be a six-person electric cart, since they couldn't use a gas cart," said Palmer. "Our vendor, John Schneider of (Doylestown-based) Golf Carts Incorporated, said he'd work on it. And they came up with one. It's not really (the church's) forte. They didn't have anything that would work on that property. It required certain dimensions. The first thing I said to John was, 'I have this very interesting request, that I'll bet you never heard before.' And he said he's pretty much heard it all. I told him he might not be able to top this. And when I told him, he was pretty much quiet for about 10 seconds."
The process began well in advance of this historic moment, with Schneider providing the cart free of charge. It has the Union League crest/emblem on it. What will happen to it going forward is apparently yet to be determined. But as memorabilia goes, it's a keeper.
"I don't know if there is a master plan," Palmer said. "We've had many conversations, but no (final) answer. It's being left ambiguous (for now). We'd be interested in showcasing it (at the club). We're just happy to be part of the effort the city made. The Union League also supplied the Lincoln lecturn from the Gettysburg Address that was used (at Independence Hall on Saturday). We just wanted to help welcome him in any way we can. We're hoping the cart can make its way to our course. That would be cool."
- Mike Kern