Product Review: Stewart Golf Q Follow

Years ago, when hands-free push carts began coming out, I thought to myself: maybe a decade or two from now, these should be pretty good, and they can be a nice present for retirement.

But technology is advancing rapidly, and I've noticed at my home courses, more and more golfers are beginning to use motorized push carts, either hands-free or follow carts. These still get some head turns, but the novelty is starting to wear off and instead they're just an accessory for the most die-hard walkers at the club.

The Stewart Golf Q Follow is one of the most established follow carts in golf, and for walkers, it can be a real upgrade in how you experience the game. I've used one over the last month and have been pretty impressed. These are pretty significant investments, about 8-10x the cost of a premium push cart. Is it worth it? Let's go inside.

Q Follow: The Basics

The Q Follow by Stewart is a battery-powered push cart with a Bluetooth remote control, designed to effortlessly follow you all over the course. You can also push it for max control with power assist, or use the remote to steer it ahead of you.

Setup is pretty easy. The Q Follow, folded down, is about the size of my Sun Mountain Ridgeline compacted (actually, it's a little slimmer). With a single click on the handle, it expands. Then drop in your battery, turn it on, and pair the remote on Bluetooth, and you're off and running. It's a setup that takes about as much time as a push cart.

Q Follow: The Experience

I could get used to this. I was nervous about the learning curve before my first round, so I took it to the park for an hour and played around with it. By the time I got to the course, on the front nine, I still didn't trust it much, so I kept an eye on it and probably overmanaged it.

But by the back side of my first round, it had really become a very autonomous, low-maintenance way to get around the course. Being able to walk, hands-free, with no weight on your back, is pretty luxurious. Caddies these days are rare and costly. This is easily the next best thing and comparatively economical.

While it's best not to use follow mode in tight spots, parking lots, or over bridges, it is certainly capable of it. It hasn't fallen over on me despite taking it through some dodgy spots in the name of testing. Active Terrain Control technology in the Q Follow reads changes in the course gradient 1,000 times per second to adjust to uphills and downhills. You can steer it pretty easily with the remote, turn it around, and either hard-stop or glide-stop it.

The only hiccup was when it followed me over some severe rocky ground between a cart path and rough, and it caused my tumbler to fall out of the Sun Mountain water bottle holder I'd added onto it. Something I've found as I walk with it behind me is I will now walk with the cart's path in mind, so I may avoid any paths with little sinkholes or rocks on them if I can.

I'm also particularly impressed by its ability to get up and down hills. It detects the ground conditions 1000 times per second! It also utilizes a 75-meter range Bluetooth connection with the remote.

Alignment Calibration: You may want to calibrate your cart to make sure it goes straight. This is an easy process. Just find a straight, flat path and hold down the two bottom-left buttons on your remote. The cart will move forward, and if it veers to one side or the other, use the arrows to straighten it out.

Battery life: Stewart says you can get 36 holes on a charge. I've had no issues with 18 holes. Charge it between rounds, and ideally plug it in within a day of use to extend battery life. You can use the Stewart App and pair your cart to get specifics on the charge level.

Storage: Compared to premium push carts, the Q Follow doesn't come with baskets or large accessory storage, aside from a small spot on top of the handle for a scorecard. You can add cup holders and other accessories on the side. Generally speaking, when using the Q Follow, you'll keep everything in your bag.

Bag compatibility: The Q Follow bag straps fit best on a larger cart-style or large carry bag versus a smaller bag. The top strap is adjustable, but the bottom one isn't, so you need a large enough bag for the bottom strap to fit snugly and securely.

Q Follow: The Verdict

The Q Follow is an investment at over $3,000 MSRP (about 9-10x top of the line push carts), but if you mainly walk the course, it's the closest you can get to an actual warm-blooded caddie. It will be tough to go back to carrying your bag or pushing a manual cart after a few rounds with it. Stewart products come with a 2-year warranty.

The Q Follow arrives with just the cart, charger, and remote. You may need to get some of their Stewart accessories like a phone holder or pouch. Otherwise, you can't store pretty much anything on the cart itself besides a scorecard.

We've had several community members in the GolfN community get the Vertx instead, which remote and battery operated, and is less expensive but has no follow mode. In my opinion, just get the follow mode too with the Q Follow. You can also upgrade to a Carbon model that is $3,500 MSRP.

Get 5% Back in GolfN Points on the Q Follow

The Q Follow is a big purchase, and if you don't have enough GolfN points yet to redeem for it, that's okay. You can buy it with cash and get 5% back in GolfN points, which means you'll get over $100 in points back just for buying it through the GolfN app pro shop. That's enough for plenty of golf balls for the season.

View and buy the Q Follow in the GolfN Pro Shop.

And through Sunday, May 17th, all purchases made through the GolfN app are eligible to receive a free Bushnell Tour V7 Shift Rangefinder.

Use my promo code 'btuck' for a free month of upgraded Silver membership earnings. Download on iOS and Android.