You are about to putt for par on the 18th hole at your local golf course. It’s the last round of the season and a lot is at stake. Get it, and your reputation and your handicap are secure for another year. Miss it, and it’s going to be a tough night at the clubhouse.

The immediate problem is this: You face a five-metre putt to the flag across a brisk side-wind with your long-time golfing partner and adversary at your shoulder, willing you to miss. As far as you can remember, no shot has mattered more for the entire season.

You prepare yourself mentally. You breathe deeply. You remember that you’ve seen Tiger Woods hole a putt like this a thousand times before – to the applause and admiration of the crowd and his peers. It’s now or never. You begin the stroke confidently.

But just as you are about to make contact with the ball … the greens keeper comes roaring into view on his ancient and noisy utility vehicle. To your dismay, your concentration is broken, you over-hit the ball, and you watch as the putt goes long and your season lies in ruin.

If only the local golf club had supplied its greens keeper with the new, revolutionary and super silent E-Gator™ utility vehicle from John Deere, it all might have ended very differently.

The secret of the E-Gator’s silence is that it is electrically powered, using a 48-volt system with batteries that hold their charge longer than those of typical electric utility vehicles.

Not only is the E-Gator wonderfully quiet, but it is tough and hill-loving, and benefits from the expertise of SKF, which has designed and developed the initial steering device for the utility.

Back in the clubhouse you think, “Ah, if only my golf course had had the technological foresight to talk to John Deere.” You make a mental note to see the manager as soon as possible. In the meantime you have learned the hard way that silence truly is golden.