"Fallbrook, California - A 65-year-old golfer died on Tuesday after his golf cart plunged 25m off a cliff and crashed into a road below, authorities said.

The man teed off with three friends on the second hole of the Pala Mesa Resort Golf Course in northern San Diego County at around 10:00 and then got into his cart.

The vehicle veered off the concrete pathway, travelled down a 8m embankment and went over the edge of a cliff, California Highway Patrol spokesperson Tom Kerns said.

The recently retired real estate agent from Irvine was ejected shortly before the cart hit the road beneath the cliff and died on impact, Kerns said. His name was not immediately released.

No one else was involved in the crash.

Investigators will inspect the golf cart for mechanical failures, Kerns said."