From mines to bunkers - Innovative golf course opens

Friday 31 May 2002

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, will officially open the acclaimed Pumpherston Golf Club's new golf course today followed by a celebratory 'drive off' and a round of golf. The course has been converted from a shale oil refinery site and is now a winner of several prestigious environmental awards.

From Alexander Graham Bell to John Logie Baird, Scotland is justifiably proud of its reputation both as a nation of innovators and as the 'Home of Golf'. These key Scottish qualities can be seen coming together in the environmental transformation that has taken place at Pumpherston, near Livingston, West Lothian, over recent years.

"...this sports facility... will benefit the whole community, especially youngsters wanting to get involved in golf."

The site, one of the earliest refineries built in the heart of the world's first major oil industry, has been given a new lease of life as a new nine hole course extension to Pumpherston Golf Club including new clubhouse, practice area and green-keeping facilities. Through the use of leading edge technology, the project has received worldwide acclaim and resulted in a truly 'green' golf course. The new clubhouse contains excellent changing facilities and offices, a bar with snacks, entertainment facilities, dining room, accommodation, pro shop and junior lounge with pool table and tv.

The Pumpherston Oil Company (which later became a subsidiary of British Petroleum) was founded in 1883, when a process was pioneered by Glasgow man, James 'Paraffin' Young to extract oil from shale, and from 1948 the site was also used for the production of detergents. The facility was closed in 1993 after 110 years of intensive use and subsequent investigations revealed the site to be heavily contaminated. The contamination (mostly detergents and tars) was confined to a fenced-off site and did not pose any real danger, but BP decided to take steps to return the entire location to beneficial use and a £7 million clean-up programme swiftly followed.

The innovative clean-up strategy devised by company scientists and engineers centred on bioremediation techniques which used naturally occurring bacteria in the soil to remove contaminants and produce a compost-rich soil, and the use of reed beds to clean up water containing detergents.
On completion of the clean-up in 1999, and following discussions with the local community, BP joined forces with sportscotland, West Lothian Council and Pumpherston Golf Club to upgrade the existing nine hole course into a full 18 hole layout. The new holes have been constructed on land provided by BP, Pumpherston Estates and West Lothian Council.

The £2.34 million project has been funded jointly with £1 million from BP, an award of £785,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund with the balance raised by the club and The R & A.

Standing on the magnificent second tee (the course's signature hole), which looks across the Pentland Hills, golfers new to the course will be uncertain about what lies around the corner, (a sharp dog-leg right, with a water hazard on the left and several bunkers lying to the right of the green), yet the project team clearly knew where they were going with this revolutionary scheme.

Commenting on their involvement Colin Maclean, Complex Director, BP Grangemouth, said: "BP have been involved in the area for nearly 120 years and it was felt appropriate with the restoration of the site that something should be put back into the community.

"We are delighted with the golf course extension and now the official launch of the clubhouse. This development creates a lasting and worthy memorial of the industry."

The course recently received the prestigious National Environmental Excellence Award and pan-European Committed to Green Standard from the Scottish Golf Environment Group. So far only eight sites in Scotland and fifteen in total across Europe have achieved this standard.

For Pumpherston Golf Club this is just the start of a longer-term project to build the game in West Lothian. The club is committed to breaking down some of golf's traditional barriers and is positively encouraging participation by women and the development of the sport at junior level. One of the driving forces behind the development of the new course was the desire to build a facility which would help attract and encourage local children to play the game.

Pumpherston already has a strong junior membership and over the years has carried out a great deal of work to welcome more boys and girls into the club. In recognition of these efforts, the club was awarded the Scottish Golf Union's Junior Charter - an accolade given to the most "junior friendly" golf clubs in Scotland.
The course designers have incorporated the needs of junior members from the outset, which include a practice area complete with pitching and bunker facilities and a putting green. The club also intends to strengthen its existing relationship with local schools and to work with education authorities to develop coaching and playing programmes for youngsters both during and out of the school term.

Peter Corner, Club Captain, said: "Historically this site at Pumpherston has played a huge part in the lives of the local community and we very much hope that the redevelopment will bring huge enjoyment not just to today's golfers but to the golfers of the future."

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland said: "We are delighted to be supporting such an innovative scheme which has led to the opening of this fine golf course today. Pumpherston has not only brought significant environmental improvements to this area but has greatly improved and extended this sports facility which will benefit the whole community, especially youngsters wanting to get involved in golf."

"We look forward to seeing Pumpherston Golf Course going from strength to strength."

• The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has published a paper citing this project as an example of the collaborative approach to land remediation and development.
• The project has won a number of awards including: National Environmental Excellence Award, pan-European Committed to Green Standard, BP Amoco's Chairman's Awards 1999, in recognition of its environmental achievements and local community involvement; and the 1999 Engineering Council Environment Award for Engineers.
• BP is one of the biggest sponsors of junior golf in Scotland. In 2001 the company signed a five-year, £250,000 agreement with the Scottish Golf Union for sponsorship of the Scottish Boys Championship - the biggest junior matchplay event in the country.
• The company also supports a series of junior golf initiatives at the Scottish National Golf Centre at Drumoig in Fife, designed to encourage more young boys and girls to take up the game, to date over 2,500 children have benefited from these projects.
• The Scottish Junior Golf Partnership was formed in 2000 with the remit of giving a clear direction to, promoting co-operation amongst, and developing shared goals for, all the organisations involved in the development of junior golf in Scotland. The aim is to maximise the use of resources across all the agencies currently providing support to junior golf.