Golf club gets an undertaker to sponsor hole called ‘The Coffin’

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir August 8, 2016 14:07

West Lothian Golf Club has been praised for getting a local funeral director to sponsor a hole that is called ‘The Coffin’.

The sponsorship should see the club benefit from the funding, while the sponsoring undertaker is also hoping that the exposure will result in an increase in business.

The eighth hole of the Scottish course is called The Coffin because of the shape of the original green created when West Lothian GC was designed more than 40 years ago,

It now sports a sign declaring its connections with Ross Fraser Funeral Directors, which is based nearby.

Screen Shot 2016-08-08 at 13.58.00

According to the Edinburgh Evening News, undertaker Ross Fraser said he was looking for ways to give back to the local community when he heard that the sponsorship of the eighth hole was up for grabs.

Now he has paid to erect a sign above the hole at the club where his father has been a member for more than 60 years and acted as club secretary.

He has also sponsored a bottle of whisky to be kept behind the bar at the club and donated to any player who gets a hole-in-one.

“As a funeral director, it is very hard to find ways to give back to the community,” he said. “If you have a shoe shop, you can offer people 50 per cent off, but as an undertaker, you can’t really help people financially until after they have departed.

“I grew up at the course on the greenkeeper’s knees, my father has been a member at the club for as long as I can remember and I used to play a lot myself.

“When I heard there was a chance to sponsor the eighth hole, it just made sense.”

The eighth hole retained its coffin nickname even after the course was redesigned in 1992 and it lost its original-shaped green.

Alan Gibson, general manager of West Lothian Golf Club, said: “It has been known as The Coffin for as long as I can remember and I’ve been here for 28 years.

“It used to have a coffin-shaped green, but that was changed a few years ago now. However, it is at the top of a very steep hill and people always say that’s why it’s got its name – that they will be in a coffin by the time they get to the top!”

He added: “It will set a few tongues wagging when people get there and see the Ross Fraser Funeral Directors sign. I can see them all now at the bottom of the hill, looking up at the funeral directors’s sign!”

 

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir August 8, 2016 14:07
Write a comment

No Comments

No Comments Yet!

Let me tell You a sad story ! There are no comments yet, but You can be first one to comment this article.

Write a comment
View comments

Write a comment

<

Join Our Mailing List


Read the latest issues

Advertise With Us

For editorial enquiries in the magazine or online, contact:

Alistair.Dunsmuir@hdidmedia.com


For advertising enquiries in the magazine or online, contact:

georgina.hirst@hdidmedia.com