 An 18 hole, private members club, Beamish Park is situated in the former grounds of Beamish Hall. The entire site spans 50 acres, which includes 6179 yards of lush, rolling fairways that have kept members and visitors entertained since 1956.
Renowned for its hilly terrain, members found negotiating the fairways a real challenge. With over 600 members, and a significant percentage of these being senior members, Beamish Park recognised the need to provide transport around the course.
The selection committee, headed by Dave Greener, Greens Chairman, was tasked with procuring a fleet of golf cars that would be able to tackle the hilly, Durham countryside with ease. Dave Greener comments: "To help retain the senior members at the club it was essential to introduce golf cars. We wanted to ensure they could still participate in their love of golf but without the physical demands of walking the course."
There were several criteria the committee wanted to satisfy prior to selection:-
- Low capital outlay
- Economical to use
- Environmental concerns
- Health & safety issues
- Ease of use
There were three power options under consideration — Electric, petrol and LPG. Dave Greener comments on each:
Electric
"Not knowing how successful the golf cars would be, and how much return on investment we would get, it was far too risky spending this kind of money up front."
Petrol
"To keep the golf cars re-fuelled and fully operational over busy periods we would have had to store a lot of petrol on site. This created too many health and safety problems."
LPG
"It was the natural choice for us, it's clean, economical and doesn't give you any health and safety headaches." He continues: If you forget to refuel an LPG golf car it's no major problem, as you can quickly re-fuel a whole tank in about 5 minutes. This is the peace of mind we needed."
A fleet of six E-Z-GO, Textron golf cars were chosen for the course on a three year lease.
Beamish Park is no stranger to the benefits of LPG, its club house and kitchen facilities are powered and heated by Calor. Due to its remote location. Beamish Park is not connected to the natural gas supply and relies on Calor to keep the club up and running.
A 2000 litre bulk tank was installed specifically as a re-fuelling station for the golf cars. Calor advised on the appropriate location and gave training on re-fuelling procedures.
 Having already experienced Calor's complete service - from consultation, to installation, Greener had confidence that Calor would support and provide the service he was looking for. He says: 'Anyone can supply gas, but Calor offer the complete service - from health and safety consultation, tank installation to technical advice and training.'
Calor make weekly deliveries to the club at a predetermined early morning slot to avoid any inconvenience to the members. This ensures that the re-fuelling process is hassle free and any
unnecessary congestion is avoided. Nigel Ward, commercial bulk salesman, Calor comments: "We have the customer focussed approach and resource to make deliveries exactly when the customer wants. If they want Calor to deliver at 6.00am then we will, it avoids a logistical nightmare and ensures the members are not inconvenienced."
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