Royal Dornoch Golf Club is thought to be the first golf club in the world to fit defibrillators to all its buggies.

The buggies chosen to carry this potentially life-saving device are Star EV’s Capellas from Reesink Scotland. 

Royal Dornoch in Scotland already had defibrillators in the clubhouse and halfway house, but this concept goes one step further to ensure they can be accessed while out on the course and provide treatment more quickly. 

The initiative and decision to put the devices on buggies came about by coincidence, as Royal Dornoch general manager, Neil Hampton explains: “The arrival of the buggies coincided with David Sullivan, a Surrey businessman and ex-military trainer, visiting the course on his ten-week challenge putting a golf ball from John O’Groats to Land’s End, stopping along the way to teach 30,000 people CPR.

“We got talking about how we could support David’s mission to promote widespread access to the lifesaving devices and it seemed logical to install them on the buggies that are hired out to golfers with medical conditions. In fact, it almost seemed unbelievable that it hadn’t been done before.”

It seems the concept has started a trend and the club has already had enquiries about the project from other clubs. Neil explained, “There’s been some promising interest. Defibs are so easy to use, training isn’t even needed. They talk you through the process and alert you if treatment isn’t needed. There’s nothing to fear about putting them on your buggy fleet, they can even be insured.”