A funeral home in Bellevue, Wash., has come up with an unorthodox idea on how the loved ones of an avid golfer can properly honor a person close to them who has finished up the back nine of his or her life and has made the final stop at the 19th Hole in the Sky: A section of the cemetery has been designed to exclusively hold the mortal remains of lovers of the grand game.
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the Sunset Hills Memorial Park and Funeral Home will officially open the Sunset Hills Memorial Golf Park, which consists of the replica of an actual golf hole and will be capable of accommodating over 1,000 dearly departed duffers.
Via a press release:
The Sunset Hills Memorial Golf Park, located near Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue, can accommodate more than 1,281 golf enthusiasts, between full-casket plots and cremation placements. The golf memorial also features an ossuary located under the green, accessible through the actual golf hole.
Designed by a professional golf course designer, the park includes a tee box, 820-square-foot green, fairway and sand trap. The green features a custom-made bronze cup, which will be used as a passageway to the ossuary.
Brilliant. The brains behind the unique concept belong to Arne Swanson, market director for Dignity Memorial’s Seattle Region, who said he came up with idea after seeing mourners scatter the remains of a loved one while on a golf outing:
“My thought was that there were likely other golfers who would like to be memorialized amid the surroundings of a verdant, peaceful golf course.
“In the ceremony I witnessed, the family of the golfer can’t easily visit the eighth fairway of the public golf course on his or her birthday.” Swanson said.
What a fantastic idea. I imagine this will become quite the popular option for golfers in the area when they begin to consider where they would like their final resting place to be located. Other cemeteries around the country are likely to follow Sunset Hills’ lead. What golfer wouldn’t want his or her remains to be housed underneath a meticulously kept green?
Although in my case, given the sorry state of my golf game, if I were to elect to be buried in such a place, it would probably make much more sense for my remains to be scattered in the rough about 100 yards off the fairway.
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