Bruce Charlton, ASGCA of Robert Trent Jones II, constructed Three Crowns Golf Course in Casper, Wyoming, transforming an old oil refinery site into a recreational amenity for the community.
Hole 7, Three Crowns Golf Course, Casper, Wyoming
The 340-acre site pumped and refined 48,000 barrels of oil a day until 1991, when Amoco Oil Refinery halted its operations there. In 1998, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality signed a Consent Decree with the corporation, establishing a framework for cleanup of the property. The Department then worked with the entire Casper community to identify an environmentally-safe reuse of the land, which now includes Three Crowns Golf Course.
Prior to construction, the site was excavated, capped with fill, and topped with 10 – 15 inches of sand. Landowner BP Products North America, which had merged with Amoco, then installed a remediation system, a series of wells that collect and purify contaminated groundwater for redistribution to a local wetland area.
Charlton worked closely with the owner and design team to build a course that met project requirements but did not adversely impact the remediation of the site. When the course opened in 2005, it hosted 15,000 rounds. Today the course features 45 acres of native grass and 110 acres of playable turf.
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