GAME CHANGER
Inside ‘awe-inspiring’ new Scottish golf course near NC500 with major ambition to give Open venues a run for their money
The planned course promises to be a blockbuster - even if the building it's named after is haunted...
A GOLF course designed by a world architect, a 400-year-old castle and a stunning coastline. And all of it located at the gateway to the North Coast 500.
It might even make you look past St Andrews the next time you plan a golf trip in Scotland.
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The Home of Golf will always be in Fife but at Cabot Highlands, a Back to the Future-esque approach is aiming to create an "awe-inspiring" golf course that will "stand the test of time".
Around 150 miles north of the Old Course lies Castle Stuart Golf Links, just outside Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.
It opened for play in 2009 and was an immediate hit - and soon, it will have a younger brother.
The property was bought by Canadian luxury resort operator Cabot in 2022 and their vision is to recreate a similar golf offering to the stunning Cabot Cape Breton, and progress is underway on construction of a new golf course that will sit next to Castle Stuart.
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Interestingly, Cabot Cape Breton is also based near an Inverness - only this time, in Nova Scotia.
It boasts two golf courses ranked in the top 50 in the world and lavish accommodation facilities for those staying and playing at the resort.
Cabot's portfolio also includes exotic locations in the Caribbean, Florida and British Columbia.
Situated on the Moray Firth, Castle Stuart used to be home to the Scottish Open, until 2013.
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The dream is not just to create a game-changing golf resort but to bring that prestigious event back to the Highlands.
Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO of Cabot and a man with family ties to the Scottish Highlands, said as the plans for the new course were announced: "It was so exciting as a lover of golf to see the Scottish Open come here. It shines a spotlight on the region.
"Getting that TV audience, it would be wonderful.
"If we don’t dream big, we don’t achieve dreams."
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The first step to doing that? Recruit the man who designed the course that currently hosts the competition.
Tom Doak is one of the world's leading golf course architects, with five of his masterpieces in the top 100 globally.
Mr Cowan-Dewar said: "In the historic home of golf, we looked to Tom to create something special, and perhaps unconventional by modern standards.
"His vision of resurrecting an old true-links style course will serve as a great compliment to the beloved Castle Stuart Golf Links.
"We hope to create an awe-inspiring destination anchored by incredible golf that will stand the test of time for generations to come.
"Golf here is so special, it’s soul-stirring. The potential to add to that and create a destination around it is amazing."
Work on the new course has begun and SunSport has obtained CGI video footage of how it will look upon completion.
The course, named Old Petty after a nearby old church which is rumoured to be haunted, hopes to open for play in 2025.
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Its development will see ground that has been used as farm land for decades transformed to look and feel like traditional links land.
Cabot has plans to build luxury lodges and to extend the clubhouse alongside the new track.
Doak has said of his design: "At Cabot Highlands, our vision is to create a strategic course that exudes organic beauty and incorporates natural obstacles reminiscent of ancient links from the earliest days of golf.
"As architects, our greatest joy is to try to sort out the best way to have fun over a raw piece of ground, but the ultimate success is to leave our future golfers a primed canvas for individualised exploration."
So far, Cabot's team has completed full seeding on two holes since work began late last year.
Four further holes are ready for seeding with 10 holes now shaped and eight to go.
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All seed will be into ground by end of this summer and, weather-depending, there could be a soft opening for review play next year.
Mounds of earth can be seen from the roadside but two local councillors for the area, Ken Gowans (Scottish National Party) and Trish Robertson (Liberal Democrat) told us that there have been no complaints from locals with regards to the construction work.
Mr Gowans said when the Scottish Open first came to the region, it represented a "step-change" for access and tourism in the Highland.
The councillor, who chairs Highlands Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee, said: "I very much welcome this development and I'll give as much support to it as I can. It's a win-win-win."
In order to bring the Scottish Open back, Cabot will expand the clubhouse by 11,000 square feet with new dining areas and the creation of a second-floor whisky bar.
A separate wing will be built to host a new, larger pro shop.
For golfers to rest their heads and relax after their round, 12 lavish lodge units with their own personal putting greens are proposed,w ith work to begin on them later in the year.
Planning permission has been applied for for 72 rooms, which will sit next to Cabot's driving range and par 3 course.
The exclusivity of the accommodation will appeal to any lucky amateur golfer but it will be the course itself that will attract both them and the world's best players, should the Scottish Open ever return to the Moray Firth.
Stuart McColm, general manager of Cabot Highlands, told SunSport that Old Petty will offer a different challenge to the traditional links test provided by Castle Stuart.
He said: "On the new course, you'll be going round every part of the compass.
"All 18 tee balls will be going in a different direction, as opposed to Castle Stuart which is generally plays either into the wind or downwind.
"No two holes are the same.
"Two or three of the holes on the Doak course will feature the coastline too, and we've got a topography difference."
Old Petty will also feature the added prospect of burns running across two of the holes, in a similar fashion to the Swilcan Burn on the Old Course at St Andrews and the Barry Burn at Carnoustie.
Despite the name, only one hole on Castle Stuart at present has the building for which it is named play a serious part.
The castle dates from around 1625 and will be visible on around half of the holes on the new course.
McColm said: "A huge part of the Doak course is the castle, eight or even 10 of the new holes will have some view of the castle as you either play down to it, alongside it, or it's in the peripheral view."
The Scottish Open is one of the most historic events outside of golf's four majors.
It boasts a bumper prize payout of over £1.5m to the winner and its roll of honour includes golfing greats from many eras including Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Ian Woosnam and Scotland's own Colin Montgomerie.
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The total purse for last year's tournament was £9m and that will increase in the future.
Castle Stuart hosted the event three times after it took over from Loch Lomond as the competition moved from a parkland location to a links venue, with the sport's best players often using it as the perfect preparation for The Open Championship itself.
Loch Lomond hosted the tournament for 13 years, following on from Gleneagles where it had been held for six years from 1987-1994 and two years at Carnoustie.
The Renaissance Club been the home of the event since 2019 and it will keep the rights until 2026.
That year is significant, as it's exactly when Cabot Highlands hopes to have Old Petty fully up and running alongside Castle Stuart.
The extensive renovations to the clubhouse and the constructions of the new accommodation will also be complete.
It's clear that 2026 is a target for Cabot.
One of the plus points to the Renaissance Club's location is its close proximity to other top-rated courses on East Lothian's so-called 'Golf Coast'.
Archerfield, Gullane and Open rota member Muirfield are all within a chip shot, with North Berwick and The Glen just a short (literal) drive away.
Dundonald, another former Scottish Open venue with its eyes on 2026, can point to other top courses it shares the Ayrshire coast with such as Trump Turnberry, Royal Troon, Kilmarnock Barassie and Western Gailes.
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It was perhaps a (perceived) lack of elite neighbours that held Castle Stuart back in the past, or the access to them.
But with two championship courses at the one venue, and ever-improving access to the Highlands region as a whole, that could be changing.
More and more golfers want to experience Royal Dornoch (just over an hour from Castle Stuart) but closer by are Nairn, Tain and Fortrose & Rosemarkie. In the other direction, players can head to Aberdeenshire for Royal Aberdeen and Trump International.
Mr Cowan-Dewar believes developing Cabot Highlands can help attract more visitors to Inverness and other areas such as Nairn, Dornoch, Tain and Brora - all of which have golf courses, each unique in their own right.
Mr Cowan-Dewar said: "It really opens the door. If we can do a great job here it anchors the tourism offering and strengthens all of that. That’s the opportunity for me.
"I see the Highlands as a destination that can stand on its own. Hopefully we’re a big part of that."
Fergus Ewing, the MSP for the area, who also served as the rural economy and tourism secretary from 2021, praised news of the progress and welcomed the potential impact more high-spending tourists would have on the region.
He said: "This is great news. Castle Stuart has been a great success attracting major tournaments and a second course will further boost the local visitor economy.
"Golf tourism attracts many of the highest spending visitors which is good for local businesses that have been in the bunker after the severe pressures of Covid."
So if tomorrow is the Scottish Open, and establishing the Highlands as a premier place to golf in Scotland, could the next goal be challenging St Andews and Fife?
Mr McColm said: "St Andrews and Fife is a big challenge. It's the Home of Golf, the pilgrimage that people want to embark upon.
"People want to come to Scotland and play the Old Course there's no getting away from that, but we are a tenant in the mall. If the anchor is the Old Course, and everything in Scotland feeds off of that.
"With the courses in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands now, the south west and near Edinburgh's coast, there is more choice and more choice means more people can come.
"We have a saying that is in a rising tide, all ships float. So we're all in it together and if we're all good enough, there is more reason for people to come.
"We are finding that regions that were maybe underutilised are now being discovered.
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"We might never challenge St Andrews and Fife, but we want to be right up there.
"As some people like to say, watch this space."
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