22ft sinkhole leaves golf course with £16k bill

The 22ft-long pit, which is nine feet deep, has appeared at the nine-hole Traigh Golf Course near Arisaig, Inverness-shire. Picture: pA

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A MASSIVE sinkhole has caused a blot on the landscape at one of Scotland’s most picturesque golf courses – and also a £16,000 headache for its owners.

The huge 22ft-long pit, which is nine feet deep, has appeared at the nine-hole Traigh Golf Course near Arisaig, Inverness-shire, after days of torrential rain.

A damaged drain pipe has led to the problems and only some of the refurbishment costs can be met by the club’s insurer.

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But David Shaw Stewart, one of the four joint owners, said they would be pushing ahead with repairs as soon as the weather permits.

He said: “The members and visitors can be assured they will not be left with a bog. We are keeping the course going and are going to repair it as soon as possible.

•30ft sinkhole swallows family car

“It is such an important facility for all our friends in the golf club and for the many tourists who play it in the summer.

“We inherited this from our father and we are stumping up for the repairs. There is no question mark over its future.”

He described the course as “the most beautiful in the world” and added: “Obviously when we discovered the hole it was a big shock.”

Traigh Golf Course is the most westerly golf course on the UK mainland.

It is set in one of the most beautiful parts of the West Highlands of Scotland, just north of Arisaig, Inverness-shire.

The word Traigh (pronounced ‘try’) means ‘beach’ in Gaelic, and a series of sandy beaches run alongside the course, with stunning views to the Hebridean islands of Eigg and Rum, and the Cuillins of Skye.

The course is based on a line of grassy hills, with the springy turf of a true links course.

Sinkholes are depressions in the ground caused by a collapse in the surface layer, and can be sudden and devastating.

In March 2013, an 18-foot deep sinkhole on a course in the US swallowed a golfer who was walking down the middle of a fairway.

He was later pulled out of the hole after a 20-minute rescue mission.

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