'I don’t think anything compares': Why new Scottish golf courses are being built amid closures

Taken purely at face value, it sounds silly. As two golf courses in Scotland have closed in recent weeks, a handful of new ones are either in the process of being built or in the pipeline around the country.

A second course, for instance, is currently under construction at Cabot Highlands - better known to most people as Castle Stuart - on the outskirts of Inverness, as is the case at Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, with a summer opening in 2025 having just been announced for it.

An inquiry being held next month will determine whether or not a planned course on the protected nature site of Coul Links on the Sutherland coast comes to fruition while, as exclusively revealed by The Scotsman last month, a second championship course has been given the green light at Machrihanish Dunes on the Kintyre Peninsula.

So, why is there an apparent rush to build new courses in Scotland at a time when two venues - The Hirsel in Coldstream and Torrance Park in Motherwell - have closed over the past few weeks and others are reacting to feeling the pressure financially?

Scotscraig, the world’s 13th oldest club, has been given the green light by members to open talks with prospective funding partners while Musselburgh, which has staged regional and final qualifying for The Open, is receiving a much-needed cash injection through members agreeing to pay a £100 levy.

The view of the course at Machrihanish. | Complimentary

The answer about those new courses is that they are all aimed mainly at visiting golfers from outside Scotland. The second course at Cabot Highlands, for example, is to give Americans in particular more reason to spend some time in the Highlands rather than just paying a flying visit and it’s the same at Trump International Golf Links and Machrihanish Dunes as well.

“Golf has had such an incredible resurgence since Covid in the States and worldwide, really,” Tommy Southworth, president of Southworth, a Boston-based privately-held global golf company that owns Machrihanish Dunes, told Scotland on Sunday. “But nothing compares to Scottish golf and links golf in particular.”

Referring to a second championship course being at the heart of a major expansion, he added: “That’s what makes this new project most compelling for us. This is an additional authentic links course and Machrihanish Dunes is an incredibly unique asset in that way. The way it was built, the site it was built on. Golfers worldwide are infatuated with proper Scottish links golf. It’s been growing and it will continue to grow. The popularity of the sport is on the rise and we are excited about that.”

With the likes of Gleneagles, Turnberry and St Andrews, of course, all offering top-class accommodation and world-class golf courses, Scotland is not short of bucket-list destinations, but Southworth reckons somewhere like Machrihanish Dunes can also continue to attract visitors from all around the globe. 

“Obviously it is a competitive market,” he admitted with a smile. “There are a lot of incredible destinations where golfers can go these days, whether it is Bandon Dunes (in Oregon) or the many offshoots of Bandon across the States and the Caribbean now and certainly in Ireland  and Scotland. It’s a competitive landscape for sure, but I don’t think anything compares to Machrihanish.

“Look, St Andrews will always be the home of golf within the home of golf, right? It’s always going to be No 1 on everyone’s bucket list, as it should be as St Andrews is magical. For visitors across the pond and anywhere else in the world, it is going to remain first on the list. 

“But what most people don’t get is that Scotland has all these incredible regions and each of them has its own charm and authenticity and we just want to see that Machrihanish is up there with one of the best. 

“Our target demographic is not someone who is a casual golfer who is going to visit Scotland once. Our demographic is someone who is obsessed with links golf. Someone who wants to pursue the most authentic links golf out there and that’s what we offer. People will continue to go to St Andrews on their first trip, as they should, but we’ll catch them hopefully on their second trip.”

The view across the bay. | Complimentary

The new course at Machrihanish Dunes will be built alongside the existing layout, which was designed by Scot David McLay Kidd. Planning permission has also been granted for the creation of what is being described as “one of the largest teaching facilities in the UK”, with both indoor and outdoor practice bays and a nine-acre short-game area part of the exciting new project.

“The response to what we announced last month has been wonderful,” said Southworth, who openly admits he’s been besotted by the Kintyre Peninsula since first visiting the area in 2008, living there for six months and paying lots of subsequent trips across the Atlantic. “Being there recently and speaking with so many of the locals and our partners, as well as folks all over the golf community in Scotland and also here in America, there’s a ton of excitement .

“It’s difficult to go through one of these planning processes successfully and we couldn’t have done it without a ton of local support. Campbeltown is a town that has seen its ups and downs and we are big believers in the future of it. 

“Yeah, the partnership we’ve had with the local council and local businesses has been essential to the success we’ve had so far and certainly to the next phase of the project. We are all on the same team. People understood us and knew us and believed in us and we believed in them. It was a local effort for sure.”

As for who will design the new course, a decision will be made in conjunction with a hospitality partner in a project that includes the provision of increased accommodation through a third luxury hotel and 50 golf cottages. “We have talked to the usual architects out there and a lot of them are excited about the project,” said Southworth.

No wonder when you hear him admit that “I’ve never come across anywhere like Machrihanish” and instantly make you feel you want to be there when he talks about its “remoteness, ruggedness, authenticity and charm”.