Second Course Planned for Castle Stuart


Mark Parsinen, the owner and designer of the original course at Castle Stuart, has announced that his team will collaborate with Arnold Palmer Design on the creation of a second links at the property in Inverness on Scotland's Moray Firth.

Palmer Design associates Thad Layton and Brandon Johnson will work on the project along with Parsinen, Castle Stuart general manager Stuart McColm and course manager Chris Haspell. Work is expected to begin on the new layout in early 2016.

Parsinen, who also co-designed Kingsbarns Golf Links in Fife, said of the project, "We have been in discussion for more than a year now with the Arnold Palmer Group and we are delighted that it has joined the partnership at Castle Stuart Golf Links."

"We were over there for two weeks recently with Mark and his team, and on that visit we jointly came up with a routing plan," Layton told Golf Course Architecture magazine. "The site is to the southwest of the existing course, and the routing is essentially out and back. There will be a new dormie house near the start of the course, which will play around the old castle."

"This is fantastic news, not just for Inverness, but for the Highlands and for Scotland," added McColm. "We at Castle Stuart have focused on working with other partners to promote the Highlands as a world-class golfing destination and this announcement that the Arnold Palmer group wants to partner with us can only enhance that reputation.

"Having two world-class courses in Inverness, together with all the other great courses in the Highlands, will undoubtedly drive more people to this area and have a significant economic impact."

Castle Stuart, which hosted the Scottish Open for three years from 2011 and will return in 2016, opened to in 2009. If all goes well, its second 18-hole course will debut in 2019.