Cabot Highlands in Scotland reveals the name and logo for its new Tom Doak-designed layout.
Cabot Highlands in Inverness, Scotland, has chosen a name for its new Tom Doak-designed course that is now scheduled to open for preview play in 2025: Old Petty.
The name is a nod to the Old Petty Church, which was built in 1839 and sits off what will become the 16th green. The now-unused church is believed to sit at the site of an even older church, and the Old Petty Church is reported to have hosted an unusual custom: Mourners in the early 1800s would run to the church’s graveyard during funerals while carrying the coffin.
The logo for the new Old Petty course will be the highland cow, or “Hairy Coo” as the locals call them.
Cabot revealed the logo, based on a highland cow, for Old Petty, the new course being built by Tom Doak in Scotland. (Courtesy of Cabot)
Cabot revealed Doak’s planned routing for Old Petty last summer, with holes passing a 400-year-old castle that provided the previous name for the property, Castle Stuart, before the Canadian-based Cabot bought it and rebranded the northern Scottish resort in 2022.
Old Petty will be on the southwest side of the property’s original Castle Stuart Golf Links built by Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse, which ranks as the No. 4 modern course in Great Britain and Ireland. Built on land that was previously farmed, Old Petty will wrap down and around an estuary, offering stunning views and a layout that crisscrosses in a huge shared fairway for Nos. 1 and 18.
Cabot also plans to extend the unique white clubhouse to include a new whiskey and cigar bar, a clubhouse grill bar and a chophouse restaurant.
Check out several recent illustrations that provide a glimpse at how Old Petty might look.
An avowedly private individual, he has also decided to speak about his illness in order to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
In the London Marathon next month there will be hundreds running to raise money for cancer-related charities. Paul Moultrie of Troon will be one of them, except that he is quite different from most participants because he is running WITH cancer.
Just six days before the Marathon, 59-year-old Moultrie, founder of the Mind Body Golf fitness consultancy, will complete a program of radiotherapy to treat his prostate cancer, a course that he began at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow. He is already undergoing hormone therapy to treat his cancer, and will probably have to do so for the next two years or so – “it’s not a walk in the park,” Moultrie said. “I’ve put on tummy fat and get hot flushes which are things I’d never dreamed I would get.”
To cap it all, while on holiday with his wife Gillian in Tenerife last month, Scottish seniors golf internationalist Moultrie tripped and fell heavily, sustaining a painful injury to his hand and wrist that saw the medics on the island fit him with a brace. It was only when he got home and was advised to go to A & E at University Hospital Crosshouse that x-rays showed he had fractured the important scaphoid bone that needs time to heal and no sharp jolts.
“That was me unable to run for four weeks at least,” explained Moultrie, “but I have taken to walking on the beaches around here to keep jarring to a minimum and have been averaging 10 to 12 miles per outing. I must have walked hundreds of miles already and the other day I walked 14 miles.
“I had never fallen in my life and it was just my bad luck that it happened in the middle of training for the marathon.”
Many other individuals would have called it day and quit training, but in a remarkable show of determination, Moultrie has declared that, even if he has to walk part of the course, he will complete the London Marathon for the fourth time.
His family has had a brush with cancer before, his mother Elizabeth dying of it, and now Gillian and their two grown-up children have rallied round to support Moultrie in his huge task of beating his own cancer and running the London Marathon to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK.
An avowedly private individual, he has also decided to speak about his illness in order to raise awareness of prostate cancer which will affect one in eight men, with Scots more likely than others in the rest of the UK to die from the disease because it was not detected early enough.
It was the realization that six of his friends from the golfing world had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that made the super-fit Moultrie ask his doctor for a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test which showed he had six or seven times the levels deemed normal. Further tests confirmed he had prostate cancer.
“It was last June and I had none of the usual symptoms so I was asked why I wanted the PSA test,” Moultrie recalled. “I’m glad I insisted as the earlier the cancer is detected the better your chance of surviving it.
“I must commend all the NHS staff that have been dealing me with treatment. They have been absolutely brilliant.
“The same goes for my trainer Gil Stevenson, who has been a tower of strength.”
A well-known member of the Scottish Seniors Golfing Society, Moultrie has the backing of his fellow golfers and with their help has already exceeded his personal £5,000 target for fundraising for Prostate Cancer UK by running the London Marathon – he completed the marathon three times some years ago, and knows it will be more difficult at the age of 59, but his mental approach could not be better and golf has played a huge part in that as has Pilates.
Moultrie says he wasn’t a very good golfer but his record belies that. As a junior, men’s and now senior player, the Royal Troon member has competed successfully at club, county, national and international level and last year represented Scotland in the R & A Home Internationals at West Kilbride Golf Club.
Still working as a chartered quantity surveyor, Moultrie was joined by his wife Gillian in taking up Pilates. An optometrist by profession, Gillian decided to become a full-time Pilates instructor and her husband also gained qualifications, both trained by the world-renowned Body Control Pilates organization.
Mixing Pilates with the Mind Factor systems devised by the famed performance coach Karl Morris, Moultrie created his own ‘Inner Caddie’ program with which he aims to help golfers help themselves to a better game, especially extending the playing days of seniors.
“It’s our age group in Scotland that must become more aware of prostate cancer,” said Moultrie. “It’s a message I want to spread and I hope to do that by running the London Marathon.”
Proposals to downsize the nearly 100-year-old course from 18 holes to 12 or to shut it permanently were presented.
The only public golf course in the council area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland — which sits just 20 miles northwest of Glasgow — will not be closed or downsized, it has been confirmed. This news came following a signature campaign to preserve the course that included a note from LIV Golf’s Sergio Garcia.
The decision was announced at West Dunbartonshire Council’s (WDC) budget meeting last week.
Proposals to downsize Dalmuir Municipal Golf Course from 18 holes to 12 or to shut it permanently were presented to councilors.
Councilor Martin Rooney, leader of the council, confirmed the proposals had been rejected.
Sergio Garcia of Team Fireballs during the final round of the LIV Golf Mayakoba tournament at El Chamaleon Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
These proposals were included in a list of more than 50 money-saving options being considered by the council in an effort to plug its £8.3m budget gap.
Closure of the golf course would have meant there were no publicly accessible golf facilities within the region. The parkland-style golf course opened in 1928.
Prior to the meeting, which is currently being held at WDC’s headquarters on Church Street in Dumbarton, golfers at Overtoun Golf Club launched a petition to save the landmark course.
It has since received more than 7,500 signatures and backing from famous sporting figures including soccer star John McGinn, award-winning caddie Craig Connelly, and Spanish professional golfer Garcia.
A man walking his dog in Scotland has captured footage showing peculiar earth movements attributed to an unrelenting storm.
A dog-walker in Scotland has captured footage showing peculiar earth movements attributed to an unrelenting storm.
The footage, captured Friday by David Nugent-Malone, shows the saturated forest floor rising and dipping as high winds bend trees and challenge their root systems.
“The woods were moving like the sea this morning,” Nugent-Malone described in the first of two accompanying clips.
In the second clip, the curious dog is shown walking onto a top-layer of soil as it separates and resettles in a phenomenon described as the earth “breathing deeply this morning.”
The announcement was made Sunday that, due to water-logged courses, the final round of the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship would be pushed to Monday, Oct. 9, and that the pro-am event would be reduced to 54 holes, with the top 30 teams and ties making the 36-hole cut. Matt Fitzpatrick currently leads at 13 under, with Grant Forrest and Nacho Elvira T-2 at 12 under.
Weather has been an issue all week for the unique event played annually at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St. Andrews, three of the best golf courses in Scotland. The tour reported that about 3.11 inches of rain had fallen since the end of play Friday.
Aside from its trio of stellar hosts, the event made headlines early last week when it was reported that Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s lucrative Public Investment Fund (PIF), would play the pro-am under the pseudonym Andrew Waterman. Not only that, the 53-year-old is alongside LIV Golf’s Peter Uihlein (T-10) and was in the same group as R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers. Fellow LIV players Laurie Canter (T-16), Louis Oosthuizen (T-40) and Talor Gooch (72) are also in the field as non-members playing on sponsor invites.
MacIntyre’s golfing endeavors and accomplishments have certainly put Glencruitten on the map.
If you thought getting your hands on a ticket for the Ryder Cup in Rome was tricky, then try getting a seat inside the Glencruitten clubhouse when local hero Robert MacIntyre strides out for Team Europe at the Marco Simone course.
“It seats about 80 in the lounge but we’re probably expecting about 200,” said the club secretary, John Tannahill, as he envisaged the kind of jam-packed, boisterous fervor you used to get when the Colosseum was going like a fair back in the day. The good folks of Oban may not be decked out in togas and tunics, but you get the idea.
Glencruitten sits along the western coast of Scotland, about 100 miles northwest of Glasgow. MacIntyre grew up in the nearby city of Oban and has played at the club since he was young.
Bob’s Italian Job has gripped the town.
“The place is buzzing,” added Tannahill. “When you drive out along the esplanade, there are big banners with ‘good luck, Bob,’ It’s great.”
MacIntyre’s golfing endeavors and accomplishments have certainly put Glencruitten on the map. “It’s amazing to think of its profile now and there has certainly been an upturn in American visitors coming off the cruise ships,” noted Tannahill. “Maybe it’s the Bob effect?”
The idea of Elmer and Beatrice from Wyoming enjoying a bucket list 18 holes having been intrigued by Jim Nantz’s attempt to utter “Glencruitten” during the Masters coverage is a delightful notion.
The second hole at Glencruitten Golf Club. (Photo courtesy Glencruitten Golf Club)
A homely, down-to-earth club, the kind that Scotland does so well, Glencruitten hasn’t changed. MacIntyre, despite his fame and fortune, hasn’t either.
“Everybody knows him and his family are steeped in the club,” said Tannahill, who became a member in 1980, a couple of years before MacIntyre’s dad, Dougie, started as an assistant greenkeeper. “I used to go on golf holidays with his grandfather too. There is a group of older members here who come and have coffee and a bacon roll and go out for five or six holes. They’re up at the club for a blether really. Bob, wherever he has been in the golf world, will come in and the first place he goes to is them. He loves that.
“We’re a small club, our fees are low and it can be a struggle at times, to be honest. Like a lot of clubs, we’ve had a drop-off in juniors but it’s coming back. Bob has helped on that front. You couldn’t ask for a more inspiring figure. We have the two shinty teams in Oban, the football and the rugby. All that takes place on a Saturday and that doesn’t help the golf club. We have 350 members paying £360 a year. It doesn’t generate vast sums. But we have a great crowd of members. That’s the important thing.”
MacIntyre’s rise into the shimmering pantheon of a Ryder Cup player is another wonderful chapter in a fascinating sporting tale. Rather like the 3-wood approach for the ages to the last green of July’s Scottish Open, which took him to the cusp of glory only for pesky Rory McIlroy to conjure a world-class finale, his ascension remains a thing of wonder.
Robert MacIntyre tees off on the 14th hole during the final round of the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in the United Kingdom. (Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
“I was watching him sizing up that shot and was thinking, ‘God, what’s he going to do here?’” reflected Tannahill of a shot and a result that effectively sealed his Ryder Cup berth. “But in many ways, that illustrated his single-mindedness and his ability to do exactly what he wanted to do in the moment. He’s not scared to make big decisions and he gets them right most of the time.
“I don’t think anyone here would’ve envisaged him at the Ryder Cup, though. Yes, it was the dream but could it be a reality? To be one of six to actually qualify and not rely on a pick? Well, that’s unbelievable. His whole journey has been special. Every week, we’ll look and wonder what he’s going to do next. Lots of golfers have the talent but they don’t have that extra something that gets you to a different level.
“His family had a tremendous competitive background through the shinty and Bob has that spirit too. The Ryder Cup will be right up his street. He thrives in the team environment. I’d say the European team room will be a bit more tranquil than the shinty team bus.”
Whatever happens in Rome next weekend, Tannahill and the Glencruitten members will have a rare old time.
“The bar is well stocked,” chuckled the 70-year-old of the various kegs, optics and bottles that will probably pour out the same volume of liquid that is in the Firth of Lorn. “I fancy Europe, I think they’ll do it,” he said. “And we’ll just wait on Bob holing the winning putt.”
It could be edge-of-the-seat stuff. If you can get a seat, that is …
A 400-year-old castle. Crisscross fairways. Stunning ocean views reaching from water’s edge to higher and farther back. A giant rolling hill. A front nine loaded with par 4s, then a more conventional back nine with two par 3s and two par 5s. Expect humps, bumps, hollows and fun bounces, all along the northern Scottish coastline not far from Inverness.
Tom Doak’s routing for the yet-to-be-named second course at Cabot Highlands was released by the resort’s Canadian-based ownership group this week. It’s a sure bet the famed American designer utilized his vast knowledge of Scottish golf design – accumulated through years of on-the-ground study of the country’s greatest natural links – to create this much-anticipated layout that should open to preview play in 2024 and fully in 2025.
The routing plan for the new Tom Doak-designed course at Cabot Highlands in Scotland shows No. 1 to the left before the layout crosses an estuary and plays to a far point along the coast to the right, then returns to an 18th hole that crisscrosses the first hole. (Courtesy of Cabot)
There’s just one thing: The second course at Cabot Highlands won’t sit on traditional links land. Instead of a totally natural golf site, this property has been farmed for decades, much of it pressed smooth as it rolls past the castle and down that gorgeous hill toward an estuary and the Moray Firth beyond.
That means Doak and his Renaissance Golf Design team have been tasked with creating much of the shot-making drama. On a piece of land that has seen farm tractors instead of greens mowers, they must interject the fun and intricate terrain features that make up the best of Scottish golf.
Doak, of course, knew this when he accepted the job. His stated goal from the beginning: Take what the land offers, don’t overcook anything and, when in doubt, take a drive along the coast for a design refresher at some of the best links courses in the world. It might be St. Andrews to the east, or Royal Dornoch on the opposite side of the firth. Just along this little section of seaside, there’s a wide sampling of classic Scottish links courses to provide inspiration.
Tom Doak discusses his new course at Castle Stuart/Cabot Highlands near Inverness, Scotland. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
“The good thing about trying to do this in Scotland instead of in Florida is, if you’re ever not sure, you drive right over there (pointing out window), or drive up north, and go have a look at a few other courses,” Doak said during a tour of the land in late 2022 as he worked on the routing. “You know, I think most architects, we do too much. The things that are cool about the contouring here (in Scotland) is that it’s small scale and it’s wrinkly, but there are large expanses of fairly flat stuff in with that. It doesn’t just keep going with jittery contours forever. Even the most complex golf courses have big areas of relatively flat areas. …
“You think about it, we’re working on something now that we’re trying to bring in some links contours, so it’s almost like we’re going around and looking at things and sampling (other courses). Like, ‘We could do something like that little stretch somewhere else.’ “
Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen designed the original 18 at what was then named Castle Stuart in Scotland. Rebranded as Cabot Highlands in 2022, the highly ranked layout plays along the Moray Firth. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
A similar recipe already has proved successful at Cabot Highlands, which was known as Castle Stuart until 2022 when Cabot purchased it. The original course on the property – which is still called Castle Stuart Golf Links – was designed on similarly farmed land, and that cliffside layout by Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen that opened in 2009 has climbed to No. 4 on Golfweek’s Best ranking of modern courses in Great Britain and Ireland. It’s a layout that’s never feels overdone, with manmade features that appear natural in their jaw-dropping setting.
Doak’s course is intended to complement that original layout and secure for the resort a spot on even more must-play lists.
The routing map shows seven par 4s on the front with an 18-hole par of 72, the layout sweeping from a high point across land formerly occupied by the driving range, down past the castle then around and over the estuary. It extends to a point that, from the clubhouse, appears to be miles away across a small bay. It’s an out-and-back routing that doesn’t return to the clubhouse until No. 18, the line of play for which crisscrosses that of No. 1 in one huge and shared fairway. For much of the journey, Moray Firth and the surrounding mountains will provide plenty of eye candy.
And Cabot isn’t stopping with the new course. The company is pumping in capital to make the entire property even more appealing, with an expansion of the clubhouse underway and new real estate opportunities.
“In the historic home of golf, we looked to Tom to create something special, and perhaps unconventional by modern standards,” Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of Cabot, said in the media release announcing the routing. “His vision of resurrecting an old true-links style course will serve as a great complement to the beloved (and original) 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.”
Bayern Munich signed Kerr — the Scottish one, not the Australian — to a three-year deal in May
Scotland star Sam Kerr thought Bayern Munich’s interest in her must have been a “prank” — or at least a case of mistaken identity.
Kerr starred at Rangers for three seasons before the German giants moved for her in May, landing the midfielder on a three-year deal.
The 24-year-old happens to share a name with one of the biggest stars in the game, and she told the BBC’s“Behind the Goals” podcast that when she heard of Bayern’s interest, she thought the club must have been after the Chelsea and Australia striker instead.
“I was just relaxing in my room and my agent called saying: ‘Bayern Munich have come in for you,'” Kerr said.
“I said: ‘Are you sure they’ve got the right Sam Kerr?’ That’s the first thing I said to him!
“I was just a bit like ‘This can’t be real, this is a joke, you’re kidding me.’ But I was like, ‘Of course I want to speak to them.’
“A week later, it was happening on Zoom and it was just unbelievable. It looked far too good to be true. I thought surely something is going to happen, someone must be playing a prank on me.”
— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) May 30, 2023
Kerr was named the 2022 Scotland Women’s Player of the Year, and has been capped 14 times by the Scottish national team.
“I’ve not really processed it,” she added on her move to Germany. “I saw FC Bayern on the [national team] squad list and I was just like, ‘What?’, I’m just Sam from Scotland who plays for Rangers, that’s how I see myself… It’s crazy.”
Extreme E’s fourth event of the season will no longer take place in the Amazon or the United States, the electric off-road series’ founder and CEO Alejandor Agag has confirmed. The September 16-17 double header had been penciled in for one of the …
Extreme E’s fourth event of the season will no longer take place in the Amazon or the United States, the electric off-road series’ founder and CEO Alejandor Agag has confirmed.
The September 16-17 double header had been penciled in for one of the two locations. But speaking to select media – which included RACER – at last weekend’s Hydro X Prix in Scotland, Agag revealed the change in location, adding that final arrangements are being put in place for the event.
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“We’re working on our fourth event. We have a date that, at the moment, was penciled in as Amazon or U.S., what I can tell you is it’s going to be neither, not Amazon nor U.S.,” he said. “We have a location that we are working on, we’re finalizing the agreement, but these things, they’re not finalized until everything is signed.
“So we will have another two races at that location at the end of September, so we’re working on that one, then working on the calendar for next year.”
Sources have confirmed to RACER that local funding shortcomings were behind the change of plan, but work is ongoing to secure races in both locations for future seasons.
In the case of the Amazon event, it’s the second time plans for an Extreme E round in Brazil have been put on-hold after 2021’s Amazon X Prix was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One location that is likely to feature in future, however, is Scotland, which finally hosted an Extreme E round last weekend after it was mooted as far back as 2020, before the series even held a race. A planned trip there last year was scuppered due to logistical challenges, with the Sardina round that was supposed to follow it taking place on a NATO base that was required for training on its original date following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Extreme E visited Scottish Parliament ahead of the race, with a delegation of politicians attending the race over the weekend as well
The doubleheader in Glenmuckloch in Dumfries and Galloway took place in a former coal mine which is set to be converted into a hydro plant in the coming years. But before that change takes place, the door has been left open for another Extreme E race at the site, with the series also keen to return.
“We had some Scottish officials here and they’re all very positive about us coming back and we like it a lot,” said Agag. “The final things need to be sorted, but we’re having some conversations.”
Like Sardinia, Scotland’s European location made it relatively accessible for those involved, as well as partners and media, and while a huge plus point, Agag stressed that he still wants the series to stick to its roots and host races in remote locations.
“I still want to go back to places like Greenland … of course the Atacama desert was an amazing race, and have races in Europe” he said. We have to balance.
“Definitely we can see that it’s a lot easier to come here and the impact – a lot of media – we can have much more impact in terms of reach when we are close to home.”
He spent two days at his Turnberry resort with wife Melania as part of a four-day trip to the UK in 2018.
Donald Trump is expected to visit Scotland next week, and is expected to spend time at his golf resort Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire, according to reports.
The 76-year-old will also stop off in Ireland, where he is understood to be landing at Shannon Airport on May 3.
He is expected to stay at his Trump International Hotel & Golf Links on the outskirts of Doonbeg in Co Clare.
Trump previously visited Scotland in July 2018 while in office.
He spent two days at his Turnberry resort with wife Melania as part of a four-day trip to the UK, during which he met then-prime minister Theresa May and the Queen.
He faced widespread protests and was heckled as he played golf at Turnberry with his son Eric.
During his campaign for the White House in 2016, he visited Scotland the day after the EU referendum and praised the UK for voting to leave.
