For those who’re a eager golfer, it’s good to play at the least as soon as within the Scottish highlands – it is so simple as that.
Because the fifteenth century, Scotland (St. Andrews to be exact) has been credited because the true birthplace of the game and whereas there are sunnier locations round Europe for a golf getaway, the attraction of enjoying golf in a rustic with such heritage for the sport actually appeals.
Then you have got the Cabot affect. What began with their Cape Breton course in Canada, Cabot have grown to take a position and generally take over among the dreamiest golf places on this planet together with St Lucia, Lofoten Hyperlinks in Norway and as of three years in the past, Fortress Stuart in Scotland.
Royal Troon, St Andrews and even Turnberry Trump are famed programs north of the border within the UK, however Fortress Stuart has loads of historical past itself having hosted the Scottish Open a number of occasions.
Day by day Mail Sport needed to come and see the mix of a world class hyperlinks course and the Cabot contact within the stunning Scottish highlands and we weren’t disenchanted.
Fortress Stuart
A lot of you may be conversant in hyperlinks golf and the way the wind can have its manner with you, however till you strive enjoying golf on a championship degree course with 40mph winds it is actually arduous to understand simply how arduous it’s!
The views of the course are very on model for Cabot and their assortment of websites; the coast, excessive grass and marshy panorama makes the course really feel quintessentially Scottish.
Given I play a number of golf within the south of England, I felt transported to the very image I had in my mind of Scottish golf at Fortress Stuart.
Earlier than we obtained going, we warmed up on the properly saved and aesthetically pleasing driving vary, which the overall supervisor tells us is being developed to grow to be a 12-hole pitch and putt of types for some evening time enjoyable within the close to future.
We then putted on a big floor in entrance of the primary clubhouse earlier than the brief stroll to the primary tee. And we have been assigned caddies! A primary for me.
The primary three holes enjoying towards the wind had their manner with me. I am certain my caddy Allan was mightily impressed. All of the hazard performs to the fitting with the shoreline however combating towards that rattling wind may have you making every kind of changes.
On the fourth gap you head uphill and make the flip – for a fair higher have a look at the gorgeous views – and also you’re instantly enjoying a par three on the fabled fortress the course is known as after and downwind. An actual deal with.
It was a real hyperlinks golf expertise. Typically we had a 4 or 5 membership swing relying on the situations and the wind solely obtained stronger because the spherical progressed.
For the primary three holes of the again 9 you drop again all the way down to the shoreline and actually battle the weather earlier than heading for larger floor as soon as extra.
The course has a fantastic stability to it in that regard; it is difficult and delightful, however not completely past the typical golfer. A variety of skills can play the course.
The closing stretch is remarkably enjoyable. Each of the holes have been into round 40mph of wind, however the seventeenth is a protracted par three you possibly can take a driver out on in these winds and the ending par 5 performs proper in the direction of the clubhouse at round 600 yards, which looks like 5 miles within the situations. Incredible problem.
Only a stunning, well-crafted course that even a 20 handicapper like myself can get pleasure from.
To take a better look and e-book your subsequent golf journey, click the link.
Previous Petty
The second day of our journey was devoted to enjoying Previous Petty, a course that’s at the moment open for previewing however not formally opening till round Could subsequent yr.
The positioning has lengthy yearned for a second course and Cabot are inside touching distance of creating it a actuality. Arnold Palmer had developed plans years in the past, however when Cabot took over the Fortress Stuart property in 2022, they instantly introduced the plans for a second course, enlisting Tom Doak because the architect.
On to the fitting of the driving vary is the primary tee the place as soon as once more I had a caddy to observe me flirt within the 90s with some hit or miss stuff!
The primary and 18th holes have crossing fairways whereas the second gap is a tidy par three. After that, you will go away what I’d name the unique grounds, cross one gravelly highway, and head to the proverbial newer aspect of city.
Cabot opted to construct away from the sand dunes and totally on farmland with solely a handful of holes enjoying in the direction of the shoreline that helps make Fortress Stuart really feel particular (together with pleasant greens and completely manicured fairways).
No, this is not a real hyperlinks course in that sense. Mockingly, Fortress Stuart Bay estuary, celebrating its four-hundredth birthday this yr we’re instructed, comes into play as quickly as you cross the highway on Previous Petty.
There’s a par three that performs proper subsequent to it. You then play alongside it on the 4th earlier than enjoying to, after which alongside it, on holes 13-15 – all very hilly holes.
There’s a hanging purple half-way home after the fifth inexperienced which is an outdated transformed home (that used to sleep 10 folks apparently). We’re instructed they plan to make it extra accessible for gamers on the again 9 who do not wish to traverse the marshland for a espresso, too.
The par 5 eighth gap is filled with danger however hitting the inexperienced in two is actually a chance (as I witness two of my enjoying companions accomplish that). The downhill par 4 on the thirteenth performs about 320 yards, however with the decline and the wind, you are seduced into going for it (each good course wants one or two drivable par fours, do not they?).
One other gap I richly loved was the seventeenth. A par three the place the inexperienced is barely raised and solely 135 yards away, however for those who’re brief you are completed and for those who’re lengthy, you are in a bunker. The touchdown space is small, however the gap is enjoyable and visually spectacular.
I do not doubt that Cabot will refine the course earlier than we see it in its full glory subsequent yr, however general I believe it is a course that compliments the enjoyment and brutality of Fortress Stuart properly. Importantly, a wide selection of skills can play it, however those that can actually play are rewarded for certain.
Staying at Cabot Highlands
As is the case with Lofoten Hyperlinks, Cabot Highlands provides high-spec shared lodges the place you have got your individual spacious room and toilet however share a front room and kitchen.
With costs beginning at round £495 for one evening and two rounds of golf, that is a fairly whole lot when you think about it is about £330-ish to play Fortress Stuart by itself.
The view from our lodge supplied views of the course and also you needed to cross the sixteenth fairway to get to it. They produce other keep choices scattered across the land with the identical set-up, however by the top of this yr they plan to construct a collection of lodges proper subsequent to the clubhouse which they estimate will take one yr to construct.
That can take Cabot to the subsequent degree in Inverness. The standard of their keep choices and the extent of care they supply alongside it whether or not it’s filling up your kitchen with foods and drinks or the meals they cook dinner for you within the clubhouse (the breakfast rolls are addictive), Cabot have actually obtained the make-you-feel-special issue down pat.
Every little thing has a contemporary, stylish end which helps to really feel such as you’re getting bang on your buck. To see Cabot increase that out over the subsequent yr with the opening of Previous Petty alongside it’s an thrilling prospect to say the least.
Different perks of this location embody with the ability to drive into the centre of Inverness in about 15-20 minutes, however maybe essentially the most underrated facet of Cabot Highlands is the actual fact you may get from the airport to the clubhouse in 5 minutes flat. I am not exaggerating!
And but, other than the occasional airplane that flies overhead, you’d by no means know you are primarily proper subsequent to an airport. I’ve by no means seen something prefer it.
Total
It is very easy to get invested in Cabot’s imaginative and prescient for golf. As talked about earlier, having began in Canada and efficiently taking up one other course in Florida (Citrus Farms), the model has developed a repute for locating magical places and giving them a top-tier polish and particular service.
If I am visiting a Cabot location, I do know it will be visually a must-see earlier than I get there, and this was the case as soon as once more. As Cabot’s portfolio inevitably continues to develop, it is value keeping track of any vacation spot they aim.
The Scottish Highlands is a dream vacation spot for golf and Fortress Stuart sustains that concept with stunning hyperlinks golf. Is Previous Petty higher than Fortress Stuart?
I discovered it slightly simpler to play, however I would say it is like a very good striker partnership in soccer. Previous Petty is an incredible foil for the aim machine that’s Fortress Staurt and it makes them fairly a potent, engaging pair.
