Old Petty- hole 16 tee
Old Petty Golf Course
Castle Stuart Golf Club, only minutes from Inverness, opened for business in July 2009.
It quickly became a crowd favourite.
Designed by Gil Hanse & Mark Parsinen, Castle Stuart was quickly acclaimed as a premier course for both tournament and social golf..
It has now successfully hosted the Scottish Open a number of times.
Mark Parsinen was keen to add a second course, but sadly he passed away and Castle Stuart was puchased by the Cabot brand.
Renamed Cabot Highlands, the new owners moved to build a second course- as originally envisaged by Mark.
Tom Doak was employed to build that second course on an adjacent tidal estuary.
Doak has managed to design a wonderful course that incorporates the 400 year old castle, Old Petty church from 1839, holes by the beach, and holes with movement and character!
He has used all the bumps and hollows to advantage to create something special.
Old Petty is a 'walking only' course and will be equally successful as a green fee course or tournament venue.
It is a 'visual' smorgasbord as different holes lead you past the castle, the Church, and the impressive old Bovy which now serves as a half way house.
An old red bovy at Old Petty GC
Tom Doak and team have got the very best out of this property identifying and using the movement to produce 18 holes with character.
I don't know of a course quite like it.
It is a course to play over!
Notable Holes include:
- hole 3, a long downhill par 3 past the Castle Stuart
Old Petty hole 3- and Castle Stuart
- hole 4, a spectacular long par which heads over and around the wetlands.
Old Petty- hole 4
Old Petty- hole 4 approach
- hole 5, a par 5 that demands players play to position as they tack their way to the green.
Old Petty hole 5 and Old Red Bovy!
- hole 6, a par 3 exposed to the coastal winds and pretty as a picture!
Old Petty hole 6- par 3
- hole 8, a long par 5 with Castle Stuart in the background
Old Petty- hole 8 with Castle Stuart in background
- hole 10, a long, demanding par 5
Old Petty- hole 10 par 5
- hole 16, a long testing par 4. If the 200 metre carry off the tee over the wetlands does not get you, then the uphill approach will!
- hole 17, a gnarly par 3 on a raised rocky outcrop with a small green and a lovely deep pot bunker that's gonna get a lot of use.
It is inspired architecture!
Old Petty- hole 17
Old Petty will open to the public in Spring 2026.
It is located close to Royal Dornoch
With the 1 - 2 combination of Castle Stuart and Old Petty at Cabit Highlandsalso just down the road, it is sure to be succesful.
Add the the ever popular Nairn, two new courses at Trump in Aberdeen, and eternal favourite Cruden Bay and you can safely say golf in Scotland's north is on the rise!
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