Arnold Palmer visits Castle Stuart

NEWS RELEASE

An historic setting, an exceptional environment and impressive new partners helped convince Arnold Palmer that Castle Stuart in the Scottish Highlands was the perfect location for his first course in the Home of Golf. 

The Arnold Palmer Group, which is investing in the current partnership at Castle Stuart Golf Links, is collaborating on building a second course on the shores of the Moray Firth near Inverness.

The new venture will complement the existing course at Castle Stuart, designed by Mark Parsinen (pictured above with Arnold Palmer) and Gil Hanse, and which has achieved worldwide acclaim since opening in 2009.

Thad Layton and Brandon Johnson, two world-leading golf course architects from Arnold Palmer Design Company (APDC), say it is a ‘dream come true’ to be helping create a new iconic course at Castle Stuart. APDC is the golf course design firm founded by the golf legend, Arnold Palmer, in 1972.

Mr Palmer has had a decades-long love of Scottish links but has never designed a course in the country. He visited the site today and aims to have the Palmer Tribute opened by 2019.

It is planned that detailed plans will be submitted next month and work will start on the new course next spring.

Mr Palmer said: “When it comes to locations we’d like to work, Scotland has always been at the top of our list. We appreciate Scotland as home not only to the game of golf but arguably the best collection of courses anywhere in the world.

“Needless to say the bar is set pretty high. Accordingly, we’ve been careful not to jump at the first opportunity to come along, deciding instead to wait on the right project.”

He said after initial discussions and site visits, the APDC design team were impressed with the potential of the property and its Highlands location.

“Also, we were impressed with the professionalism, expertise, and enthusiasm of the Castle Stuart team. These factors made it an easy decision for us to get on-board.”

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“The Scottish Open championship, sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management and the Scottish Government, will return to Castle Stuart next July.