There have been several threads in recent times asking what new projects are going to happen in the forseeable future. A few weeks ago I was able to put in a thread (
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40526.0/ ) about the opening of a new practice facility I designed and built at Kerns in Switzerland. Until now I haven抰 said much about my project in the Highlands of Scotland as not all the necessary things were in place but after a sucessful trip to Scotland last week I now feel able to share with other GCA抏rs more details about this project which I will will be starting towards the end of september this year.
Brahan Golf Club will be a nine hole pay & play course with a high quality guest house, Tollie Guest House, on site. The Tollie Guest House also offers other sporting activities such as fishing, mountain biking, walking and horse riding to its clients. For those who know the area, the location is a piece of land at (former Tollie Scout Camp) near Maryburgh with good access from the A835 main road. This has an excellent location 11 miles and a 15 minute drive to the north of Inverness.
The land itself is well suited to the golf course being free draining and having enough movement without it being excessive. There is a croft house which has the necessary services that can be renovated for a small clubhouse facility. A feasibility study has proven the demand for a pay & play facility in this location and a planning application was submitted and accepted in June 2009 for the golf course as well a new building to house the Tollie Guest House and manager抯 accommodation.
The idea is to provide a nine hole golf course that plays as two 18 hole courses. The golfer will be offered good quality, interesting golf on a facility kept in top condition. Those people who know me will know that I will be using environmentally friendly construction/maintenance methods. This will be combined with high quality bed and breakfast accommodation for the golfer and non golfer alike.
Obstacles will consist mainly of grass bunkers, sand bunkers, gorse, heather and islands of deep rough but in general the ball should be easily found and remain playable. Natural quirks existing on the site will be used and enhanced as appropriate creating an interesting golf course for all standards of player. The course will have a grassland feel and rather than being meticulously groomed, will blend into the surrounding countryside.
By making the greens large enough to accommodate two different hole locations at the same time and using alternative tee positions, the golfer will face a different set of challenges on his second round of nine holes. Some holes will be Par 3抯 the first round but Par 4抯 the second time around or change from Par 4抯 into Par 5抯 and vice versa. Another feature of the course will be that it can be played in two directions with the direction being alternated every other day. Effectively two different, 18 hole courses will be created out of the one piece of land.
Drawing on the experience I have gained over the last 20 odd years in the golf industry and especially in golf course construction I will be doing most of the construction work myself.
Brahan Golf Club will be (as far as I can assertain) the only pure commercial pay & play course in the highlands (with no membership) and will be offering greenfees in the low-mid price bracket. 80 % of the finance is my own capital with the other 20% being in the form of investment bonds of which 50 have already been taken so 90% is in place which is enough for me to be able to start. I still have 50 00 investment bonds which offer a fixed 4% interest rate so if anyone is interested please contact me per mail and I will send on more details about the project. This final capital, although not vital, would enable me to add one or two final touches which would be nice to have from the start as it will be more expensive to add these in at a later date.
I will be adding details as time goes on. The website
www.brahangolfclub.ch at the moment is in german only but I will be getting the english part up to speed in the next few days.
Looking forward to your questions and comments gents
Jon