Here is the article Scott. I have been around, just degenerated into a lurker. Need to find some nice course to photograph ! If i could get myself down to Huntercombe in late light that would be fun as the grass has a slighly reddish hue about it at present.
Golf resort aims to drive Highland regeneration
By Andrew Bolger, Scotland Correspondent
Published: August 8 2010 19:21 | Last updated: August 8 2010 19:21
A multi-million pound luxury golf resort is set to boost a wider regeneration of Argyll and Bute, one of the most beautiful but poorest parts of the Scottish Highlands.
The Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club is near the southern end of the Mull of Kintyre, made famous in a song by Sir Paul McCartney, the former Beatle who has a farmhouse on the peninsula. The course, which opened last year, lies beside the old Machrihanish Golf Club, which was built in the 1870s and regularly features as one of the world’s top-100 venues.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Authenticity and nostalgia boost tourism - Aug-06.Bad winter yields plentiful grouse - Aug-06.EU to woo tourists using bloc’s charms - Jun-30.S Africa hopes for tourism boost - Jun-21.Chinese travellers change the face of tourism - Jun-08.London lacks pull in travel rankings - May-04..The new scheme has been widely welcomed in an area that spent most of the last century struggling with economic decline. The nearby town of Campbeltown had more than 30 distilleries during the 19th century and was known as the “whisky capital” of Scotland. In 1900, the town had the highest per capita income in Scotland – a fact reflected by its many imposing Victorian and Edwardian villas.
But the shrinking of its traditional whisky-making, fishing and shipbuilding industries and its distance from centres of population have brought high levels of unemployment to Campbeltown.
The town is in the middle of an extensive regeneration programme, which involves the refurbishment of its many fine but dilapidated buildings and the enlargement of its marina.
Golf tourism is worth about £220m annually to Scotland, according to Jim Mather, the MSP for Argyll and Bute and Scotland’s enterprise minister.
Donald Trump’s scheme to build a golf resort in Aberdeenshire has proven controversial among environmentalists but has been backed by business leaders in north-east Scotland, who want to diversify their economy as North Sea oil and gas diminishes.
With the Machrihanish development winning similar backing, Mr Mather said: “The addition of another high quality course at Machrihanish brings undoubted economic and social benefits to Kintyre. It is another step towards the economic revival of the area and in building strong and sustainable economic growth.”
The fifth hole on the Machrihanish Dunes Golf Club, which is near the southern end of the Mull of Kintyre
The Machrihanish Dunes course was the brainchild of Brian Keating, a local businessman. He remains a director in the venture, but Massachusetts-based Southworth Developments, the private company owned by David Southworth, a US property developer, took a controlling stake last year. The company is investing more than £21m in the first phase of the scheme, which will also involve the refurbishment of two hotels, one overlooking the old course, the other in the centre of Campbeltown.
“The first time I saw these two hotels I fell in love with their charm and beauty,” Mr Southworth said.
“The restoration of these two landmark properties will play an important role in our quest to bring visitors to this market.”
Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the government-funded development body, has given a grant of £1.1m towards the refurbishment of the properties, which will employ about 50 people when they open next year.
“The hotels will both add significant value to the area, with the proximity of two golf courses of such a high standard attracting golf tourists from around the world,” the organisation said.
Southworth has also refurbished a formerly dilapidated pub near the first tee of the old Machrihanish course and built the first phase of a village of 32 two-bedroom golf cottages that are being sold on a shared ownership basis.
Mr Southworth admitted sales of the cottages had so far been slow amid the recession but said he was surprised by the ease with which they could be rented out. “We knew there was a lack of good quality rooms to stay in this market – we had no idea how much,” he said. “We could rent these things 10 times over – they are always full,” he said.
“So as a hotel or hospitality product, it has worked out quite well. We are in no hurry – there is no need to discount prices, it is just a matter of waiting it out.”