Plans submitted for brand new Ayrshire golf course

Developers have submitted plans to build a brand new nine-hole golf course on the Ayrshire coast.

According to the Irvine Times, an application for an Environmental Impact Assessment screening was validated by North Ayrshire’s planning department last week.

The new facility is expected to include a golf course, putting green, reception building, starters hut, car parking, maintenance compound and offices located to the north of Marine Drive in Irvine, and adjacent to the existing Irvine Beach Park.

The course is being developed by the acclaimed Kimber & Glen architecture firm, which worked on the development of Machrihanish Dunes and the Castle Course in St Andrews. 

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This isn’t the first time the site has been looked at for development. Back in 2013, it was earmarked for an £60m, 18-hole golf course development, complete with adjoining hotel, and holiday homes.

The project was drawn up by The Ayrshire Golf Company, a joint venture between property investment and development company Credential Holdings Limited and KPT Limited. It passed the planning stages but it is believed that it was unable to source the necessary funding to underwrite the building costs.

However, with its slimmed down ambitions, it appears as though the project could still see the light of day.

Planning documents for the new project state: “The proposed development will contribute positively to the wider aspirations of North Ayrshire Council by providing a new, world class visitor and tourist attraction, whilst also improving and restoring the landscape and enhancing local biodiversity.”

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This is just the latest new golf course in development in Scotland. Previously abandoned plans for Coul Links in the Highlands have recently been resurrected, with site of the former Nigg Golf Course also the target for restoration. 

The long-mooted Feddinch Golf Course near St Andrews is back on the agenda, as is the Jack Nicklaus-designed track at the Ury Estate near Stonehaven and a second course at Trump International Golf Links just to the north of Aberdeen.