1 · POSITION
Castle Stuart Golf Links opened near Inverness in 2009, designed by Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen. Set beside the Moray Firth, it made the experience of a round of golf the reason to visit a particular stretch of the Highlands. Parsinen’s role combined development with design; Hanse’s own project record explicitly credits their collaboration. [1, 2]
2 · PLAYING ABOVE THE FIRTH
The course places broad fairways and greens against a coastal background. Cabot’s description emphasises the apparently uninterrupted edges of greens seen against water and sky. These views have a playing function as well as a scenic one: the golfer must read the usable ground even where the horizon makes its limits difficult to judge. [2]
3 · CHOOSING AN ANGLE
The second hole supplies a more specific example. The published course guide identifies the upper-left fairway plateau as the position offering the better approach for a player attempting to reach the green in two shots. The width of the hole therefore accommodates choices with different consequences. Space alone does not remove strategy; the next shot gives that space its meaning. [2]
4 · WITHIN CABOT HIGHLANDS
The property joined Cabot in 2022 and is now presented within Cabot Highlands. Castle Stuart remains the name of the original course. The wider destination also includes the separately named Old Petty, designed by Tom Doak. Keeping those identities distinct preserves the original collaboration while allowing the destination’s later development to have its own authorship. [3]
5 · ⚑ CANDOUR
Cabot Highlands is not simply a new architectural credit for Castle Stuart. A change in ownership and destination branding does not replace Hanse and Parsinen’s design attribution. The course descriptions cited here come from the operator and architect; their claims about playability and exceptional scenery express a design intention and commercial assessment, rather than universal player experience. [1–3]
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Sources & Further Reading
Sources checked 24 September 2026.