Old Petty at Cabot Highlands to open for preview play in August

The Tom Doak-designed Old Petty course at Cabot Highlands in Inverness, Scotland, will open for preview play in August 2025.

Doak designed and routed the layout, with associate Clyde Johnson taking the lead on site, alongside agronomist and shaper Chris Haspell, who also worked on the original Castle Stuart course, designed by Gil Hanse.

GCA toured Old Petty in May 2025, as it was growing in.

The opening and closing holes cross each other via a shared central fairway area, a solution that allowed for optimal locations for opening tees and the closing green.

Castle Stuart comes strikingly into view on the third hole, a downhill par-three that runs directly alongside the tower house, built in the early 1600s. It remains in view for most of the holes that follow, which are located on the other side of an inlet of the Moray Firth. The shaping team has creating a rolling linksland from deep layers of sand that lay beneath the site’s topsoil..

On this stretch, highlights include a tenth hole that plays towards the Firth, the par-three sixth and fourteenth holes that play from different directions to adjacent greens, close to the water’s edge, and a par-five fifteenth that hugs the Firth as the routing turns for home.

Of the final three holes that return to the other side of the inlet, the short par-three seventeenth has a particularly dramatic green complex with a small target rising above the surrounding sandscape.

Read more: GCA examined Don Placek's illustration of the course routing when it was released in 2023.

“We are so excited to be sharing this first glimpse of Old Petty,” said Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of Cabot. “From the outset, our vision has been to honour the land and its rich history while crafting an unforgettable golf experience that adds to the reputation of Castle Stuart. Old Petty is a course that will surprise, challenge and inspire, true to the spirit of the Highlands.”

Read more: Ben Cowan-Dewar spoke about his ambitions for Cabot in our interview for the January 2025 issue of GCA.

Richard HumphreysRichard Humphreys

Other posts by Richard Humphreys

Contact author