Dumbarnie course could tee up jobs and economic boost

Plan submitted for ambitious project near Largo Bay

Developers behind an £11 million golf course which could be created overlooking Largo Bay say it could attract up to 28,000 visitors a year.

A group of investors want to create an 18-hole course at Dumbarnie Links, on an environmentally-sensitive strip of Fife’s coastline.

Their aspiration is that the pay-per-play course, which would have a clubhouse, restaurant, bar and professional shop, will be among the world’s top 100 alongside the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

And they claim that once up and running it could create 30 full-time jobs, 10 seasonal part-time jobs as well as work for 90 caddies.

A planning application has been submitted to Fife Council on behalf of Dumbarnie Golf Links Limited by planning consultancy PPCA Ltd.

A business case lodged states there is demand for a high-quality links course at Dumbarnie Links.

It says: “It will deliver local recreational and economic benefits to the area that will create and sustain local employment.

“It will extend recreational choice and seek to retain local expenditure, thereby supporting existing local businesses and helping to justify future business startup opportunities.”

A similar proposal four years ago by a different group of investors was withdrawn.

The course would be created on 165 hectares of mostly agricultural land in Balcarres Estate, east of Lower Largo.

Part of the site is in the protected Firth of Forth Site of Special Scientific Interest and it is also adjacent to the Dumbarnie Links Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve.

The proposed course has been designed by Paul Kimber, who was behind St Andrews’ Castle Course, and former Ryder Cup and European Tour player and BBC television commentator Clive Clark.

Documents lodged with Fife Council state its layout has been devised to optimise the golfing experience but takes into account environmental sensitivities and constraints.

It is anticipated that the course would open in late summer 2019 or early the following summer and attract around 13,000 visitors in its first full year.

It is expected to bring up to 28,000 visitors annual by year seven of its operation.

Golf clinics would be offered for local junior players and an annual donation made to local charities.

Picture: Dougie Nicolson. Part of the land where the course would be built.