Climate change could wash golf course away before tee off
sand dune site earmarked for a new “world-class” golf course on the north-east coast could be washed into the sea before the first players tee off because of climate change, environmentalists have warned.
Developers, including an American billionaire golfing mogul, have set out plans to build a new golf resort with an 18-hole championship course on land around Coul Links – a protected nature and wildlife site near Dornoch in Sutherland.
They say the complex, which will include a luxury ‘eco’ hotel and clubhouse, will create 400 new jobs, bring in £50 million of investment and help turn the region – which already has several acclaimed courses, including Royal Dornoch – into an internationally renowned golf tourism “destination”.
The plans, which have been revised after an earlier application was refused in 2020, have caused widespread controversy due to fears that unique habitat and threatened wildlife will be destroyed. The site is home to “unprecedented” biological diversity, hosting at least 1,425 species.
New firm Communities for Coul (C4C) is behind the latest proposal, with backers including US developers Todd Warnock and golf course tycoon Mike Keiser.
Now local conservationists are warning that increasingly stormy weather and rising sea levels, driven by climate change, are causing the dunes to rapidly retreat. They say potential golfers would already be unable to complete a full round due to the losses.
Monitoring of the dunes shows the sand where part of the course will be sited has moved a “considerable” distance inland over recent times. Nearly 6m has been eaten away at the proposed 17th hole this winter alone – compared to 11m of shrinkage at the same spot over the previous five years.
At what would be the 18th hole, the strip from the tee to the dune edge narrowed by almost 2m virtually overnight last month. Local environa mental group Not Coul is fighting to block the project.
Campaign leader Dr Tom Dargie said: “Last winter’s storms have been taking their toll. At the last measurement, in March, the edge of the 17th hole fairway and the 18th back tee were only 3.15m and 3.40m from the dune edge.
“Parts of the construction corridor of the golf course, which is a zone around the fairways, tees and greens, has already gone over the edge.”
Coul Links is one of the most protected nature sites in Scotlandand one of the last remaining undisturbed du ne systems of its kind in the country. It is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area and Ramsar wetland of international importance.
The plans, which were approved by Highland Council, have been called in for further consideration by Scottish ministers. A pre-examination meeting is scheduled for next month.
Dr Dargie said: “We believe C4C’S planning application is already seriously affected, making it impossible to construct the course in its planned form.”
Last winter’s storms have been taking their toll Dr Tom Dargie