Murray golf resort to rival Trump course

THE group that runs tennis star Andy Murray’s Cromlix Hotel has joined forces with an Aberdeenshire estate to launch a golf resort that is set to rival US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Menie Estate complex.

ICMI, whose portfolio includes the Cromlix Hotel in Perthshire as well as Inverlochy Castle Hotel in Fort William, will run the hotel on the Ury Estate near Stonehaven on behalf of developer the FM Group.

The complex, which will see the derelict Ury House converted into a 50-room boutique hotel and spa, will include a Jack Nicklausdesigned golf course as well as 90 houses and a conference centre.

ICMI managing director Norbert Lieder said “there is a real need for a resort of this quality in the north-east”, while a spokesman for the FM Group said the development will help put the region on the global golfing map.

“With Trump Links to the north and a Jack Nicklaus course to the south, the region now has a fantastic offering that will help make Aberdeenshire a mecca for golfers from around the world,” the FM Group spokesman said.

With the resort due to open in 2020 a number of local businesses are already carrying out construction work at the site.

Montrose-based Pert Bruce is working on the restoration of the B-listed Ury House and will also build a number of homes on the complex while Inverbervie’s Fotheringham Property Developments is building the site’s first phase of luxury houses.

Mr Lieder said he is confident Ury Estate would be “one of the UK’s top resorts and the hotel will be its centrepiece”.