Far – Communities for Coul

The Highlands are a special place and the locals second to none.

Greetings from Dave Lemoine, an American who has been coming to the Highlands for 30 years.

I strongly support the safe and ecologically friendly development of a golf course at Coul Links. The Highlands are a special place and the locals second to none.

My wife and I rented a home in Dornoch for a month to experience Scottish life. We cherish that vacation amongst our finest over 50 years. More recently, I’ve been an annual visitor to Royal Dornoch Golf Club where I hold an international membership. While unable to visit last year because of COVID restrictions, I am hopeful that Scotland opens up by midsummer, at least for those of us who have been vaccinated.

Tourists and golfers visiting the Highlands are good for the local economy, jobs, small businesses, restaurants and the prosperity of your area. A well designed golf course will protect and preserve the sensitive seaside areas for lifetimes.

I encourage the prudent development of Coul Links for the benefit of the Scottish people and its spectacular geography.

Dave Lemoine, age 73, USA

The communities of the Sutherland area will diminish further and ultimately cease.

As long term visitors to the Dornoch area we are fully aware that without investment, jobs and a viable future, the communities of the Sutherland area will diminish further and ultimately cease. You have to give a reason for young people to want to stay in an area and have the financial incentives to do so. We believe that building a new golf course at Coul Links will provide part of that vital infrastructure that would enable the local area to thrive by bringing new jobs and new visitors to the area.

Howard Milligan (age 59) & Karen Goodall (age 54), Manchester

I want to bring people to the Highlands to show them the history of golf in the area

In 2019 I came over from the United States and worked at Royal Dornoch for just over 3 months. During my time in the area, I got to visit the site at Coul Links and thought the property was magnificent. COVID permitting I will be returning to the Highlands this summer for the Carnegie Shield at Royal Dornoch, and to play some of the awesome surrounding golf courses. Being 20 years old and one of the younger American members at the club, I am planning on a lifetime of golf in the Scottish Highlands. As I get older, I want to bring as many people as I can to the Highlands to show them the beauty and the history of golf in the area.

The addition of Coul Links would give tourists more reason to visit the Highlands and plan extended golf trips. I hope for the day where I can visit that property again, but next time as a world-class golf course.

Noah Sparrow. Age 20. USA

A golf course is the absolute best way to environmentally preserve land!

As an American I travel to your area as often as I can (twice a year usually). I am a Struie member of Royal Dornoch and overseas member of Brora. I believe the economy could use a boost and another golf course would not only do that but a golf course is the absolute best way to environmentally preserve land!

Please have a Coore & Crenshaw design. Their courses are stunning. Mike Keiser is a worldwide attraction as well but that ship may have sailed.

Good Luck!

Greg Ryan
Atlanta, GA

That land was made by God to be a world class golf course!

I am a US resident who visits the area a few times a year at Skibo. That land was made by God to be a world class golf course!

Mac Tisdale, USA

Those involved with the Coul Links project are great people who respect local traditions

I have been a yearly visitor to Dornoch since 1993 for golf at Dornoch, Golspie and Brora. I consider Dornoch a second home.

I have met those involved with the Coul Links project and know they are great people who respect local traditions. It would greatly help the area if the Coul Links project were approved.

Bruce Pfaff, USA

There are other golf courses that show sensitivity to their natural settings

In a world troubled by climate change and increasing eco concerns, it is hard to believe that creating a golf course in this area could be handled with anything less than great sensitivity, if it to be an economically attractive proposition.

There are other relatively recently created golf courses that show great sensitivity to their natural settings, e.g. Macrihanish Dunes is built in and around an Site of Special Scientific Interest.

I had thought that the planned course at Coul Links would have been very economically advantageous for the area.

I don’t believe operating a golf course and maintaining the ecology of the site are mutually incompatible. But, it does take hard work and proper management to ensure the compatibility.

We should be under no misapprehension that a community-led approach for planning is just a first step and that well-heeled financial partners committed to the ethos of ecological long-term management will be needed to bring this project to fruition.

John Hastings, Glasgow

As a visitor to Dornoch for 40 years I would love to see the area prosper

Congratulations on a comprehensive and well-argued case for Coul to be re-considered. As a summer visitor to Dornoch for 40 years I would love to see the area prosper, and a new, world-class course, at no cost to the community or Holyrood, is a ‘no-brainer’ in my view. There are so many recent examples around the world of new golf venues bringing prosperity to previously undeveloped areas, and everything I’ve seen and read suggests that Coul would be another example.

Geoff Carter, New Zealand
(A good example of a country where great new courses are attracting golfers from far and wide).

I think what you are doing is terrific

I am a US citizen of Scottish descent. I visited Dornoch and the Highlands about 10 years ago and fell in love with the golf, picturesque setting, beautiful communities, and wonderful people. My friends and I travel to Dornoch a few times each year.

I think what you are doing is terrific. Everyone I know who was aware of it was a big supporter of the Coul Links project, not because we are avid golfers but specifically for what we believe would be the positive economic impact it would have on people living in the Highlands.

John Westerman, New York

I fail to see how this is not a win win situation

I have been visiting this area for 25 years. Having had the opportunity to walk the proposed course with the developer’s representative and heard of the limited way the land is to be altered and the significant way the land is to be managed I fail to see how this is not a win win situation, politics apart.

At present the SSSI is being invaded by self seeded alien flora such that if left unmanaged for another 20 years it may well cease to be an SSSI and Coul Links will lose the landscape that makes it so appealing.

Andrew Brookes, Sheffield