The old Torvean golf course opened as a 9-hole layout in 1962 and was subsequently doubled in size twenty-six years later. Originally operated as a municipal-run facility, the course was taken over in a leasing arrangement by the golf club in the late 1990s, with the land remaining in council ownership.
When the Inverness West Link Road was constructed, all but two of the holes on the course were lost to this new highway project. Highland Council then stepped in to provide a like-for-like multi-million pound golf facility for the club, engaging architect Stuart Rennie to design the new layout.
The sixteen new holes are routed across undulating land to the west of the old course, overlooked by the Scottish Natural Heritage headquarters. The vision, according to the architect, was to create a heathland-style layout with modern design principals where heather, gorse and fescue grasses can thrive.
Biodiversity is also an important consideration and a number of waterbodies and wetland areas have been fashioned to enhance the course’s eco credentials. Public access trails have also been provided, allowing the local community to integrate with the golf course and its new environment.
Interviewed in The Inverness Courier, Stuart Rennie had this to say about his first new build assignment:
“I was only 32 when I was appointed to design the course, very young to win such a job, and, let us be honest, there are not that many new golf course projects around at the moment. So obviously this has been a hugely important project for me, and I have put my heart and soul into it.
During construction, we had to ensure that there were always eighteen holes available for members to play, but we also had to have the new course open by 2019, so that phase two of the road construction could start.
The old course was pretty flat, but now we have a nice, undulating site. There is 65m (210ft) of elevation change between the top and bottom of the site. The soil is quite nice – sandy and gravelly, although it had been arable farmland. We were able to build a very lay of the land course.”
Completing the makeover package, the club was renamed as Kings Golf Club in honour of the 6th century Pictish King Bridei. Saint Columba is said to have converted this monarch to Christianity at nearby Craig Phadraig around 565 AD and it’s thought that Columba may have camped on this site whilst visiting the king.
