Old Petty opened in May 2026 beside Castle Stuart, giving Cabot Highlands two sharply different expressions of modern Scottish links golf. Tom Doak laid out the new course on the estuary side of the Inverness property, near the historic castle and the nineteenth-century Old Petty Church. Where its neighbor announced a new era for Highlands golf, Old Petty deliberately takes its cues from an older, less manicured tradition.
The routing moves between open ground, tidal views and subtly pitched slopes rather than asking the coastline to supply all its drama. Its defining first impression is architectural: the first and eighteenth holes cross the same central fairway. Beyond that striking arrangement, the interest lies in the movement of the land and how much freedom a golfer has to choose a route.
Why You Should Play Cabot Highlands Old Petty
The test begins with decisions, not forced carries. Doak leaves enough playing room to encourage a confident tee shot, then lets contours, preferred sides and the angle into the green determine whether that aggression is rewarded. A ball safely in the fairway is not necessarily in the best position. This is thoughtful golf for players who enjoy making decisions from the ground they can see.
The use of undulating fairway approaches keeps Old Petty close to the traditional game. An imperfectly struck approach can sometimes be guided toward a putting surface; an apparently tidy shot from the wrong angle can finish on an awkward side of a green. The challenge is less about a relentless demand for airborne precision than about reading slopes and choosing when to fly an approach and when to let it run.
Old Petty's proximity to the Moray Firth is more than a view. The course shifts between enclosed contours and open estuary exposures, creating differences in wind and visibility through the round. Its 7,080-yard black tees offer considerable length, but the official card also lists 6,580-yard white, 6,205-yard green and 4,950-yard red tees, with par 71 throughout. The sensible choice is the tee that keeps those strategic decisions available.
For a Highlands trip, the compelling reason to play Old Petty is comparison. Castle Stuart, co-designed by Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse, sits immediately alongside it, yet its dramatic amphitheater-like presentation offers a different feeling. Two rounds on the same property become a conversation about how very different architects interpret the same stretch of Scotland.
Architecture, History and the Landscape
Doak designed the routing with lead associate Clyde Johnson, while Clyde and the on-site team helped translate those ideas into the rolling estuary ground. A distinctive interlocking arrangement of the opening and closing holes creates a shared playing corridor rather than a conventional separated pair of fairways. It is a rare gesture that feels at home in golf's older, less compartmentalized architecture.
Old Petty received its official opening on May 15, 2026, after preview rounds the previous year. The course already has a meaningful place in a two-course resort itinerary, rather than standing alone as a speculative addition to the Highlands map.
The opening is broad in spirit, but the back nine offers some of the property's closest contact with the water, especially the par-five fifteenth alongside the Moray Firth. The par-three seventeenth provides a different kind of examination through its green complex. Those holes matter as examples of the design's choices, not because a round should be reduced to a list of photo opportunities.
Playing Conditions and Practical Details
The official scorecard lists par 71 from four tee sets: Black 7,080 yards, White 6,580, Green 6,205 and Red 4,950. All four have been converted to metres in the course data. Caddies are optional and can be arranged in advance; both individual bag-carrying caddies and forecaddies are offered. Cabot Highlands is a walking-focused property, with buggies reserved for approved medical exceptions.
Standard 2027 visitor green fees are £290 in the early season (March 26–May 13), £395 in the main season (May 14–October 10) and £340 in the late season (October 11–November 13). These are per-person 18-hole prices, distinct from the resort's separate 36-hole products. Demand is likely to be shared with Castle Stuart, so advance planning is sensible.
Where Old Petty Fits in a Highland Golf Trip
A stay near Inverness can combine Old Petty and Castle Stuart without a transfer between courses. Royal Dornoch and Nairn provide a compelling extension north and east, while Brora offers a more traditional, windswept counterpoint further up the coast. The region works especially well for golfers who want architectural variety within the same short chapter of a longer Scottish journey.
An Old Petty round rewards curiosity more than allegiance to a single designer. If you value width with consequences, imperfect but beautiful ground, and the option to attack a green by more than one route, it is a particularly useful addition to the Highland circuit.