Parsinen is king of the castle

ACCLAIMED NEW GOLF COURSE ON MORAY FIRTH SHORES IS A LABOUR OF LOVE FOR AMERICAN

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Donald Trump’s controversial plans for a multimillion-pound golf resort on the Menie Estate, near Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, made international headlines and divided councils and communities.

Just 100 miles west along the north-east coast another American’s golfing dream slipped quietly under the radar.

After six years of planning Mark Parsinen’s Castle Stuart development, a 425-acre slice of farmland on the shores of the Moray Firth and in the shadow of a 17th-century castle and with views of Kessock Bridge and the Chanonry lighthouse, is now a reality.

The critically-acclaimed championship course is in its infancy having only opened on July 13.

Almost 150 lodges are due to be finished next year and the 57-room luxury hotel and spa is expected to be completed by the spring of 2012.

A second 18-hole links course is also planned.

Like tycoon Trump, Parsinen does not do things by half.

His first venture into course design on this side of the pond was Kingsbarns, now firmly entrenched as one of the world’s leading 100 courses after only a decade of life.

Even before the now famous Fife links had been played in earnest, its creator was scouring the coastline to find an even better site.

In 2003 he found Castle Stuart.

Parsinen and his team have created a course which, like Kingsbarns, looks as if it has always been there and the art-deco style clubhouse also melts into the surrounding dunes.

The man from Minnesota said as soon as he set eyes on this stretch of coastline he knew instantly his search was at an end.

He had also tramped the dunes which years later Trump would identify as home to his own development.

Parsinen said: “I looked north of Embo and around Inverness but it was purely by accident I stumbled across this site.

“On a trip to Cawdor Estates a friend, who was a consultant for the project they were hoping to develop, said I really should have a look down the road, by the airport at Castle Stuart.

“After only 15 minutes on site I saw the things which are important to me. When you look for a site for four years and you find it, it doesn't take you long and after 15 minutes I knew this was it.

“In that short time I could visualise the kind of holes I could do, imagining holes, tees and greens down on the water and against the top of the sea cliff, where it appears you are on the water. It gives the course Pebble Beach-like characteristics.”

He added: “My wife and I walked the coast all the way from Aberdeen along to Cruden Bay and through the Menie Estate without knowing it.

“We liked everything but, for me, the perfect site may be very different from Donald Trump’s perfect site.

“I was looking for elevation differential, access to views of the sea and landmarks in your perspective.

“The Menie Estate has these amazing dunes, not unlike Cruden Bay, but to me there is a sameness about the site which makes it difficult to do the kind of things I like to do. Menie wasn't for me and was quickly discarded.”

Parsinen said his affinity with Scotland and the Scots was a factor in Castle Stuart becoming a reality.

He said: “I was a student at the London School of Economics in the late 60s, and had worked professionally on and off in the UK for years, so by the time I did Kingsbarns my wife, who is from California, and I were very comfortable in this country.

“I had been playing golf in the Highlands since 1969, I’ve been a lifelong lover of links golf and I’ve been living on and off in the UK for a very long time, I’ve had children born here and our best friends are Britons.

“We are very comfortable here and this gives us a different perspective on what local councils are looking for.

“When we first came our first goal was to fit into the local community.

“We spent a lot of time talking with planners and councillors about what would be good, what we were planning to do, so when the first application went we already knew what the issues were, we modified our thinking and our plans so it had a higher probability of receiving a warm reception.

“In October 2004 my wife and I moved into the farm-house on site and we’ve lived here for the better part ever since, spending time with neighbours and making friends. By understanding the fabric of a local community you can do something people will embrace.

“I love to build golf courses, I love links golf and this is the best site I’ve ever seen, this is my life’s work. When that is the case you go the extra mile.”

Parsinen believes his hands-on approach works and added: “I know Donald Trump, I have an apartment in Manhattan and his office is only three blocks away.

“Donald may have as many as 25 projects on the go, Menie Estate being one, he is a golfer who has numerous courses in some form of development.

“He has armies of people working for him and, although they are very professional, I am on site.”