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This is the greatest sentence in refuge history.
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No one loves the Buff man more than me!
He’s a pilot, skier, and a golfer!
Mother mother ocean!
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I love how you need to bring up the fact you go heliskiing frequently. Really is the cherry on top of all this.
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3/365 isn’t frequent. What a wonderful 3 days though.
“Lift lines are too long, I’ve been forced to go heliskiing”
This might be the most first world boomer problem I’ve ever seen.
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I actually played Sharp Park a few years ago when the Super Bowl was in SF and one of the locals playing with us talked about how one of the original McKenzie holes had to go away because snails were threatened. Snails! I am not quite as left on this issue as you might believe, @Eric_Denver.
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Thank you, that is a perfect example of the kind of inane nonsense that is prevalent in the environmental world. To be clear, I do understand and promote reasonable conservation and especially environmental regulation that concerns pollution, but I believe there is a sizeable portion of the environmental activist community that lacks common sense, and is simply against any kind of development, no matter how green it intends to be.
They are the classic tree huggers, they hate golf, they hate skiing, they hate aviation, and therefore, they hate me!
pssst
Also, planted Lynx hairs from an animal in the Portland zoo.
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possibly paint chips
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I really haven’t read a lot about this project, so some of this may be speaking from a place of ignorance, but I’ve always felt the decision needed to be made by Scotlanders and if they said yes or no, I was going to stay out of it. I do think — from a layman’s perspective — that a golf course built by Mike Keiser is a pretty great development if you want to have development. It’s not a casino. Or a factory. Or an oil refinery. All of these things, I totally understand the opposition. But it does sound to me like the opposition to this project piggybacked off the Trump Organization’s disdain for following any kind of regulation, rules, and decorum and used the emotions connected to them to kill what would have been a good project for the area. It would be one thing if this really was going to make some rare animals go extinct. Or upset the Scottish ecosystem. I don’t see evidence that is what those opposing it are arguing but again I haven’t followed it closely.
I think environmental concerns are very real and it’s fucking infuriating to me that people were so dismissive of the Standing Rock pipeline protests when (surprise surprise!) the fucker leaked just like the protesters said it would. But golf courses are not oil pipelines or factories. They’re green space preservation in many respects. If Pebble Beach wasn’t a golf course, it’s almost certain the land that occupies the 18th hole would have eroded into the sea by now. So the idea that golf courses can’t work in tandem with the environment is false.
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Wow, very salty @Eric_Denver.
But the more I read, the more I realise you’re disingenuous and on the wind up.
Can’t be serious, surely…
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@ScotGolfer You’re happy with this decision? You think it was rooted in common sense? You think the bunkers in your profile photo are even a 10th as nice as what Coore would have built at Coul Links?
Happy with the decision. I believe it was the right one. And I do think it was rooted in common sense.
We have more than enough golf courses in Scotland yet we have a lack of truly wild environment, especially in times when it’s becoming blindingly obvious that we need more. The UK has one of lowest % of natural land in all of Europe. That stat might be based on forested land but the the fact remains that we haven’t protected important valuable natural space.
Coul links is an SSSI and international SPA. What would be the point of having these if you then just ignore it (as they did at Trump Aberdeen)? You say what happened at Trump is incomparable yet in terms of habitat and plans they are very much similar. Trump may have not cared to protect the space as they might have at Coul Links but there’s no guarantee the disturbance wouldn’t have had a negative effect.
And regarding my avatar, I have no clue what bunkering they would have put in…and I don’t condone the construction of Dumbarnie. It was even more nonsensical to build another high-end tourist trap course in Fife. But I didn’t have any alternative photos on hand when I set it as my picture. 
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I can see his argument about ski resorts (mainly about the prices not that rap music), but the world doesn’t need many more new golf courses. It needs more redesigns/renovations.
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What a bizarre opinion to have for someone with the username @ScotGolfer. You may have quite a few golf courses in Scotland but in the Northern Highlands area near Dornoch and Embo, you really only have one course that visitors want to play. And no, most people aren’t going to make the trip to Brora no matter how popular it is on Golf Twitter. This was going to be an enormous catalyst for economic progress in the area. If it was built, people would spend a night or two up there. Restaurants and hotels would flourish, hundreds of jobs would be created.
But none of this will happen because of 32 acres of dunesland. I think that is important to reiterate, 32 MEASLY ACRES. The project, with the gentle touch and philosophy of Coore and Keiser would have showcased the natural environment and provided Coul Links with the resources to preserve and prosper. Do you also not realize that virtually everything on the sea is roped off with “red tape” in Europe now due to environmental restrictions? The regulations are far too restrictive, just talk to Wagner or Doak or Hanse or Coore. Even when you prove that you can work harmoniously with nature, the environmental radicals refuse to compromise.
Tell me what would have been the horrible “negative effect” that would outweigh the positives listed above? What horrible atrocity would have happened to the environment?
I’m not buying it. Why? Because I’ve seen the people on Twitter who protested Coul Links, they are not rational. They are not reasonable. They despise golf and they will protest development of any kind as Keiser rightly pointed out. As KVV mentioned, a lot of “hoopla” is made because of incredibly insignificant things like snails. One of the main deterrents for the planned ski resort in my home state was a spotted owl habitat. Even if you create plans to care for the native species, there is no reasoning with these people. They won’t listen. There is no absolutely no common sense involved.
And as a golfer, I dreamed about what Coore could have done with such a beautiful canvas. There are hundreds of links courses in Scotland with a similar feel, the same circular pot bunkers littered about, but this was going to be different. It would have been unique. You clearly are not very passionate about the game if you aren’t disappointed with this decision.
Plenty of courses.
Too many boring courses.
Renovate an existing course.
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Wow, I can’t believe how worked up you are about this. And I presume you are not a local who might directly benefit.
You’re ignoring my points that we need to protect our natural land as it is only “32 measly acres”. Where do you stop? “Ah we’ll build this one. It’s only 32 acres. Oh, and that housing development is only 10 acres. We’ll do that. That conifer plantation is only 6,000 hectares. We’ll build that”. (That last one is true by the way - 12% of our dunes are forested by the worst plantations).
The fact is: we don’t have tonnes of remaining natural space in Scotland and this land is very important to crucial species that might suffer if more habitat is lost. Yes, it might be very prosperous for those in the local area. But it’s getting pretty clear that the benefits of economic growth aren’t necessarily the only important thing to consider (as you do).
You lump me in with those on twitter who are anti golf and were up in arms about this development. However, if you knew me at all then you would know I am very passionate about golf. I’m a member of this forum for fucks sake. But I also care for the environment and there’s a balance that is required.
I’m not an environmental nutter nor someone who is uneducated about golf and the benefits that it can have to the environment and nature. I’m actually quite well-researched about it. I’ve made a bloody film about it!
I’m sorry you feel bitter about losing this. Your views clearly don’t align with the majority in Scotland or the current political thinking in Scotland (perhaps a subject I’m in a better place to talk about?).
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@Eric_Denver
I just wanted to follow this up with your point that I must not be passionate about golf because I’m not dreaming about this unique course that would have been so different.
The same courses that would have been aimed at tourists and not actually growing the game you’re supposedly passionate about.
I presume you’re also up in arms at the several grass routes/municipal courses that have had to close in the Glasgow area? The ones that can actually be played by the locals and actually do something for the game of golf.
Also, I’d just like to bring up the fact that your numbers are wrong. It was around 55 acres of land inside the SSSI. A significant increase on your 32 acres although I’m not going to argue it’s a huge area. But the fact you under-represented this figure to help your case must mean you see other side of the argument?
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Who is rational according to you? Disagreeing with @Eric_Denver doesn’t automatically make someone irrational.
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