(Article reproduced from the Irvine Herald)
A new £60 million golf complex centred round an 18 hole course at Gailes will bring 90 full-time jobs and £5m into the local economy, it emerged this week.
Up to 250 construction jobs will be created when work starts on the par 71 course and an adjoining hotel, spa, restaurant and conference facilities.
Work on the ambitious project is expected to start next year.
The Ayrshire Golf Company – the team who created the world’s most environmentally friendly course at the Machrihanish Dunes – and Irvine Bay Regeneration signed the deal last week.
The massive project to be known as The Ayrshire will be open to the public.
Brian Keating, a director of The Ayrshire and founder/developer of Machrihanish Dunes said:
“This will be the newest links course on the west coast of Scotland.
“We see the project as the bookend to Turnberry. One of the most exciting things for me is that it is in Ayrshire.
“A lot of people forget that while St Andrews is the spiritual soul of golf, Ayrshire is definitely the heart of golf. It’s where the Open started and its close to Prestwick Airport which brings in hundreds of thousands of European golfers every year".
At Machrihanish Dunes, developers worked closely with ecologists and Scottish Natural Heritage to ensure the course caused as little environmental disturbance as possible. The course was redesigned to avoid several rare plants and sensitive wildlife while the greens were all cut and laid by hand.
Mr Keating went on:
“The Ayrshire site isn’t as environmentally sensitive but it will still be a major consideration.”
Backers estimate the new course could be worth up to £5m a year to the local economy.
Irvine Bay chief Patrick Wiggins said The Ayrshire was one of their flagship projects creating jobs and improving the appeal of the area. He said:
“We are hoping work will start next year.”
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