Scotland's 'Ghost Course' Near Gleneagles Goes Up for Sale

A 639-acre Scottish estate built around a golf course from Bandon Dunes architect David McLay Kidd has been put up for sale nearly two decades after developers first unveiled plans to rival nearby Gleneagles.

What is the gWest estate?

Property consultancy Knight Frank is marketing the gWest estate at Blackford, Perthshire, immediately west of Gleneagles. The property includes an 18-hole championship course designed by Kidd, whose other credits include Bandon Dunes in Oregon and the Castle Course at St. Andrews. Kidd once called the property "the best inland site I've ever seen for a golf course." The estate also includes a clubhouse shell modeled on the work of 18th-century architect Colen Campbell and holds planning consent for up to 170 homes, a hotel and spa, and leisure facilities.

Why has the course sat unused since 2009?

The course itself was completed in 2009, but the wider resort was never built, and only a small number of invited guests are believed to have played the course in the years since, earning it a reputation in golf circles as Scotland's ghost course. The project was developed by the family of billionaire Mahdi Al Tajir, founder of Highland Spring and a former UAE ambassador to the UK, who began assembling land around Blackford after acquiring the neighboring Keir Estate in 1975. Knight Frank cited the global financial crisis, uncertainty around Scotland's independence referendum and Brexit as factors that stalled the broader development.

A finished championship course from a Bandon Dunes-caliber architect has sat almost entirely unplayed for more than 15 years.

No guide price has been disclosed. Knight Frank said it expects global interest in the site given its location and the pedigree of its course design, though it remains unclear whether a buyer would complete the stalled resort or take the property in a different direction.