'Ghost' golf course put up for sale by owners of Highland Spring

Gleneagles West has never opened to the public and believed only to have been played on by owners, the Tajir family.

A golf course built next to Gleneagles but never opened to the public has been put on the market by the family of the billionaire Emirati businessman Mahdi al-Tajir.

Gleneagles West, known as gWest, stretches 639 acres at Blackford in Perth and Kinross and includes an 18-hole, 7,300-yard course.

Often dubbed Scotland’s “ghost course”, the site was completed in 2009 but has never formally opened. It is understood to have been played largely by members of the Tajir family, who own the water company Highland Spring, and their guests.

Now the entire estate has been offered for sale, although no guide price has been disclosed.

The property includes the shell of an imposing domed clubhouse, known locally as “The Mosque”, as well as planning permission for up to 170 homes, a hotel and spa, leisure and entertainment facilities and staff accommodation.

Euan Kelly, a partner at Knight Frank in Edinburgh, which is marketing the property, said it was “incredibly rare” for an opportunity such as gWest to come to market.

“We're expecting a huge amount of interest from across the globe in what could be a once-in-a-lifetime asset,” he said, describing it as a substantial consented resort development site with a golf course by a celebrated architect in one of Scotland’s most prestigious leisure locations.

The development was supposed to be a luxury resort intended to rival neighbouring Gleneagles, with plans for a six-star hotel and as many as 200 luxury homes, some expected to be worth up to £3 million.

The golf course was designed by celebrated architect, David McLay Kidd, whose other work includes the Castle Course at St Andrews and Bandon Dunes in Oregon.

However plans for the site were repeatedly delayed, with members of the family citing the global financial crisis, the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Brexit and the Covid pandemic as reasons as to why the project has noted progressed beyond the course and parts of the clubhouse.

The Tajir family has previously said that it was reluctant to commit the tens of millions of pounds required for the next phase of development while the economic and political outlook remained uncertain.

Mohsin al-Tajir, Mahdi’s son, said in 2020 that completing the development could require a further £50 million to £100 million of investment.

Mr Kelly added: “While the bold ambitions for the site have yet to fully come to fruition, a sale could see them take an important step forward and add another destination to Scotland’s, and Perthshire’s, strong tourist offering.”

Mahdi al-Tajir, who became the first United Arab Emirates ambassador to Britain in the 1970s, acquired extensive land in Perthshire and established Highland Spring in the area.

Last year, his fortune was worth £1.643 billion, up by £2 million from 2024.

The billionaire calls local residence Keir House his home, and said the proximity to Gleneagles, which has hosted the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup, was central to its appeal.

Maddi al-Tajir’s son, Mohsin, founded and runs Highland Wagyu, a pedigree beef producer, with his wife, Martine Chapman. The farm is located on the family estate in Perthshire.