£480m golf resort with Angus’s first five-star hotel planned beside Forbes of Kingennie

A long-held dream of a championship golf estate on the slopes above Forbes of Kingennie has taken on a new and much bigger shape.

Brae of Angus is a planned £480 million hotel, golf and leisure resort on land at Shank of Omachie, to the north and east of Wellbank. If it goes ahead, it would bring Angus its first five-star hotel, run by Hyatt, with global sports and events firm IMG managing the golf and leisure side. The plans were first reported by The Courier.

The site sits on the hill above Forbes of Kingennie Country Resort, the Forbes family’s fishing, golf and lodge resort that has become one of the best-loved weekend escapes for Dundee families.

Just six miles by road from the city, off the A92 Arbroath road, the resort has grown well beyond its fishing ponds. Today it offers lodges with hot tubs, shepherd’s huts, escape pods, a farmhouse and a boathouse. There’s also The Scullery Restaurant, the Cairn O’Mount Bar, a wild Scottish sauna, and a busy calendar of weddings and events.

What’s planned

The 310-acre masterplan includes a 150-room, Hyatt-branded five-star hotel. Around 350 more rooms would be spread across lodges, townhouse suites and corporate fractional-ownership lodges, making roughly 450 rooms in all.

Golf is at the heart of it. The plans include an 18-hole championship course, designed by Scottish architect Graeme Webster of Team Niblick, who also designed the existing nine-hole course at Kingennie. There would also be a modern golf academy with driving ranges and simulation technology.

Beyond the fairways, the scheme features a country club with a gym, swimming pools, spa, padel courts, an events space and a clubhouse with restaurant and bar. Artist’s impressions show sweeping views from the clubhouse across the Tay towards Fife.

The plans also include 185 private housing plots. The developer says money from those sales would be reinvested to help pay for the hotel, golf and wider resort.

Why here? Dundee’s golfing doorstep

Location might be the resort’s strongest card. Few cities anywhere can claim such famous golf on their doorstep as Dundee. Forbes of Kingennie itself points out that more than 30 quality courses lie within an hour’s drive.

St Andrews, the Home of Golf, is just 13 miles away, about half an hour across the Tay Road Bridge. The Open returns to the Old Course from 15 to 18 July 2027, its 31st time there. That’s more than any other venue in the world.

Carnoustie is even closer, around 20 minutes up the coast. Its Championship Course has hosted The Open eight times and is known as one of the toughest tests in the game.

There’s plenty more within an easy drive. Angus has the historic links of Monifieth, Panmure and Montrose, plus Dundee’s own Downfield. Over in Fife there’s Kingsbarns, Crail and Ladybank.

Head west into Perthshire and you reach the heathland of Blairgowrie’s Rosemount. Further on is Gleneagles, host of the 2014 Ryder Cup, about 45 minutes from the city.

Getting here is just as easy. Direct trains link Dundee with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London, and Edinburgh Airport is little more than an hour by road. That makes the city a natural base for golfers who want to play Scotland’s great courses in one trip.

Golf tourism already fills hotels, restaurants and taxis across Tayside every summer. A five-star resort six miles from the city centre would give more of those visitors a reason to stay locally, and to spend their evenings in Dundee.

It would land at a good time. Visitor numbers in the city centre are already climbing, and big draws like the David Bowie exhibition at V&A Dundee keep bringing people in.

Who’s behind it

The land was recently bought by Angus Land Company Ltd (ALC). It’s owned by the private investment firm Mocca Capital, working with the international developer Castle Properties.

An ALC spokesperson described Brae of Angus as one of the most significant hospitality investments Scotland has seen in recent years. The company says the scheme would create jobs during construction and once it’s open, along with apprenticeships and on-site training in hospitality.

It’s the latest in a run of major investment plans around the city, following news of a £20m creative tech hub at Camperdown Dock.

A vision years in the making

The idea of a championship course on this hillside isn’t new. Kingennie owner Mike Forbes first won planning permission in principle for a golf course, hotel, spa and housing on the land back in 2009.

In 2021 that ambition came back as The Angus, a £100m resort with a five-star hotel and a Darren Clarke signature course. Councillors approved an updated masterplan the following year.

Brae of Angus is presented as a step up from that approved scheme. It has been redesigned with new partners to meet post-pandemic tourism demand and international standards.

Down the hill, Forbes of Kingennie carries on as a family business. Mike Forbes started it in 1995 as a fishery with three lodges, and today it employs around 100 people. It was named Family Business of the Year at the Scottish Bar and Pub Awards.

What happens next

A Proposal of Application Notice was lodged with Angus Council in April, starting the formal pre-application process. Two public consultation events took place at Wellbank Village Hall, on 27 April and 3 June.

A full planning application to Angus Council is the next step. The plans will need council consent before Hyatt and IMG are confirmed as operators. LiveDundee will follow the scheme as it goes through the planning process. For more on the city’s economy, see our business news.