Historic Spey Bay Golf Club in Moray close to being sold to online golf community
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A HISTORIC golf course in Moray which boasts a Prime Minister among its former members is close to being sold to a cryptocurrency-funded online golf community.
LinksDAO entered into an 'exclusivity agreement' to buy Spey Bay Golf Club for around $900,000 (£735,000) two weeks ago.
The links course was designed by the legendary Ben Sayers and laid out in 1907. It can count Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, as a former member.
However, a sale of the course is now edging closer and could be confirmed as early as next month.
Jim Daily, LinksDAO CEO, said: "We're hoping to have everything cinched up next month so we're in the final phases.
"I might be based in the US but we have members who live in the UK as well so some of them had actually gone up there to scout it out.
"We have done our due diligence with various partners and we see it as a really good opportunity."
The group, made up of more than 5400 golf enthusiasts from around the world, was formed in January 2022 thanks to a NFT fundraiser which raised over £8.58 million. US basketball star Steph Curry is reportedly among those who invested in the group.
Its goal is to 'acquire and manage' golf courses. And so, when Spey Bay, designed by the legendary Ben Sayers and laid out in 1907, was put up for sale, the group's membership opted to pursue a deal to purchase it.
Mr Daily said: "We identified it as a really good opportunity so we put it to a vote amongst our community and over 88 per cent said that we should pursue it.
"In the US, the best golf courses are completely private, extremely expensive and extremely exclusive.
"It's different in Scotland. Membership is more affordable and everybody is welcome so that's very much in the ethos of this project that we've built."
As for the group's plans for the course, Mr Daily confirmed that they are looking to 'significantly increase' the annual investment in the course from day one.
They are also in touch with a number of the world's top architects to improve the overall quality of the course and, in turn, improve the playing experience.
"We're connected with many of the world's top architects and with people who really deeply understand the golf course space," Mr Daily said.
"Spey Bay is a really special place. The course is stunning in terms of its natural beauty and it's a really cool and quirky course.
"What we want to do is keep the entirety of its character but we want to really up the level in terms of quality.
"We want to make it a must play for anybody visiting the area and we hope to bring thousands of people from across the globe to the area to expose them to a very special part of the world."
LinksDAO insist that the group's purchase of the course is also good news for the club's current membership, adding that they are keen to retain the club's current members going forward.
"We're not some hotel conglomerate coming in and ripping the whole place up for profit," Mr Daily added.
"Our project is about connecting people from all over the planet.
"What we are hoping to do is just be additive to the community as much as we can and hopefully put a really notable golf course on the map."
