Minnesota Golfer - Travel 2022 - 17

"
Nova Scotia " is Latin for " New Scotland, "
and as a golfer, that may be all you need
to know. Sure, it's still a hefty trip to Cape
Breton, the gold mine of golf in the maritime province;
from Minneapolis, it's about an eight-hour
plane trip, two days by train, or a 37-hour drive. But
that's still about 2,000 miles closer than old Scotland.
Cape Breton should be on any golfer's bucket list
of destinations. Three must-play golf courses alone
make it worth the trip-Cabot Cliffs, Cabot Links
and Highland Links-but happily, there's still more
to relish in terms of golf, scenery, and a suitably
Gaelic vibe.
In late September, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton
were hit hard by the high winds and flooding rains
of Hurricane Fiona. Parts of the famed Cabot Trail
were washed away and many holes at Highland
Links were under water once Fiona passed through.
But the golf season rarely extends past mid-October
and tends to open in mid-May, so planning now for
next spring or summer will be no problem.
Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs
First, there's Cabot Cape Breton, the resort that
solidified the area as a desirable golf locale when the
first 10 holes of the Cabot Links course opened in
July 2011. When the Cabot Cliffs course debuted in
June 2016, desire was upgraded to lust.
When the Cabot founder and executive chairman
Ben Cowan-Dewar had the notion of bringing golf
to the former coal mining town of Inverness, he also
had enough conviction that he persuaded Mike Keiser
to be a co-founder.
That's Mike Keiser as in
Bandon Dunes. When
Keiser brought his
Bandon Dunes playbook
along (links or
links-style golf, walking
only, attractive accommodations,
more than
one course and so on),
success was virtually
assured.
Speaking of books,
the full story of Cabot
and other Keiser golf
Nestled along the shores of Cape Breton, Cabot Links
(left) and Cabot Cliffs (right) boast postcard-worthy
panoramas with their wild and rugged landscapes.
properties is told in the recent volume by Keiser with
Stephen Goodwin titled, " The Nature of the Game:
Links Golf at Bandon Dunes and Far Beyond. "
Spectacular settings help. Cowan-Dewer tapped
fellow Canadian Ron Whitman to design Cabot
Links, and he didn't disappoint. The course wends
attractively from the town to the sea in classic landhugging
links golf; it would be a pleasure to walk
even if you didn't have the sticks in hand. But there's
plenty of golfing challenge to entice as well.
The response to Cabot Links was positive from
the start, before there were even any accommodations
on hand. (Now, there are 72 contemporary
lodge rooms and a variety of luxury golf villas and
homes, as well as three restaurants.) But when the
Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw-designed Cabot Cliffs
opened up, rapture has been the usual gob-smacking
response.
If Cabot Links lies close to the sea, Cabot Cliffs
indeed rises high above it, with settings so spectacular
your camera will be as vital a piece of equipment
as your clubs. Now routinely named as the best
course in Canada, it has been steadily climbing in
ranking lists as one of the best in the world.
The routing is as startling as the setting, with six par5s,
six par-4s and six par-3s, nary a dull hole in sight.
As if these two courses weren't enough, now
there's The Nest at the resort, a 1,300-yard 10-hole
par-3 routing by Ron Whitman and Dave Axland,
created at one of the highest points on the Cliffs
property, and thereby affording even more stunning
ocean views.
mngolf.org
Travel 2022 MINNESOTAGOLFER
17
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ADAM HILL, DESTINATION CAPE BRETON
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Travel 2022

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