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Perhaps the crown jewel of the entire area is Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs, the latter of which joined its impressive sister course by opening in June to rave reviews.
To hear Joe Robinson— director of golf for both courses— tell it, the area on the central western coast of the island had been working to get a golf course built for about 50 years by the time Cabot Links opened.
Various projects had come and this one, too, was in some peril thanks to a shaky economy a few years before its debut. But owner Ben Cowan-Dewar had a vision for not just one but two magnificent courses.
“ When he was told about this piece of land, he saw the potential here,” Robinson says.“ He purchased up a lot of property.”
That property became Cabot Links, which opened in 2012, and Cabot Cliffs, which vaulted to No. 19 in Golf Digest’ s world rankings even before it officially opened this year.
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True to Cowan-Dewar’ s dream, Cabot Links is a true links-style golf course, the only one of its kind in Canada, completed with dunes, plenty of wind and not a tree in sight. The history is wonderful, too: it sits on the site of an abandoned coal mine that closed in the 1950s.
Designed and shaped in many ways by Rod Whitman, the course was an immediate success.
“ Once we got the links established it rose quickly to one of the best courses in the country,” Robinson says.“ It was quite a story, going from nothing to something— from a mine that wasn’ t producing to a great golf course.”
Cabot Cliffs, too, is a links-style course with fescue grass. It’ s higher up, hence the name, with“ holes going from cliffs to cliffs,” Robinson says.
Both courses boast seven holes along the water, and a golfer can see the ocean from
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all 36 holes spanning both courses. And yes, both courses are walking-only.
Asking Robinson to pick a favorite hole is akin to asking a proud father of 18— or 36, rather— to pick a favorite child.
“ We don’ t do signature holes. We like to have people decide what their favorite is because everyone is different,” Robinson says.“ We have six holes on our two courses that any course would be happy to have as a signature hole. We have people who think that on the links course it would be the 6th hole … other people like the 15th or 16th. On the new course, 16, 17 and 18 are incredible holes, with greens on a peninsula jutting out in the ocean.”
With the attention and additional course has come the need to accommodate all those who want to share in the splendor of the island. Robinson said when he arrived in 2011, one building housed pretty
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DESTINATION CAPE BRETON ASSOCIATION |