Cabot Cape Breton (Links Course)

The Great Recession of 2008 rocked the golf course development industry. So much so that you could count the number of courses that continued construction throughout 2008 and 2009 on one hand. One of those courses was the Links Course at Cabot Cape Breton. The passion project of Ben Cowan-Dewar, Cabot Cape Breton’s momentum really picked up when Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser got in on the action. The Oregon resort had brought golfers to the rural west coast, so an east coast venue certainly made sense. Undeterred by the financial crisis, Cowan-Dewar drilled ahead and the resort ultimately opened for preview play in 2011 and was fully functioning in 2012. 

Located in the small fishing village of Inverness, Nova Scotia, in eastern Canada, Cabot Cape Breton was equally as big a swing in golf tourism as the one Keiser took in Oregon. Lessons had been learned and the public was more used to the idea of traveling to far-fetched lands for golf, and yet Cape Breton added a new level of complexity for travelers. Three hours from the nearest international commercial airport and with a limited season, the resort’s location raised some eyebrows. Still, once the Links Course opened, photos started to flow, and word of the course’s quality began to spread, it became clear that world-class golf would bring people to this remote Canadian island.

Take Note…

Bored? Walk! Multiple entries to Inverness Beach sit just steps off the Links Course. Resort guests and the public alike can take a stroll or drive down to the water and enter off the boardwalk that runs along the tee boxes on No. 8 or take the path that runs around the back of the 16th green.

Namesake bar. Just east of the resort’s main paddock, Whit’s Public House is the resort’s most approachable dining option and a great place to unwind at the end of a day. Of course, it gets its name from the Links Course architect Rod Whitman.

Miner, I hardly know her. Directly across from the entry to Cabot Cape Breton is the Inverness Miner’s Museum. Coal mining dominated the local area in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the last mine closed well before Cabot opened its doors.

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