Spectacular site for Cabot Cliffs

18 September 2012

A view back up the potential closing hole of Cabot Cliffs

The second course at Canada's new Cabot Links resort will occupy a spectacular clifftop site a few miles north of the existing course, which is situated at the heart of the town of Inverness on Cape Breton.

Cabot Cliffs, which, according to developer Ben Cowan-Dewar, is set to begin construction in the spring, will be designed by architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Coore, after a typically exhaustive process of walking the site, has completed a routing, and, along with Cowan-Dewar and co-developer Mike Keiser, will make the final decision on hole choices at a site visit next month.

“Mike always says 'One course is a curiosity, but two is a destination',” said Cowan-Dewar, during a recent site visit by GCA. Cabot owns around 600 acres of property at the Broad Cove location, making a third course a possibility, but the developer said that the brief to Coore was to find the best eighteen holes possible, not to consider the potential for another course.

Two clubhouse locations are still under consideration. Either way, the course will include a dramatic ocean carry par three along the lines of Cypress Point's famous sixteenth at the northern end of the property.

Should the southern clubhouse location be chosen, then the finishing hole will be a lengthy two shot hole along the coastline from a high tee position. Two greensites are still under consideration for the hole, one a few yards inland, the other hard against the water and with a small brook in front.

See the forthcoming October issue of GCA for a longer interview with Cabot developer Ben Cowan-Dewar.