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Finally getting around to doing a full review of my trip to Cabot. The Cliffs review and hotel review will come some time next week.
It's a long one, sorry.
__________
Day 1 for us brought Cabot Links, one of the two picturesque courses located at Cabot. The weather was far from ideal, as expected in late October on Cape Breton Island We were a determined bunch however and based on talking to the starter, we weren’t the only ones willing to brave the cold, rain, and wind. Despite it being -3 degrees Celsius (26F), raining/snowing, and wind gust upwards of 70km/h (43mph), the starter informed me that it was a full tee sheet from 8:00am to 2:30pm.
TIP: Both Cabot Cliffs and Cabot Links have cookies at the starters hut/tables. Fully recommend grabbing one or two. Very good.
Clubhouse: The clubhouse at the Links is very well outfitted. If I’m being honest though, they have lot of stuff for a space that is not overly large. We were running close to our start time, so I didn’t get a lot of time to look around, but being a resort course there were a lot of souvenirs available both related to golf and home/office décor. A decent selection of clothing from brands such as Footjoy, Sunice, and Levelwear. Though, I was shocked not to see a high end option, such as RLX or something similar given the costs to stay and play at Cabot. The staff were extremely friendly and plentiful and the large windows show a view of what is to come with beautiful views of the course and ocean.
Practice Green: So, currently there is no driving range at Cabot. Rumours are that there may be one in the works as the next part of the development. The practice green at the Links is small, but great at giving you a preview of the type of putts you’ll see while on the course. Given the time of year and the weather, it was defiantly on the slower side, but it was a great indication of the green speeds on the course.
The course: Obviously, Cabot is known for it’s views and being as close to true Scottish links replica as possible. Being from the area, sometimes views or vistas that tourists flock over are underwhelming, not the case here though. I caught myself on so many occasions, just taking the time to look around and take in the view of the ocean, with rising cliffs off in either distance (sort of a tell of what Cabot Cliffs has in store).
The first two holes are fairly straight forward, a long par 5, followed by a short par 3. The green on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] is a talking point as it has a huge dip in the middle, so accuracy is important here. The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] hole heads towards the water and has an elevated tee. I would say that on a normal day and hard pan, it would be possible to get close up to the green, however given that it was a strong left to right wind for us, just trying to put it in the fairway was a struggle. Around the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] hole and a couple sips of the brown water, we all started to warm up and embrace the cold and wind. The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] is sort of just a filler hole, but with bunkers present around the green requires a second shot to the proper section of the green.
The 5[SUP]th[/SUP] and 6[SUP]th[/SUP] holes are surrounding a small cove. The 5[SUP]th[/SUP] is a par 3 that is pretty straight forward, but the elevate tee offers nice views of what’s to come. The 6[SUP]th[/SUP] is a beautiful par 4 that curves around the edge of the water. If someone wanted to take it on, they could probably drive the green on a nice day, but with danger short and left, it would take a lot of accuracy, but a well-designed risk/reward hole. The 7[SUP]th[/SUP] is a short par 3 that leads you back along the beach. The boardwalk runs along this hole, so I suspect in the summer there’s some watchful bystanders.
The 8[SUP]th[/SUP] is a par 5 and luckily on this day it was downwind, so getting there in two was easy, the green is also massive as we found out. So, most of us hit it in two, but one small problem. The green is a shared green. I was ok, but one of my buddy’s put his ball on the far side after going after the wrong pin, which made it quite hilarious once we found out he hit at 13’s pin. It was our first time playing it, so none of us realized it was a shared green, just another way that it tries to replicate traditional Scottish links.
If I’m being honest, the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] and 10[SUP]th[/SUP] are fine holes, but nothing special. The halfway house is really cool though. It crosses between 8 and 9 and again between 11 and 12. It’s built into the side of a hill and very discreet, extremely cool.
Hole 11 is where the course gets really good again. It’s a long par 5 and this day it was playing dead into the wind. Hit great drive, fantastic 3 wood and still had to chip a 7 iron. The cool part about this hole is the giant dip in the middle of the fairway. Ideally you want to stay on top because if you get into the bottom of the dip, you have to hit it significantly uphill and blindly. Plus the entire time, like most holes on the course, the ocean and views are just off to your right.
Holes 12 and 13 are fine, nothing to write home about, but good holes that just so happen to be overlooked by great holes surrounding them.
The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] is one of the coolest short par 3’s I’ve ever played. AT under 100 yards and an extremely elevated tee, it looks like if you go over the green you’ll land in the ocean. Being that the tee is the high point on the property, you feel any amount of wind, so though it only appears to be a little wedge, the variety in shots required depending on the day I’m sure is a long list.
The 15[SUP]th[/SUP] and 16[SUP]th[/SUP] both run along the water. 16 is a great par 4 that allows for a lot of options, but a lot of risk with well-placed bunkers. Then the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] is a par 3, it’s a nice hole to offer some variety in distance compared to the 14[SUP]th[/SUP].
Finally, the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] is a slightly uphill par 4 with a very wide fairway. Once at the green, it’s a long, but fairly narrow green so your second shot is extremely key if you plan on making a birdie or par. The coolest part about the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] is the fact that the green is right next to the bar, which is all windows, so people are able to enjoy some food and drink and watch players finish all day. Then at night they light up the green so people can having chipping and putting contest after dark.
Overall, the links is a fantastic course. It’s a course that not only has the amazing views and a great first time experience, but would offer a different experience every single time you play depending on the wind, how dry it is, etc. It’s a course you could play everyday and it would never feel the same. It’s also provides the links game that it says it does. I’ve never hit such a wide variety of shots off the tee, from the fairway, or around the green. I’ll have no issue dragging myself back every year.
Link to the scorecard:
https://www.cabotlinks.com/content/uploads/2018/04/Cabot-Links-Scorecard.pdf
*Photos will be uploaded shortly
It's a long one, sorry.
__________
Day 1 for us brought Cabot Links, one of the two picturesque courses located at Cabot. The weather was far from ideal, as expected in late October on Cape Breton Island We were a determined bunch however and based on talking to the starter, we weren’t the only ones willing to brave the cold, rain, and wind. Despite it being -3 degrees Celsius (26F), raining/snowing, and wind gust upwards of 70km/h (43mph), the starter informed me that it was a full tee sheet from 8:00am to 2:30pm.
TIP: Both Cabot Cliffs and Cabot Links have cookies at the starters hut/tables. Fully recommend grabbing one or two. Very good.
Clubhouse: The clubhouse at the Links is very well outfitted. If I’m being honest though, they have lot of stuff for a space that is not overly large. We were running close to our start time, so I didn’t get a lot of time to look around, but being a resort course there were a lot of souvenirs available both related to golf and home/office décor. A decent selection of clothing from brands such as Footjoy, Sunice, and Levelwear. Though, I was shocked not to see a high end option, such as RLX or something similar given the costs to stay and play at Cabot. The staff were extremely friendly and plentiful and the large windows show a view of what is to come with beautiful views of the course and ocean.
Practice Green: So, currently there is no driving range at Cabot. Rumours are that there may be one in the works as the next part of the development. The practice green at the Links is small, but great at giving you a preview of the type of putts you’ll see while on the course. Given the time of year and the weather, it was defiantly on the slower side, but it was a great indication of the green speeds on the course.
The course: Obviously, Cabot is known for it’s views and being as close to true Scottish links replica as possible. Being from the area, sometimes views or vistas that tourists flock over are underwhelming, not the case here though. I caught myself on so many occasions, just taking the time to look around and take in the view of the ocean, with rising cliffs off in either distance (sort of a tell of what Cabot Cliffs has in store).
The first two holes are fairly straight forward, a long par 5, followed by a short par 3. The green on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] is a talking point as it has a huge dip in the middle, so accuracy is important here. The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] hole heads towards the water and has an elevated tee. I would say that on a normal day and hard pan, it would be possible to get close up to the green, however given that it was a strong left to right wind for us, just trying to put it in the fairway was a struggle. Around the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] hole and a couple sips of the brown water, we all started to warm up and embrace the cold and wind. The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] is sort of just a filler hole, but with bunkers present around the green requires a second shot to the proper section of the green.
The 5[SUP]th[/SUP] and 6[SUP]th[/SUP] holes are surrounding a small cove. The 5[SUP]th[/SUP] is a par 3 that is pretty straight forward, but the elevate tee offers nice views of what’s to come. The 6[SUP]th[/SUP] is a beautiful par 4 that curves around the edge of the water. If someone wanted to take it on, they could probably drive the green on a nice day, but with danger short and left, it would take a lot of accuracy, but a well-designed risk/reward hole. The 7[SUP]th[/SUP] is a short par 3 that leads you back along the beach. The boardwalk runs along this hole, so I suspect in the summer there’s some watchful bystanders.
The 8[SUP]th[/SUP] is a par 5 and luckily on this day it was downwind, so getting there in two was easy, the green is also massive as we found out. So, most of us hit it in two, but one small problem. The green is a shared green. I was ok, but one of my buddy’s put his ball on the far side after going after the wrong pin, which made it quite hilarious once we found out he hit at 13’s pin. It was our first time playing it, so none of us realized it was a shared green, just another way that it tries to replicate traditional Scottish links.
If I’m being honest, the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] and 10[SUP]th[/SUP] are fine holes, but nothing special. The halfway house is really cool though. It crosses between 8 and 9 and again between 11 and 12. It’s built into the side of a hill and very discreet, extremely cool.
Hole 11 is where the course gets really good again. It’s a long par 5 and this day it was playing dead into the wind. Hit great drive, fantastic 3 wood and still had to chip a 7 iron. The cool part about this hole is the giant dip in the middle of the fairway. Ideally you want to stay on top because if you get into the bottom of the dip, you have to hit it significantly uphill and blindly. Plus the entire time, like most holes on the course, the ocean and views are just off to your right.
Holes 12 and 13 are fine, nothing to write home about, but good holes that just so happen to be overlooked by great holes surrounding them.
The 14[SUP]th[/SUP] is one of the coolest short par 3’s I’ve ever played. AT under 100 yards and an extremely elevated tee, it looks like if you go over the green you’ll land in the ocean. Being that the tee is the high point on the property, you feel any amount of wind, so though it only appears to be a little wedge, the variety in shots required depending on the day I’m sure is a long list.
The 15[SUP]th[/SUP] and 16[SUP]th[/SUP] both run along the water. 16 is a great par 4 that allows for a lot of options, but a lot of risk with well-placed bunkers. Then the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] is a par 3, it’s a nice hole to offer some variety in distance compared to the 14[SUP]th[/SUP].
Finally, the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] is a slightly uphill par 4 with a very wide fairway. Once at the green, it’s a long, but fairly narrow green so your second shot is extremely key if you plan on making a birdie or par. The coolest part about the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] is the fact that the green is right next to the bar, which is all windows, so people are able to enjoy some food and drink and watch players finish all day. Then at night they light up the green so people can having chipping and putting contest after dark.
Overall, the links is a fantastic course. It’s a course that not only has the amazing views and a great first time experience, but would offer a different experience every single time you play depending on the wind, how dry it is, etc. It’s a course you could play everyday and it would never feel the same. It’s also provides the links game that it says it does. I’ve never hit such a wide variety of shots off the tee, from the fairway, or around the green. I’ll have no issue dragging myself back every year.
Link to the scorecard:
https://www.cabotlinks.com/content/uploads/2018/04/Cabot-Links-Scorecard.pdf
*Photos will be uploaded shortly
