CAPE BRETON GOLF IS AMAZING
This was a great trip from several years ago. I hope travel is more normal again soon!
There has always been something about the Maritimes provinces of Canada that I really like. I think it starts with the people there whom have a reputation of being absolutely friendly and will treat you like a king. Their small town values ring home for me and I was really looking forward to a trip to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island in particular to experience first hand the golf they offer. Of course the people would be fantastic as well and I found this to be absolutely true. My goal was to see Canada coast to coast and in July I had been able to see the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver as well as play some ocean front golf. This time it would be the Atlantic Ocean surrounding Cape Breton Island.
You can get to Cape Breton like I did with Air Canada flights to Toronto, Halifax and then Sydney. West jet also have flights to Toronto and direct to Sydney which will put you at a 45 minute drive away from my first stop at Ben Eoin where I would play the new Lakes Golf Club.
After a great fine dining experience and stay at the Birches Inn I was off to my first golf game at the Lakes at Ben Eoin. The Lakes course has a spectacular setting and great grasses. “We started construction in 2008 and completed in 2009. There was heavy rain in the spring and mid summer of 2009 so we didn’t open the full 18 until 2010 with only 9 holes for play in 2009. The rain has to go through us to get to the water and it can cause problems. One fairway we seeded 7 times because of the rainwater before we got it,” said Matthew Blackburn, Head Superintendent at the Lakes Golf Club. “There was probably only 3 trailer loads of sod on the whole property as everything was hydro seeded. In the summer we get a few weeks of 28 Celsius but it is mostly like today, 20 to 25 Celsius. It is growing weather if you can keep the rain away. I had worked with our course architect Graham Cook at other courses I worked on and the grasses we used were proven to work in the Maritimes at other courses he has designed at Fox Harbour and Eagles Glen in PEI. We have spent some time cutting out Poiana and have a new chemical product we can put on the grasses to keep the Poiana out especially on the fairways. We cut it out of the greens usually. The best thing about the course is thereare no weak holes out there. Every hole is strong ”
Pat Laderoute is the Operation Manager and Head Professional at The Lakes. “We had twin daughters so it worked out well to move from Ontario here to raise our family. The business community has ownership of the golf course; it is a community project with about 120 members. There is also some government funding. We have memberships and public play,” said Laderoute. “The site is on three plateaus on the side of a mountain but Graham Cook used as much natural setting as he could. On no 6 it is straight down hill. This is the only golf course I have worked on in my 20 plus years that people come in after the round and tell us how good it is.
They try to make us understand what we have here. Usually people just play the round and leave but people here are just amazed, especially at number 6 and 15 tee decks where you can see the water and on a calm day you can hear the streams running.
You use many of your senses, can see, feel, hear the wind and be in nature.”
The Lakes is getting about 20,000 rounds per year and space tee times out to make everyone’s rounds comfortable. That is a pretty solid play level on an island like Cape Breton with a population of around 120,000. A non-resident pays green fees of $79 in peak and $65 and a cart $38.
“The golf course has days when you swear you are on carpet. The greens are true and if you miss a putt you can only blame your aim. The views are spectacular as well. You just say wow this is amazing. When you play here you don’t know the signature hole because they are all so memorable. The mountain, lake and undulation are amazing. There is just so much eye candy out there.” said Pat Laderoute.
When you are on Cape Breton Island a real treat is driving the Cabot Trail. The scenery is just spectacular. My next stop would be a 2-hour drive to Highlands links and a stay at the well-known Keltic Lodge. This historic hotel is situated in a special location and is a great place to stay when you play Highland Links. Graham Hudson is the Operations Manager for the
Highland Links Golf Course,was born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia and has been at Highland Links for the last four years and would be my golf partner.
“I enjoy playing golf but don’t take it too seriously. Life is good in Cape Breton; on a day like this it is gorgeous. We have our bad days but it is stunning here. The Federal government owns Highland Links and it is operated by Parks Canada. This is Cape Breton Highland Park. The course opened in 1941 as a Stanley Thompson Design and it is 100 % original. They haven’ t changed any of the greens and the layout is all the same. We have been working hard to keep the integrity of the design in place. The grasses are poa and kentucky. Architect Ian Andrews, who specializes in bringing back Stanley Thompson Designs to their original state, has looked at the course. We have redone many bunkers to the original.” states Graham Hudson.
Highland Links is consistently rated in the top 100 in the world by golf magazines. “It is a combination of everything, the layout, the scenery, the design, playability, the fun and it makes for a great day.
People coming from a club manicured to death ask how we are ranked number 1 to 5 in Canada regularly. We work to the standards of Parks Canada and the standards are pretty high when it comes to the environment,” said Hudson. “Every round is different where the factor is the wind
and the fairways are hard or you may see different types of wildlife like a moose or lynx. There are no two days the same and you can just lose yourself in the views and say wow. Each hole is separate and you see no other holes from your hole.”
After staying in Ingonish and playing Highland Links it was a real treat to drive much of the Cabot Trail to my next stop Cheticamp. This is a drive as spectacular as you will find in Canada with great ocean views. It was great to stay at the brand new bed and breakfast type property, the Maison Fiset Inn in Cheticamp.
This was a nice place to stay and they include a full hot breakfast that you choose the night before.
My last course to play in Cape Breton would be Bell Bay Golf Club located in Baddeck.The course opened in the fall of 1997 with 9 holes and in 1998 fully opened and was voted best new golf course in Canada by Golf Digest that year. Tom McBroom designed the course. Bell Bay has hosted several events like the Wayne Gretzsky and Friends with Mike Weir, Joe Sakic and Brett Hull and the 2005 Canadian Men’s Amateur.
“We have a 300 acre property and are owned by Cape Breton Resorts with CEO Scott McCaulay. They also own Dundee Golf Club, Inverary Resort which is here in the village as well as a development company of properties,” said Ted Stonehouse GM and Head Professional at Bell Bay Golf Club in Baddeck. “Bell
Bay has been great for the local economy. It adds to the quality of the trip for those visiting here. There is Highland Links, the new Cabot Links and we are right at the hub of the Cabot Trail, with the beginning and the end here, and are located on
Bras Dor Lakes, world renowned for sailing. Alexander Graham Bell’s estate is here on the peninsula and he and his wife Mabel are buried on the mountain called beautiful mountain. The Alexander Graham Bell museum is here that showcases the tremendous amount of experiments he had done. We also had a celebration of the first flight here recently. There is some fantastic salmon fishing here as well.”