Highly Touted

Indications are very positive now that Cabot Cliffs, proposed sister course to the successful Cabot Links, will be built. There were early suggestions that the building of a second course would be tied to certain benchmarks being met by the links course in its first fully operational season. Whether those goals were reached or not now seems to be a moot point. The feedback has been nothing short of glowing for Cabot Links and therefore it will be joined by a second course in the near future.

This is great news for Inverness County, Cape Breton. Work to bring a golf course to the area has been ongoing for years and there had been a number of failed attempts over that time. Cabot Links has been a great addition to the Cape Breton golf landscape and has garnered international attention for its beautifully traditional links design, rarely seen outside of the UK.

Here’s an excerpt from the Golf Digest piece:

from Where’s Matty G? Golf Digest blog

Mike Keiser made it official on a flight from Nova Scotia to Chicago last Thursday: There will be a second course at Cabot Links, the Cape Breton Island resort he co-owns with Ben Cowan-Dewar, and Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw will design it.

With rough plans on the empty middle seat between them, Keiser, in the aisle, and Coore, on the window, discussed the routing of Cabot Cliffs, a 200-acre course to be built on a 600-acre piece of land a few miles north of Cabot Links, which opened to solid reviews in June. The owner of Bandon Dunes and the builders of Bandon Trails and Bandon Preserve have the “dilemma” of a lot of options, but one thing was sure: This is happening.

They’ve cleared the land that will hold the 18th green and a nearby clubhouse, both of which will overlook the Atlantic Ocean. Some small political and land-acquisition hurdles remain, but with the cooperation of the Canadian government (which is keenly interested in tourism and jobs), Keiser’s financial support and record of success, Cowan-Dewar’s determination and Coore/Crenshaw’s reputation, don’t be surprised if there’s preview play by the end of 2014. “Today, every issue has a solution,” says Keiser, 68, who believes it takes at least two courses for a resort to be considered a true golf destination.

As he told Coore when they deplaned in Chicago, “I think we’re on to something big here.”

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