Cabot Cape Breton - Cliffs

It didn’t take long for Cabot Links to make a startling impact on the Canadian Top 100 rankings, soaring almost to the top of this prestigious national chart within months of its opening. Indeed, such was the impression made by Rod Whitman’s celebrated new course, it also entered the World Top 100 in a very respectably high position. No pressure then on Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw to deliver when their much awaited Cliffs layout debuted three years later.

Situated half a mile away from Cabot Links, the Cliffs course occupies a more diverse landscape than its predecessor, sitting atop the bluffs that overlook the Gulf of St Lawrence, with fairways transitioning seamlessly between woodland, wetland and meadowland areas. Somewhat unusually, the layout is configured with three par threes, three par fours and three par fives on each of the nines.

The signature hole here is easily identified as the par three 16th, playing across the edge of the cliffs above the shoreline, but the favourite hole of the designers is said to be the 13th, a par four that sweeps right and uphill, away from the cliffs, with a sizeable hump positioned short of the green. As Bill Coore says, “Most people will gravitate toward the holes that face the ocean but boy, we really like that one.”

Rod Whitman, who designed the other course at Cabot, had a hand in shaping some of the fairways, particularly on the par fives at holes 1 and 10, where he introduced the humps and hollows onto fairways that were previously as flat as a pancake. Integrative Golf was also involved in the building process, with Riley Johns (who had just finished on a project with Tom Doak in Michigan) and Trevor Dormer (fresh from completing a Dubai course with Gil Hanse) providing more shaping expertise. Keith Cutten should also be mentioned for completing the construction of the bunkers.

In 2019, Rod Whitman and Dave Axland collaborated on a 10-hole par three course which is located inland and uphill from Cabot Cliffs, with the holes overlooking the final eight holes on the 18-hole layout.

Whitman said: “The natural ground contour and the angle of the holes allows for interesting, fun and varied golf. The ground has rolls, dips and ridges. It has a Scottish feel and look to it with spectacular views of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.”