Cabot Cliffs: how to play Canada's No. 1 golf course

Cabot Cliffs has six par 3s, six par 5s and, on the 4th, a hole with two greens. In June, Golf Digest ranked it the best course in Canada and 14th in the world. The resort’s 2026 season at Inverness, on the west coast of Cape Breton Island, ends on 25 October, and tee times for next summer are already on sale.

An abandoned mine site and two architects

Inverness is a former coal-mining town on the Gulf of St Lawrence. Ben Cowan-Dewar, a Toronto entrepreneur, first saw an abandoned mine site there in 2004, according to CBC News. He went on to build Cabot Links with Mike Keiser, the creator of Bandon Dunes, as his business partner; the Canadian architect Rod Whitman designed it.

Cabot Cliffs came next, on neighbouring land along the coast. Bill Coore and his design partner Ben Crenshaw, the two-time Masters champion, were given ground that changes character as it goes. GOLF describes big dunes at the south end and cliffs rising more than 100 feet above the gulf at the north end. Golf Digest compares the dunes to Lahinch, the clifftops to Pebble Beach, and some of the stretches in between to the Scottish Highlands.

According to CBC, the course opened for preview play in July 2015 and was named Best New Course of 2015 by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine before it officially opened in June 2016. It entered Golf Digest’s world ranking at No. 19. By the official opening the resort employed 330 staff and 250 caddies, many of them former mine workers.

Six par 3s, six par 5s

Cabot Cliffs is a par 72 of 6,835 yards from the back; five sets of tees bring it down to 3,716 yards. Six par 3s and six par 5s leave only six par 4s, and Golf Digest points out that three of the par 5s come within four holes (the 7th, 8th and 10th).

Like Cabot Links, the course is grassed with fescue. GOLF notes that side slopes kick balls on to greens. Golf Digest says tee shots can run a long way, but approaches that miss the greens can roll a long way too. Expect to putt from off the green and to play bump-and-runs rather than pitches.

On the 4th, golfers play to one of two greens: the right-hand one is 154 yards from the back tee, the left-hand one 221 yards.

From the punchbowl 2nd to the 18th

The resort’s hole-by-hole guide is written by the architects themselves.

The 2nd. A 402-yard par 4 played from a bluff, over wetland, to an elevated punchbowl green. The architects call it “one of the most highly individualistic holes we’ve created in our career”.

The 9th. At 126 yards from the back tee, it is the shortest hole on the course. Narrow bunkers guard the left and back, and the green is set right against the cliffs.

The 15th. A 560-yard par 5 that runs downhill. GOLF says it can be reached in two when the wind helps.

The 16th. Golf Digest calls it one of the most photographed holes in the game. It plays 176 yards from the back tee, over a drop of roughly 100 feet to the sea, to a green on a headland jutting out to the right. GOLF warns that right-hand pins look as if they are sitting in the water and that back-left pins are the hardest. From the forward tees it is just 72 yards.

The 17th. A 331-yard par 4 with a forced carry over rock and water. A fade that holds its line over the cliff edge can leave a putt for eagle, according to GOLF.

The 18th. A 532-yard par 5 home. The architects write that this hole all but announced itself.

Playing it: access, prices and booking

Cabot Cliffs is a resort course open to the public, with no handicap requirement.

• Season: 8 May to 25 October 2026. The 2027 season runs from 7 May to 24 October.
• Green fees (Canadian dollars, plus 14% sales tax, correct at the time of writing): in peak season (26 June to 13 September 2026), C$565 for day guests and C$450 for resort guests. In early and late season, weekday rates fall to C$275 for day guests and C$220 for resort guests. For peak season in 2027 the rates rise to C$575 and C$460. Nova Scotia residents pay the resort-guest rate. Same-day replays are half price.
• Booking: resort guests can book tee times when they book their room, 12 to 18 months ahead. Day guests can book only 14 days ahead, and their tee times are prepaid and non-refundable.
• Walking only: there are no buggies, although a limited number of medical buggies are available with a doctor’s note.
• Caddies: C$90 per bag for an “A” caddie who reads greens and gives club advice, C$60 for a “B” caddie who carries, or C$120 per group for a forecaddie, all plus a tip. Book them at least 48 hours ahead.
• Weather: the course closes only for lightning. Rain is not grounds for a refund.
• Getting there: the resort lists drives of about two hours from J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport on Cape Breton and three and a half hours from Halifax Stanfield International. Helicopter transfers from Sydney take 22 minutes.

Cabot Links, Golf Digest’s No. 2 in Canada, is a free shuttle ride away, and The Nest, an 11-hole par-3 course, sits on the highest point of the Cliffs property.

Book a resort stay a year ahead for peak season; for the cheapest golf, come in the last fortnight of this season, when resort guests pay C$220 on weekdays.

Sources

• Cabot Cape Breton: Cabot Cliffs
• Cabot Cape Breton: Cabot Cliffs scorecard 2026 (PDF)
• Cabot Cape Breton: Golf rates
• Cabot Cape Breton: Frequently asked questions
• Golf Digest: The best golf courses in Canada (2026–27)
• GOLF: Cabot Cape Breton (Cabot Cliffs)
• CBC News: Cabot Cliffs golf course opens in Cape Breton
• CBC News: Cabot Cliffs golf course opens to public in Inverness
• LINKS Magazine: First peek at Cabot Cliffs
• Golf for Kings: How to play Cabot Cape Breton