Just returned from Cabot / Cape Breton - Went with my father and 3 of his mates.
Congrats to Ben, Mr. K, Rod and the rest of the team that made Cabot happen - CL is fantastic and when the second course arrives this will become a compelling golf destination for anyone who loves getting linksy. With only one course, however, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time.
Overall, everyone in our group enjoyed the Cabot Links - it is a fun course to play, gets more challenging in the wind and susceptible to low scores when it is calm - just like any classic links course. There are some spectacular holes along the beach, and also several very good inland holes as well. Rod did a nice job routing the course around the internal wetlands on what is quite a tight piece of property.
The course has only been open a month, so conditioning may not be "pristine", but it is good and the hard work Mike and his crew put in to get the course ready for play is very evident. I look fwd to watching Cabot mature over time - The greens were a bit slow but they were firm and are going to be pure when they get dialed in. The summer has been unusually warm and dry in Inverness so I'd imagine Mike R is keeping them a bit furry to protect them.
The setting at Cabot is breathtaking - the pro shop and hotel rooms look out over the course down to the sea and the view from the patio and dining room are similarly spectacular. We heard a "ding" or two off the glass in the bar while having a drink due to the close proximity to the 18th green - quite amusing. Rod took full advantage of the "excellent" views and minimized the "mediocre" ones - ie) the hills to the N and S and coast are almost always used as backdrops while the town is not (#9 being the only exception I can think of and the site line is at a red barn behind the green on a very strong hole).
My father and his friends, ranging in age from mid 50s to mid 60s, all walked 36 several days in a row while carrying their bags or using a pull cart. Cabot Links is very walkable in my opinion - it isn't flat or hilly but rolling and most of the green to tee transfers are really short. There are a couple short climbs - eg) #2 fairway, the path from #11 to #12 and the hike up the hill from #13 green to #14 tee - but I would rate Cabot about as easy as Bandon or Pacific. In fact, I think it would be a great Hundred Hole Hike site.
As a Canadian I could not be more proud of what Cabot Links adds to the golf landscape of the country and it will only get better with the addition of the C&C course which is on an EPIC site that can be seen up the coast a couple miles from #16 green.
I can only imagine the pride that Ben has looking out across the course when he arrives each day - the realization of a dream that has done wonders for the community of Inverness and Cape Breton as well - Chapeau!!!