Cabot: Seeking advice on a late June visit

[Max Prokopy]

Fortunate(!) to be able to get to Cabot towards the end of June, 2023.  We hoped to stay on property and secure advance teetimes, but their dog-related policies and options are prohibitive.  We'll therefore being staying in town. 


Can anyone provide me with a general sense of availability in late June?  Or any avenues to book earlier than 30 days out? 
It's either just me (2 hcp) or me and my spouse (former LPGA).  We're not interested in any discounts, handouts, etc. 

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

[Wayne_Kozun]

You should be able to get on as long as you are flexible.  It gets busier once you are into July.  Are you looking to do 36 a day, or just 18?  If it is just 18 then you should be able to get on at some time over the day on one of the courses.

The other option is playing the Nest, which is their short course.  You should be able to walk on at any time.  And then also try to get on to the Links or Cliffs.

[Daryl David]

Fortunate(!) to be able to get to Cabot towards the end of June, 2023.  We hoped to stay on property and secure advance teetimes, but their dog-related policies and options are prohibitive.  We'll therefore being staying in town. 


Can anyone provide me with a general sense of availability in late June?  Or any avenues to book earlier than 30 days out? 
It's either just me (2 hcp) or me and my spouse (former LPGA).  We're not interested in any discounts, handouts, etc. 

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

Call and tell them your situation. I’m sure they will set you up. They are very flexible and accommodating.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Call and tell them your situation. I’m sure they will set you up. They are very flexible and accommodating.

I am guessing that Max did call and they said that if you are not staying at the resort then you have to wait until 30 days before to book a tee time.

[Daryl David]

I suspect he is not talking to the right person.

[Ben Malach]

Max:


As someone that has spent way too much time in Inverness. My only advice is if you are taking the trip not to miss Baddeck Village and the Alexander Graham Bell exhibits. As well as too advise that the best breakfast in town is at the Coal Miners Cafe. If you have a spare afternoon I highly suggest going to west Mabou Beach and experiencing the dunes complexes before the potential golf development.


Also if you miss playing Highland Links and the Cabot trail. As a golf trip to Cape Breton is not complete unless one vists Highland Links and walks that land. I view Highland Links in a significantly higher regard every time I play it. The same cannot be said for Cabot Cliffs. As the more I study it Cabot Cliffs becomes 6 golf holes and 12 connector holes.  It's more a lesson in connection of two disparate properties than a truly connected golf experience.Rather than the best golf in Canada. Which is truly a shame as Cabot Links only grows in depth as I study it.

[Brett Meyer]

As the more I study it Cabot Cliffs becomes 6 golf holes and 12 connector holes.  It's more a lesson in connection of two disparate properties than a truly connected golf experience.Rather than the best golf in Canada. Which is truly a shame as Cabot Links only grows in depth as I study it.

Maybe it won't help the original poster with his issue, but I really want to second this point about Cabot Links. Of all the Bandon-Sand Valley-etc. new courses that I've played, none has as deft a touch with the shaping and such interesting subtlety as Cabot Links. Cabot Cliffs does drama incredibly well and I don't think I'd agree that it's "6 golf holes and 12 connector holes." But it doesn't have the nuance of Cabot Links and that makes me like Cabot Links more. A lot of thought and careful, small scale work went into making Cabot Links.

Cabot Links should be the model for new courses, not the sand blowouts and wild contours that I and others have been complaining about in other threads.

[Max Prokopy]

You should be able to get on as long as you are flexible.  It gets busier once you are into July.  Are you looking to do 36 a day, or just 18?  If it is just 18 then you should be able to get on at some time over the day on one of the courses.

The other option is playing the Nest, which is their short course.  You should be able to walk on at any time.  And then also try to get on to the Links or Cliffs.

Many thanks, Wayne.  We will be flexible on timing so I was hoping with just 1 or 2 golfers we could at least get in 28 holes a day.

[Max Prokopy]

I suspect he is not talking to the right person.

Thank you for the reply, do you have any suggestions for who I should call?   

[Max Prokopy]

Max:


As someone that has spent way too much time in Inverness. My only advice is if you are taking the trip not to miss Baddeck Village and the Alexander Graham Bell exhibits. As well as too advise that the best breakfast in town is at the Coal Miners Cafe. If you have a spare afternoon I highly suggest going to west Mabou Beach and experiencing the dunes complexes before the potential golf development.


Also if you miss playing Highland Links and the Cabot trail. As a golf trip to Cape Breton is not complete unless one vists Highland Links and walks that land. I view Highland Links in a significantly higher regard every time I play it. The same cannot be said for Cabot Cliffs. As the more I study it Cabot Cliffs becomes 6 golf holes and 12 connector holes.  It's more a lesson in connection of two disparate properties than a truly connected golf experience.Rather than the best golf in Canada. Which is truly a shame as Cabot Links only grows in depth as I study it.

Thank you, Ben.  Highland Links is absolutely on our list.  We hope to play Links and Cliffs enough times to enjoy and explore their virtues. 

[Wayne_Kozun]

I agree on Highland Links and I also prefer Cabot Links to Cabot Cliffs, but I think Ben is being a bit harsh on Cliffs.  The great holes on Cliffs are sublime.  Especially holes 2 and 15. 16 and 17 are spectacular visually but I think are lacking in playability.

If you are staying near Highland Links be careful about Keltic Lodge.  It used to be a great place but it is now run down and service was awful when I was there in the summer of 2021.  Reading reviews on Tripadvisor it didn't seem any better in 2022.

[Ian Andrew]

If you're driving the Cabot Trail, stop at Neil's Harbour for chowder

And make sure you walk the skyline trail - short, easy, spectacular
I've done the drive four times - never gets old.


If you like a tough but rewarding hike - Ben Franey is a great one.

[Ben Malach]

.

[Scott Weersing]

Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs are so different from each other. Cabot Links is subtle and rolling terrain. Cabot Cliffs is wide open along with some severe downhill holes. It is a good thing it is walking course or carts would end up on the beach. As one caddie told me last summer, "Cabot Cliffs is the girl you want to date, and Cabot Links is the girl you want to marry."


Other things to do in Cape Breton, stop at Beulach Ban Falls, walk the boardwalk at Cabot Links, and see the church in Antigonish. We flew into Halifax, spent a week at Prince Edward Island, and then 6 days at Cape Breton.