Cabot Cliffs

[Ross Tuddenham]

So it doesn't exactly look like a minimalist project does it?  The whole fairway in the photos and video looks to be shaped by machine.

[Bill_McBride]

Ross, we rode and walked the area under construction.  That fairway will look very natural when it's grown in. Rod Whitman has a soft touch with the Cat.  The routing goes up into and back of the forest twice; that was one of the fairways headed back to the sea and I think some trees were cleared along the way. 

[Howard Riefs]

Here's the story on Cabot Cliffs that ran today on Morning Drive:

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golden-ticket-ginella-nova-scotia-coore-crenshaw-keiser/

[Josh Tarble]

Thanks for posting Howard. That was a really good segment.

Man, for them to be saying it has a chance to be that good is something.

[Will Lozier]

This is a really well done story...except: 1) The first shot of Highland is of carts on paths?!%$ with maybe one good shot of the course - poor showing where they really could have highlighted its uniqueness and done NS golf better, and 2) How many shots do I have to watch MG hit?!% (I was impressed with the beach shot)

Cheers

[Jud_T]

Glenora Inn & Distillery...$7 tours!!!!

[Gary Slatter]

For years PEI was the go to spot for a golfing vacation in Eastern Canada, I believe that Cape Breton is already challenging PEI if not surpassing it as a go to destination. With the addition of a Cabot Cliffs, game, set and match!

Don, I feel PEI will remain a superb golf destination because so many people need carts to play multiple days. However,  Cape Breton can also become the fantastic Bandon type of experience.  Together, they will make the Maritimes a superb golfing destination.

[Don Hyslop]

For years PEI was the go to spot for a golfing vacation in Eastern Canada, I believe that Cape Breton is already challenging PEI if not surpassing it as a go to destination. With the addition of a Cabot Cliffs, game, set and match!

Don, I feel PEI will remain a superb golf destination because so many people need carts to play multiple days. However,  Cape Breton can also become the fantastic Bandon type of experience.  Together, they will make the Maritimes a superb golfing destination.

Another advantage PEI would have is the relative ease of getting from course to course but although it may be more difficult getting from place to place in Cape Breton, the scenic beauty in Cape Breton more than makes up for it.

[Jim Nugent]

Any possibility of more great courses, if the first two prove successful? 

[Robert Thompson]

Jim: There is additional land, though Coore was told to simply use the best land for the second course.

[Paul Gray]

Nice interview. Six par threes on one course seems like a colossal let down but if I had his talent I would maybe have a different perspective. Hope to make it up there someday.

This comment is a joke, right?  

If there are six par 3's then surely they'll be six par 5 as well, as everyone knows a golf course can't be any good if par is less than 72.  

[Ronald Montesano]

I'll counter, respectfully, what Kelly Blake Moran says above with this: if the par three hole is demanding/challenging enough, thought-provoking, somewhat counter-intuitive, then the ability to select lie and tee ball offers a point of equilibrium for me. I don't disparage his support for broken ground, awkward and accidental lies.

[Alex Miller]

Nice interview. Six par threes on one course seems like a colossal let down but if I had his talent I would maybe have a different perspective. Hope to make it up there someday.

This comment is a joke, right?  

If there are six par 3's then surely they'll be six par 5 as well, as everyone knows a golf course can't be any good if par is less than 72.  

I like holes involving a tee shot and an approach shot. There is more strategy, more uncertainty, more opportunity for interesting recovery shots, just more interesting elements involved with playing the hole. A tee shot to the green allows you to pick a flat spot and tee your ball, not always the most interesting part of the game. Now if tees were not allowed or if the tee ground were broken like a fairway, or maybe you have the option to tee your ball if you net a par or better on the previous hole, net  a worse score and you must take a drop on the tee and play it as it lies, then the par three becomes more interesting. But to effectively have a tee shot to a green every third hole does not interest me as much as say a course with two or three holes requiring a tee shot to a green. I would rather have more approach shots to a green from varied lies, elevations, and the ability to improve my conditions for the approach shot based upon how I performed on the previous shot.

On the flip side, more par 3's often means more cliff-side golf (see: Pacific Dunes 10 & 11 and Cypress Point 15 & 16). Also if the end result is a more seamless routing with the 18 best holes, then I personally care very little about much else. To continue with the PD example, the back 9 there has 4 par 3's, but it might be the best 9 at the resort, in the state of Oregon. To see an abstract fact about the course as a "colossal let down" is like seeing a golf hole without bunkers surrounding fairway and green and saying that it must not be difficult.

I guess I have more of a wait-and-see approach...

[Jim Colton]

Looks like there's a stretch of 3 par 3's in 4 holes? (4th, 6th, 7th)
 

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Looks like there's a stretch of 3 par 3's in 4 holes? (4th, 6th, 7th)
 

Jim,
Not in the final routing! They fall at 4, 6, 9, 12, 14 and 16.

[Howard Riefs]

Nice interview. Six par threes on one course seems like a colossal let down but if I had his talent I would maybe have a different perspective. Hope to make it up there someday.

This comment is a joke, right?  

If there are six par 3's then surely they'll be six par 5 as well, as everyone knows a golf course can't be any good if par is less than 72.  

Bingo.

Via Matt Ginella, who attended the Coore Crenshaw Cup at Bandon this week...

"Bill Coore was at Bandon this week & told me Cabot Cliffs (Nova Scotia) will have 6 par 3s, 6 par 4s & 6 par 5s."

https://twitter.com/MattGinellaGC/status/466644342082654208


 

[Jud_T]

Wow!

[Mike Bowen]

I've thought that 5-5-5 would be great as I've always had more fun playing 5's and 3's.  Leave it to C&C to go above in beyond.  Toppers!

[Charlie Gallagher]

Don't know if this has been covered, but will the 6,6,6 combination slow pace of play?
I actually think the balance is pretty neat. I know I've never played a championship course with that many 5's and 3's, and that few 4's.
You'd certainly think that the power player would be at huge advantage if the 5's are reachable in two.

[George Pazin]

Don't know if this has been covered, but will the 6,6,6 combination slow pace of play?
I actually think the balance is pretty neat. I know I've never played a championship course with that many 5's and 3's, and that few 4's.
You'd certainly think that the power player would be at huge advantage if the 5's are reachable in two.

No worries, Charlie, for the tourneys they will call them par 4s!

As for pace of play, I think that is far more player dependent than designation dependent.

[Ben Malach]

It is really cool to hear you are all excited about the golf course.  so far have loved the expirence of working on it the that for the three days that I have been on site. I hope to provide more in future posts but need to check over a few things first.

[Amol Yajnik]

View of the green on the par 3 16th hole from @jeffhutcheson on Twitter:

[PCCraig]

Do we know for sure that Cliffs is opening in the summer of 2015?

[Robert Thompson]

Yes, late summer. There were several holes already seeded when I was there last week, and only five or six left to complete.

Do we know for sure that Cliffs is opening in the summer of 2015?

[Pete_Pittock]

no delay from the recent hurricane/tropical storm?