club with tucked in collared shirts and stiff khakis, but opportunities created by venues including Topgolf, Five Iron and PopStroke are introducing millions of non-golfers to the sport in once-unimaginable ways. One side isn’t right, nor is the other wrong. Your relationship to golf is just that—yours—and it may differ from someone else’s. At the end of the day, we’re all trying our hardest to conquer the unconquerable, one stroke at a time. Cabot Cape Breton (Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada) Despite boarding the shuttle with weary eyes, I couldn’t help but fight off fatigue as we embarked on the three-hour journey from Halifax to Inverness. While I definitely dozed off here and there, I was eagerly anticipating arriving at our final destination: Cabot Cape Breton. Upon arriving, we were treated to a cacophony of colours and endless ocean vistas that distinguish the resort. Featuring two 18-hole courses, a 10-hole short course called The Nest, 72 rooms at the Cabot Links Lodge, 19 golf villas, 30 homes and three on-site restaurants, Cabot Cape Breton is a Canadian links golf paradise.
Overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Cabot is divided into two courses: Cabot Cliffs and Cabot Links. Ranked No. 52 on Golf Digest’s top 100 courses in the world for 2023-24, Cabot Cliffs is a recent masterpiece from Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The 6,835-yard track alternates between big dunes at the southern end and cliffs at the northern that rise more than 100 feet above the water. Initially hesitant about our 2 p.m. tee time, it actually worked out perfectly as we came down the final stretch, playing holes 16-18 along the water with the setting sun on the horizon. At 176 yards from the tips, the par-3 16th offers an awe-inspiring-yet- nerve-wracking tee shot across a rocky abyss as golfers debate attacking the pin or playing more conservatively to the left, though the ball still rolls favourably toward the green thanks to the slope. As if that wasn’t enough, the 331-yard par-4 17th features a blind uphill tee shot that
Photos feature Cabot Cliffs
"The 6,835-yard track alternates between big dunes at the southern end and cliffs at the northern that rise more than 100 feet above the water."
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