Is This the Ultimate Golf Road Trip?

Is This the Ultimate Golf Road Trip?

For the past week, I have been taking a golf road trip where I have played five unbelievable courses that are all completely different from one another. And when you think about where to take an epic bucket list golf road trip, my guess is Nova Scotia, probably not the first place that comes to mind, but after spending the last week here, I think maybe it should be In this video, I’m going to tell you about five of the best golf courses in Nova Scotia. I’m going to tell you what it’s been like visiting the country and help you figure out if this is the best place for you to take your next golf trip. Let’s go All right, so some you should know off the bat is if you are planning to take a trip to Nova Scotia, expect to do some driving Five hours. You know what? Totally worth it. We will have clocked over 1,000 miles during our trip this past week, but I can tell you it has been Absolutely worth it All right. first round in Nova Scotia, and it’s safe to say things have not gone according to plan. Our flight was delayed, so we didn’t get in until about 1.30 in the morning. And guess what? Neither my dad or my golf. bags showed up But fortunately, our first round was at the links at Brunello, which was only about half an hour away, so we were able to go get some rental clubs there. They were great. They hooked us up, and then we picked up our bags afterwards But the course, man, I wish I had my own clubs for it, because it was definitely something special and quite the challenge. This course was built by Tom McBroom in 2015 When it opened, it was rated by Golf Digest as the third best new course in North America for that year. And I will say, it was absolutely the most challenging golf course that we played on this trip The third hole was definitely a standout for me. It’s a big 600 plus long par five going straight up a hill. But when you stand on that tee box, it was like, okay, we are we are someplace special It was worth the trip to play golf holes like this All right, three thoughts on the links of Brun. One, great elevation change. Two, lots of cool, rocky outcroppings that are very reminiscent of Boston Golf Club. Three Challenging. This course is kicking our butt but it’s really cool because this is a completely different style, of course, than the ones we were going to see over at Cabot at Highlands. So it’s a really nice introduction in Nova Scotia Golf and honestly, really enjoying it. The 15th was also a memorable par five, with really scenic views and a lot of different ways to play the whole. My favorite par three was probably the 17th, which is a downhill midrange par three that I tried to make par on, and I don’t know. Well, let’s go see if I succeeded or not All right. par three, 17th hole here at the Links of Brunello. Now that I’ve got a chance to warm up with my solid rental clubs, let’s see if I can make a par. This is playing about 180 yards in the closest thing I have played to this is Boston Golf Club or maybe Pound Ridge outside New York City. These like rocky outcroppings that are all over the course are probably the most unique aspect of the course here. And honestly, they’ve just made it a ton of fun and in some cases also kind of challenging as well. So let’s see if we can finish strong and make a good score here. leaking a little right. See if we, big bounce. Okay, we got chip ahead of us, but not that we can’t work with Okay, so less than ideal, but we can work with this. We can work with this. We just can go chip it up close, make a nice little par, and get out of here. All right. Okay. Hit it. These greens are quick out here. That thing just kind of kind of kept going. I thought that was about perfect. I don’t know how I feel about this, but we’re still going to do good. I got a feeling we’re going to make this right now. All right. Rolled off a little bit, but that’s okay. Got about 20 feet here. Go knock it in. All right, well, I guess we’re making a mess of this. Left ourselves five feet for a bogey, so we’re just going to have to knock it in. Never adapt.. Links Brunello, you’ve been great. I can’t wait to see what Nova Scotia has in soar for us on the rest of this trip. So if you do decide to come to Nova Scotia, I would say that is a great place to start your trip Although, I will say, if I were doing it again, I might actually finish my trip there, because then I’ll kind of warmed up a little bit, because, as I mentioned, it is quite the challenge After that, we drove an hour and a half to Fox Harbor Resort. And this is the first true like road trip part of the road trip. And you were driving out there, and you honestly feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. The whole time, I’m like, there’s an 1,100 acre luxury resort out here. Like, where are we It wasn’t until literally, like half a mile until we got to the front gates, where we start seeing this very nice fence that kind of signaled, ” oh, we’re coming upon a resort. You get to the front gates, beautifully. landscaping everywhere, beautiful flowers, you drive through, and you drive down the long driveway, you see the ocean in the distance and you feel like you are definitely someplace unique While also a modern course that was also designed in part by Tom McBroom, it has a very different field than what you experienced at Burnello So when the Fox Harbor course opened in 2001, it was named the best new course in Canada, and Tiger Woods even set the course record with a63 in 2009. Unfortunately, the course you will be playing if you go visit is going to be different than the one tiger played back then because what they’re now doing is incorporating the original 18 holes but they’re actually building a second course as well. So each of these courses will be utilizing holes from the original One is going to be called the Vineyard 18. That is going to be the more inland, and one is going to be the ocean. So we played the hybrid course. So we played what will be the front nine of the Vineyard course And then for our back nine, we played what will be the front nine of the ocean course. And let me tell you, this course is going to be something special. When the ocean course is done, I can’t wait to come back here and play it Because as it sits, holes 7, 8, and 9 of what will be the front of the ocean course are spectacular The eighth hole on what will be the ocean course is a true stunnery It is a dog leg right par 5 that plays right along the ocean and is one of the very best holes I have played all year. The question is, could I make a birdie on it This is maybe one of the most beautiful holes I’ve played all year Right down the middle. All right, great drive. I just realized this is actually a par 5. We’re sitting about 212 out. So we actually, if I had a good shot here, I have a chance to do something special. I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen, but let’s see what we can do. Good shot. Keep turning.ing a little. Turn right. All right, just right barely off the front of the green. So just left. So we got an eagle chip here, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s see what we can do is one of those you kind of debate. Should I chip it? Should I putt it? I don’t know. It’s long enough. I’m going to chip it. We’ll see if I regret it. You know, these are brand new greens. So they are not necessarily the most receptive greens. Everything’s been running out a little bit. But I feel okay about that. See if it’ll stay up. All right, nice little bir pie putt. Let’s try and do better in the last hole. All right, we got a six-hole putt, but I just want to take a second. You can hear, you know, the calm waves like lapping up against the shore here. Like, this is. This is a pretty cool setting. This is one of those you just like take a moment and say, how did we end up in the middle of nowhere, Nova Scotia, getting to enjoy this on such a beautiful day while having an opportunity at a memorable birdie? I don’t know, but whatever life decisions I made to end up here, not mad about it. Okay, birdie done. Let’s go. All right. I missed the last putt like this. So we’re just going to go straight at it. I feel like I’ve been trying to overread some of these greens. Nailed it. There we go. 17th hole the day. First birdie. Ls.’s good. From everything I can tell, the back nine is going to be even better, because the most memorable holes, the signature holes of the original Fox Harbor course, are going to encompass the back of the ocean course. Another. Unfortunately, those were still under construction while we were there, so we didn’t get a chance to play it. But like I said, I cannot wait to come back and play the full 18 when it is done. Also, if you are looking for a true luxury resort experience while you’re in Nova Scotia, this is the place to go. So not only do you have a fine dining restaurant, you have an unbelievable spa with a brand new aquaotherapy up that’s got a steam room, and it’s got showers, and it’s got a coal plunge, and it’s got a sauna overlooking the ocean. They’ve got a big salt wall that you can sit in and just relax and get all the benefits of a salt wall, whatever that is. But regardless, it is very, very nice The rooms are truly five star, and if you have your own plane, they’ve got their own landing strip to make getting there just a little bit easier From Fox Harbor, it was a three-hour drive to Cabot Cape Breton, which is without a doubt, objectively one of the very best golf resorts in the entire world Whether you know anything about the broader Nova Scotia region or not, I’m willing to bet you have probably heard of Cabot There are two courses, the Lynx and the cliffs, both of which are top 100 in the world. That makes it one of only two golf resorts in the entire world to have at least two courses on that list. The other one being, you guessed it, Band and Dunes And I got to say, so much about Cabot really does feel like it is the abandon of the North. There are a couple differences, though For instance, Cabot sits right in the center of the town of Inverness. How this course was built in 2011 originally, in 2016 for the cliffs course, how this was built right in the center of this town on the ocean is just kind of mind boggling. The land used to be a coal mine. It had closed in like the ’50s fallen into disrepair. It was ugly and they did a land reclamation project years ago All of a sudden, after they did that, it became very attractive for golf. And considering the town hadn’t been doing quite as well as they had in years past They got on board and the lengthy process of getting approval to build a golf course in the town on the ocean, fortunately for us, went through. Now Inverness is thriving because of it, and the golf resort is one of the most impressive I have visited So the links course was the original course that was built in 2011. It was designed by Rod Whitman, and it truly feels like it has been there for 100 years In fact, it was the first true lynx course that was built in the entire country of Canada There’s ocean views on every single hole in the course, and it is only a par 70, which is kind of unique Some of my favorite holes include the harbor hole, which is the par 46, that basically is off all the way on the far side of the course in a little like cove by itself with a harbor sitting right behind the green that juts out into the water You have the option of biting off as much as you want on your tee shot to try and get it up near the green, or you can lay back with an iron and give yourself a longer approach. Not only is it a beautiful hole, but it is a very strategic and well designed hole. as well. The par 414th, which is the highest point on the property, is also right on top of what used to be the old mine shaft This hole is also their nod to the par 37th at Pebble Beach It plays barely 100 yards, but depending on what the wind is doing, you can use just about any club in your bag It goes straight out towards the ocean and is one of the most beautiful holes you will ever play The cliff’s course, on the other hand, was built by Corrin Crenshaw in 2016. And honestly, it feels nothing like the lynx course to completely different golf courses. And I say this in all my videos. I think that’s one of the best things you can do if you’ve got a course or a resort that has multiple courses is to have very different golf experiences.. And the experience between the links and the cliffs are about as different as it gets. Cliff’s first impressions absolutely stunning, big, bold features, really, really fun golf holes So far, personal opinion, having only seen half of cliffs, but knowing what’s to come, I think this gets my nod Generally, in most rankings, the cliff’s course ranks a little bit higher than the links, and from the surface, it’s not hard to see why. It has some of the most fun and memorable holes I have ever played. It also is fairly unique in the sense that it has six par ths, six par fours, and six par 5s. I personally love this because it gives you a whole lot of different looks on those par ths. It gives you that chance to make a hole in one that you’re probably not going to make And with the part fives, it gets you chances to get up there in two or make an eagle, make a birdie There’s a really good mix of both gettable holes as well as challenging ones, and it never feels like you’re playing the same hole twice Without a doubt, the most breathtaking stretch of golf, we played on the entire trip, and maybe that I have ever played in my life is the stretch of 15 through 18. So 15 is a wonderful par five that goes straight out towards the ocean, and then you get to 16, which is their signature hole. And let me just tell you, this hole lives up to expectations in every way. were hitting directly over the beach and over the ocean to then hit this tiny green that’s jutted out on top of a cliff, like a little peninsula thing, and it is absolutely stunning. Hands down, one of the the top ten most fun golf shots I have ever hit from that tee Also, I’m not going to lie, getting the opportunity to go out and visit that at sunrise with my dad Definitely one of the cooler golf moments I’ve had in my travels Continuing with the theme of fun tee shots, you get to 17, once again hitting it directly over the water, over the beach to a fairway that then swoops straight back down towards the ocean. The approach shot is definitely one of the quirkier ones on the course, but is also one of the most fun And then on 18, you have a par 5 that runs all the way along the ocean. It is absolutely beautiful, slice one right, and you can ruin your round, but hit a couple of good shots, and you can definitely have a shot at birdie. So while those two courses are obviously the star of the show at Cabot, there is a whole lot more there. For instance, there is an 11 hole par three course called The Nest that I promise you is more challenging than you think think it is going to be The greens are lightning fast, and if you don’t hit it in the right spot, you can expect it to just kind of trickle off and trickle away your shot at a good score Could be good. gave it a shot. Gotta say, the nest is exactly what you want to see at a golf resort. It’s 11 holes, you can play it in an hour, hour and a half, you come out out here with your friends. You know, you don’t need anything more than like a wedge or a nine iron at most. It’s the perfect. We don’t quite have time to play 36, but we want some more golf. You come out here, you have a good time And did I mention there’s night golf The only thing cooler than a great par three course at a resort is night golf. at a great par three course. At a resort. And that’s what you get to do at the nest. 11 hole par three course that you can also play under the lights. And I’ve got to say, based on experience now halfway through the round it’s more challenging All right, so a little bit harder to find your ball at night, but fortunately, we’re just right on the edge of the vescue here. We still have a solid chip. We can still make part. All right, just up and it, nice and easy. All right, we can put that. We can put that for par. Stop rolling. Stop, stop. Thank you. How is he challenging? Easy. Easy game. Take. that bogey, call it good. Hey, golf, man. between the lights and not being able to find your ball and, you know, a little extra wind. It’s it’s not easy. It’s not an easy course to begin with, but I will say… it’s a hell of a lot of fun. One thing that I did think was unique about Cabot when compared to Bandon is that there’s actually quite a bit of stuff to do. Not only are you right in the town of Inverness, but they have a game room, they have tennis courts, they have axe throwing. They have all these extra activities that just kind of surprised me, and I wasn’t expecting. The accommodations are also fantastic as well We had a two bedroom cottage with our own fire pit where we could could look out on this beautiful view And if you get one of the hotel rooms at the links, there’s a good chance you’re going to have a view of the course and the ocean They really did a good job of designing their accommodations to factor in the spectacular views Overall, Cabot absolutely lived up to expectations. It is 100% worth the trip just for that But believe me, it is worth doing all of the other stuff we talked about in this video to really round out the trip I will have a full Cabot video coming up soon, so I’ll make sure to link to it below when it goes live So to finish out the Gulf on our trip, we then made the three-hour trek all the way up north to Cape Breton Highlands Ls. This is one of the most special courses in all of Canada. It was built in 1941 by Stanley Thompson, who is Canada’s most famous architect. He’s the one that built Jasper Park Lodge. He’s the one that built Bamp Springs. But it’s this course. This is the one that he said was his masterpiece That alone should tell you how good this course is So the clubhouse at Highland Links is, without a doubt, one of the great clubhouse views in golf. You’re looking out over water, you’ve got the practice green right there In the first six holes, those are kind of the sea part of the course. So this was originally designed as Thompson’s O to Scottish Lynx Golf. Things have definitely grown up a little bit, so it doesn’t exactly feel like Linking’s Golf at the moment but you can see with some of the whole designs that influence is absolutely there To me, the most scenic, in my favorite part of the course is holes three and four. Three is an absolutely stunning par three that goes over water that is heavily guarded behind bunkers. and four is a short par four with a volcano green. So this is one of those design features that you just don’t see all that often. It’s a big push up green with bunkers right below it, and it reminded me of one of the holes that I played at the King’s course at Glen Eagles. Although I think that was a par three But this green setting is absolutely stunning One thing that’s really unique about this course is it has an out and back routing Now, that’s not unique for a lynx course, but with this one, once you hit hole seven, it feels like you are going straight into the jungle and is such a cool experience Seven is an extremely challenging par five, and it’s around these holes, you start to realize that nature is kind of taken over a little bit So one thing to note about this course is the fact it is actually in a national park. So just like Jasper, just like Bff Springs, here you are in Cape Breton Highlands National Park So what they’re able to do in terms of maintenance and development is really pretty limited, both from a regulation standpoint, as well as a money standpoint Because of this, the course has definitely evolved from what it initially was And in some spots, the conditioning could use a little bit of work. That being said, just because it’s a little rough around the edges does not mean it is not a wonderful golf course The eight pole in particular, I think, is really cool It’s a blind tee shot and the name of the hole translates to up and over So basically, you’re going to go up a hill in the middle of the fairway, and then you’re going to go back down to a green that’s sunk down in this bowole with massive jungle, hill, kind of mountain thing right behind you, and it is truly a a special experience There’s a halfway house at the turn, and that really does signal the turn. That’s where you are turning back, and you’re making the trek all the way back to the clubhouse. The signature hole here is the par 515th. As you are coming up the fairway, you have spectacular views of a very unique green site, water in the background hills. It, like, just kind of sums up the experience of being in Nova Scotia This was followed by the par 516th, which plays straight uphill and is very reminiscent of the 16th hole at Bandoned Trails, which is one of my all time favorite courses The bottom line is that, yeah, even though there’s some maintenance concerns and some things you would like to see improved about this course, it still is one of the most unique routings I have ever played Every hole has an interesting feature. No two holes feel alike. The setting is absolutely unparalleled And so when it comes to not just Canadian golf, but golf in general, this is one of those gems that I feel like everybody should experience at least once When you do come here, I highly recommend you stay at the Celtic Lodge. That is where we are right now. There are views from the front. There’s views from the side. There’s views from the back, and the view from our room, which was right there, overlooking this, is hands down one of the top 10 best views I’ve had in a hotel room ever So on top of all the golf, the incredible wildlife, the amazing food. Like, if you are a seafood fan, there is lobster, oysters, mussels, haddock. Like, you name it Whatever you’re into, you’re going to get some of the best seafood you have ever had while you’re here but I’d be remiss if I left out one of the coolest features of visiting Nova Scotia, and that is the Cabot Trail. This is a 186 mile scenic road that takes you through all of what Nova Scotia has to offer A drive that takes you straight up the coastline, into the mountains, up, down. The views are absolutely spectacular, and this drive is a destination of its own I just wish we had more time to visit the, like miles and miles of hiking trails and scenic spots in all of the different things that there are to do here. If you could come here and take a more leisurely, like two week road trip or camping trip, work in the golf, work in the outdoors, I mean, that would be the dream. There’s just so much to do here that is so stunningly beautiful and so much fun and so delicious that it just truly caught me off guard with how much I’ve enjoyed being here Unfortunately, now is that time of the trip where we have to pack up and do the almost five-hour drive back to Halifax, which honestly, I’ve not seen yet. So I’m excited to go and explore Halifax and see what it has to offer, assuming we can get there in a reasonable hour I hope you enjoyed this golf tour of Nova Scotia. It is truly one of the most underrated, both golf and just destinations in general across North America. There is so much to see, so much to experience that and it would be hard not to have an amazing time while you were here So with that, my name’s Sean Ogle, the founder of this thing here, Breaking 80, where we talk about cool golf courses and cool golf products. I mean, who doesn’t like that? By the way, have you subscribed? Did you enjoy this tour of Nova Scotia? If so, subscribe. That way, you’re not going to miss the next Epic Golf Road trip or Epic Golf product review that we do here I hope you enjoyed this, even a fraction as much as I have enjoyed making it, and I can’t wait to see you on the next video. Peace.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 The golf roadtrip of a lifetime.
0:49 Our first round in Nova Scotia…Not an awesome start.
2:30 Playing the 17th at Brunello.
4:32 Next stop…Fox Harb’r.
6:13 Hole 8…Can I make a birdie?
8:34 Can’t wait to come back and play the fully remodeled course!
8:54 The Fox Harb’r resort experience.
9:32 Next up…Cabot Cape Breton.
10:52 Cabot Lnks.
11:59 Cabot Cliffs.
14:29 Golf you don’t see everyday.
16:38 Cabot…lot’s to do!
17:29 Wrapping up the golf tour: Cape Breton Highlands Links.
21:29 Don’t miss the Cabot Trail.
22:19 Wrap up.

More Content from Nova Scotia:
Bushnell Tour Hybrid Review (from Fox Harb’r): https://youtu.be/bUGNJKrkrNw?si=xbAIvbHpy4DNvy_d

LOCATIONS MENTIONED:
The Links at Brunello: https://www.thelinksatbrunello.com/
Fox Harb’r Resort: https://www.foxharbr.com/
Cabot Cape Breton: https://cabotcapebreton.com/
Cape Breton Highland Links: https://golfcapebretonhighlands.ca/
Keltic Lodge: https://kelticlodge.ca/