I Went to Cabot Cape Breton to See if It’s Worth the Hype. Well…

I Went to Cabot Cape Breton to See if It’s Worth the Hype. Well…

Here comes the rain. Five minutes ago would have been nice and kept us dry, but, uh we gotta we got it in. How you doing back there? Wet, very well.et. Whether you’ve been here or not, you have probably seen photos of the 16th hole at Cabot Cliffs But there is a bunch of stuff about this resort. I bet you don’t know, and today, I’m going to tell you all about them and give you a little tour of this unbelievable golf property So one thing that blew my mind is that Cabot is situated right in the town of Inverness. So when you’re driving to Cabot, you are out in the middle of nowhere, even three minutes before we got to the resort I’ like, where are we? And then you pull into this town of Inverness, and then sitting just to the left is all of Cabot overlooking the ocean and it’s mind blowing to even conceive of the fact that this world class golf resort could have been built in the last 15 years, right in the center of town. The reason they were able to do that is that Inverness actually used to be a mining town, and the property that Cabot Links sits on used to be a coal mine It was shut down, I believe, back in the ’50s, and then years and years later, they decided to do a land reclamation project So they cleaned everything up, they got rid of the mine shafts, although the 14th tee box sits directly on top of what used to be the main mine shaft for the mine. I was told that that went way down and then two miles out into the ocean After that reclamation, the land was extremely suitable for golf, and despite all of the red tape They actually made this thing happen And the result is this really cool experience where it’s almost like Bandon and Scotland had a baby, where it’s right in the center of town, but you have this very true modern lynx field Speaking of abandon, it really does feel like the abandoned dunes of the north. So I’ve been all over the world to golf, and often you hear, oh, such and such places, the abandoned dunes of the whatever, very rarely, do those places actually live up to banded dunes Well, Cabot really does feel like the abandoned dunes of the North. If you’ve been to Bandon Then going to Cabot, you are going to feel right at home not only in the quality of the course, but the quality of the lodging, the food, things we’re going to touch on throughout this video But within just a few holes of walking the lynx course, I literally said It does feel a lot like the Oregon coastline. Like, obviously the comparison to abandon, there’s going to be a lot of them. But looking out here, looking at the kind of inland water, looking at the trees, like it feels like the Oregon coast feels. very bed-esque. So all that to say, I’m from Oregon, so it kind of feels like home So in another similarity to B, Cabot can also be surprisingly affordable. Even in peak season, if you’re a resort guest, it is only $329 to play either course. And you can get a same day replay for about half of that price For instance, I played September 18th and 19th Late season rates start like 10 days from now. September 28th, 29th. You can play either course for $197, or you can get a Twilight rate where you can go play one of the courses for $1 113. $113 for what are undoubtedly two of the very best golf courses in the world. Yes, you still got to pay your room rate on top of that But no matter how you look at it, that is an absolutely killer deal Considering that these days, around a Pebble Beach is going to cost you close to $800 plus a hotel stay. TPC Sawgrass is pushing $1,000, $329 bucks peak season. I mean, come on, that’s about as good. as it gets. All right. Six hole cabot leaks. It’s the harbor hole, one of the signature holes, big dog leg left. The green is perched out on this kind of little peninsula right next to the harbor. Beautiful hole We’re going to see if we can get lucky, bites some of this off. We’ playing pretty well today, so I don’t want to say that I’m absolutely going to make a birdie here, but it feels pretty inevitable Well, it’s an aggressive line. Perfect. You didn’t see that coming. With that ugly swing, you didn’t expect that to happen, but we’re here. All right, we’ve got ourselves a 50 ish foot eagle putt here. Let’s try and not screw it up. All right, here goes nothing a little high a little high not even in the right universe Okay, let’s come down a little bit. But that was pretty pathetic. I feel like we should just reshoot it so it’s not so embarrassing, but we’re all about authenticity here, so.. It’s what you get with the ten handicap. Oh, we gotta hit it. All right. Par. I’m not to be mad about a tapping par, but that should have been better. The original Links course was designed by Rod Whitman in 2011. And one thing I didn’t know before I played it is that it is actually a par 70 golf course I didn’t find this out until I was standing on the 15th tee at 4 over, thinking,, I’m going to come out here, Cabot links, I’m going to break 80, and this is going to be an incredibly memorable day We are 5 over, sitting on the 15th tee We got a chance. We shouldn’t have said anything. It was less than ideal. We have made an absolute mess of the last few holes here, but it doesn’t change the fact We had 14 pretty good ones. Cabot Links, ladies and gentlemen. Didn’t break 80, but we had a great day. Cabot Links was also the first true Lx course in all of Canada. So a lot of courses will say they’re links style, but they aren’t actually links courses They’re not on the ocean. They’re not routed through real sandy dunes. They don’t have fescue grass But Cabot Links has all of those things, and it feels just as good as any modern Links course that I’ve played And while I say Modern Links course, like this place feels like it could have been built 100 years ago. It just fits in with the property that well Hey, are you enjoying this? Have you subscribed? No. Well, now’s your chance. Three, two, one. Let’s get back to the video. Thank you. And then you have its counterpart, Cabot Cliffs And so while the Lynx course feels like it could have been there for 100 years, Cabot Cliff’s feels decidedly modern while also still being a lynx course. It was built in 2016 by Cor and Crenshaw, and this course is absolutely jawdropping in its beauty It also is fairly unique in the sense that it has six par 3s, six par fours, and six par 5. And for me, that just makes a golf course so much more fun All of the par 3s are unique, interesting. You’ve got different links. They’re going in different directions Many of the par 5’s are reachable in two, so it gives you a lot of risk reward options. But ultimately, it was just quite simply one of the most fun golf courses I’ve ever played in my entire life And what you might be familiar with the par 3 16th hole that is definitely the signature hole at all of cabin What you might not realize is that 15 through 18 is one of the most beautiful and fun stretches of golf you will play anywhere in the world. These next four holes, I’ve been told, are among the best stretch of holes in all of golf. So I can’t wait to see this. We’ve got big par five here that goes straight out towards the water. So let’s try it to make. a mess of it How we do? Beautiful. Is that okay? All right. Hit a perfect drive, and then found a bunker on the other side of the hill. We got out of the bunker, our approach shot, left us a little right, a little short, so we’ve got a very tricky chip here. We’re going to try and make something out of it. Instead, we’re going to kind of chunk it and have a a long, long part p Got ourselves about a 20 foot par putt here.. Hearing is super quick. We just left of the pin. We’re going to try and see if we can do something special. Come on, come on. There we go. We made a part. It’s been about about time. Haven’t made money of those today. Nice read. All right, last four holes of cab even par so far. Let’s go. 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. You are hitting directly over the beach and over the ocean to then hit the 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 top 10 most fun golf shots I have ever hit from that tee. All right, so we’re not actually playing the tips today, but to get the iconic 16th view, you’ve got to play from back here. So we got strong wind. We’re about to get poured on in two minutes., but we’re even par for the last four holes with that par on 15. So let’s see if we can do something else special. Hit a good shot here. That’s looking pretty good. Yes. We’ll have to get up there and see. That’s a fun one. That’s pretty fun. All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is where the fairy tale ends, because I don’t know if you know this about me, but me and Bunkers, we do not get along. But, uh.. we’re going to do our best to just try and get out of here, see if we can do something special. That is the first decent funker shot I have hit in Nova Scotia, and this is our fourth round of golf. We’re keeping the dream alive, ladies and gentlemen. Still even two holes to play. This was highly unexpected. 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 Assuming you hit a good shot, you’re probably going to have a 100 yard wedge in that goes straight down to an infinity green that feels like it is hanging over the edge of the Earth. Because let’s face it, that’s pretty much exactly what its doing. 17th Tee shot is one of the coolest tee shots you will ever see straight over the water. Got to play from the tips again, get the full experience. So let’s see if we can keep this thing going. s. It’s gonna be. Based on the way our luck is going today, I think that’s gonna be great. I think we’re in good shape. All right, had a good drive. We’re in play. Apparently the play is not what you would expect. 50 yards, let it trundle on down, and we have a squall that is about to hit us. And so we’re going to hope we can finish this. That’s. I mean, it’s looking pretty good. Let’s see what happens. Right to the bin. Mike go go in. Keep going. Keep going. Okay. All right. Could use a little bit more, but we got a birdie putt, ladies and gentlemen, let’s go. Oh! All right, one over with one to go. This could get dicey. 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 have a shot at birdie All right. Playing the last four holes, the Cabot Cliffs. We’re one over. We’ve had some good shots. It’s time to finish this thing right. And hope this close. does not slip out of my hands in the process. Perfect. I don’t know why I wasn’t doing this all day. This is way more fun when you play golf like this. All right, hit a great drive. We have 220 in on the par 5, 18th hole. We’re going to try and hit one more good swing, see if we can get back to even for this signature. stretch of holes. Oh, maybe a little right. Felt good. We’ we’re gonna have to get up there and find out, but I hit it well, so you got a shot, you got a shot All right. Well, I may have let Hank down over the course of the last couple of days, but I got to say, did I let’s make up for it with these last four holes? We did. We didn’t last four. So I think we’re just gonna try to find our ball up here and hopefully make a birdie and end up even for the last four holes. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Yeah. You guys are coming to Cabot. Quest Hank. Excellent caddy. People will probably help you do a better job of breaking 80 than I did. It was on me. It was not his place. It was me. Just pay attention to what the wind’s doing, because even if you think you hit a perfect shot, like I did, you could still end up down here. All right, I put a good swing on it. We’re about pin high, but we’re down here. par five, so if we can get it up there, we still got a shot at a birdie. and getting back to even. Okay, so we’re just trying to get it up there. Let’s go. All right, to get back to even par for the signature stretch of holes here at Cliff’s, about 25 foot putt for birdie. It’s got a chance. Oh! We gave it a run. We gave it a run. Let’s clean this up, take our par. There we go. Cabot Cliffs As with every great golf resort, Cabot also has a par three course called The Nest This is an 11 hole short course that is an absolute blast If you’re playing 18 and you want some more golf, but you don’t want to play a full 36, this is the perfect answer And considering the longest hole is only like 140 yards, you might be tricked into thinking this course is easy, I can assure you This course is not easy, and it has some of the fastest greens I have ever played 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 between the lights and not being able to find your ball and, you know, a little extra wind 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. Another thing that totally surprised me was just how much there is to do at the resort. For instance, you go to Bandon, and it’s pretty much like you’re playing golf Yeah, there’s some hiking trails and there’s the labyrinth, but pretty much you are there for golf But at Cabot, while, yes, you’re probably primarily there for golf, you can also play tennis. You can go axe throwing, you can go to their game room They have a much wider variety of activities that you can do than I really expected there to be On top of that, while I expected there to be plenty of good food options, the one that surprised me the most was Coors’s Lobster Shack. So named after Bill Kore, one of the designers of the cliffs course, this is kind of situated up above cliffs And you can have a full on lobster seafood boil in a very cool setting At my service recommendation, I actually decided to go with the brisket, which I feel was kind of like sacrilege to go to a lobster shack and knock it lobster But I will say, the brisket was excellent, and I do not regret that decision for a second Just like the food, the accommodations are wonderful also One of the things they did really well was maximize four views. If you were staying in one of the hotel style rooms at the links course, you can expect a whole bunch of rooms that basically line up overlooking the course and the ocean. If you’re staying in one of the houses or the cottages, many of them have decks and fire pits So for us, we were staying in one of the hillside homes, they were great. We had a nice living room, we had two bedrooms We had a fire pit that was overlooking the, well, hillside And it was just a wonderful place to spend time There is a little bit more of a residential component compared to Bannon, but that also just gives you more options for how you can stay on the property And finally, something I bet a lot of you do not know about Cabot is that there is an abundance of good golf nearby So on this trip, we flew into Halifax, and for our first day, we played the links at Brunello, which is one of the most challenging golf courses I have played, and certainly the most challenging we played on this trip We then drove an hour and a half to Fox Harbor, which is a beautiful luxury resort right on the water, and they’re currently undergoing a renovation. And so the new ocean course that’s going to be finished in 2026 is going to blow you away We got a chance to play what will be the front nine at the ocean course And I’ve got to say, a whole seven, eight, and nine, one of the best stretches of golf I have played all year And from everything I have heard and can see, the back nine is going to be even more impressive From there, you can head all the way to the northern tip of Nova Scotia and play Cape Breton Highlands, which is one of the very best golf courses in Canada As opposed to the modern design at Cabot, this was a Stanley Thompson design from 1941 that is on par with Jasper Park Lodge, Bamp Springs. The setting is absolutely amazing, and Stanley Thompsonson once said that that was his masterpiece Not Jasper, not Banff, but Highlands But if you’ve made it this far, it’s worth the trip to go play this course that in the past has been among the top 100 in the world So with that, I could go on and on about how amazing Cabot has been. Everything about it not only lived up to expectations, but it exceeded them. The courses truly are top 100 world class courses.es. Every single person we interacted with on property was amazing. They genuinely seemed like they wanted to help, they were friendly, and it was amazing how well they seemed to want to go above and beyond for their guests, and it was really felt at every step of the way Oftentimes when I visit a golf resort, especially something that’s, like, super remote, I think to myself, and I’m like, man, this was really great, but I’m probably never going to be back here One thing I can safely say is that I will absolutely be back to Cabot I cannot wait to come out here and play these courses again and hopefully actually break 80. I’ll be doing a full video all about our Nova Scotia experience where we highlight more of the other golf courses that we played So I’ll link to that below as well as right here as soon as it’s live With that, my name is Sean Ogle and the Fowder of this thing here, Breaking A. Were you talking about cool golf courses and cool golf products. Did you enjoy this? Did you get some value out of this video? Maybe subscribe. If you have questions, drop a comment, have to do my best to answer. And with that, it’s time for us to go catch flight back to Portland, and we’ll see you on the next video. Peace.

Where should you go on your next golf trip? Take my quick 30-second quiz to find out: https://breakingeighty.com/golf-travel-quiz

OTHER NOVA SCOTIA CONTENT:

This is the Ultimate Golf Roadtrip:

LAB OZ.1 HS Putter Review (From Highland Links): https://youtu.be/0P4F8xH5YP8

Bushnell Tour Hybrid Review (From Fox Harb’r): https://youtu.be/bUGNJKrkrNw?si=xbAIvbHpy4DNvy_d

5 Things I’m Loving from G/FORE (From Fox Harb’r): https://youtu.be/mnso-iuYHM4

WHAT I’M WEARING:
What I’m Wearing Throughout the Video:
G/FORE Double Knit Pullover: https://breakingeighty.com/double-knit-pullover/
G/FORE All Play Polo: https://breakingeighty.com/all-play/
G/FORE Everyday Shorts: https://breakingeighty.com/g4-everyday-short/
Holderness and Bourne Maxwell Polo: https://breakingeighty.com/handb/
G/FORE MG4+ 02 Spikeless: https://breakingeighty.com/gfore-mg4-spikeless/
Save 10% at G/FORE with code G4BREAKING8010

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 Here comes the rain!
0:12 I bet there are a bunch of things about Cabot Cape Breton you didn’t know.
0:33 Cabot is right in the middle of town in Inverness.
1:44 The Bandon Dunes of the North?
2:31 Affordability.
3:24 Let’s check out the Harbor Hole at Cabot Links.
5:01 Designed by Rod Whitman in 2011.
5:20 Are we breaking 80 today?
5:54 Cabot Links, Canada’s first true links course.
6:21 Are you subscribed yet?
6:29 Cabot Cliffs.
7:11 Holes 15 through 18…the most beautiful stretch in golf in the world?
14:58 Cabot also has a great par 3 course.
15:56 There’s a lot to do here.
16:20 Coore’s Lobster Shack.
16:49 Great accommodations.
17:26 There’s plenty of other great golf nearby. The Links at Brunello.
17:41 Fox Harb’r.
18:06 Cape Breton Highlands Links.
18:37 Cabot has been incredible!