Cabot Cliff/Links Question

[jvincent]

1 hour ago, Ger21 said:

I'm probably heading up to Halifax at the end of May for a week. Hoping I can get a few rounds in as a single, as I'll have total flexibility on times. Anyone else done this?

I'm going to give them a call this week to check on availability. Staying with friends outside of town, but I'm the only golfer.

 

I didn't do it in May, but in Sept and had no problems getting 36 in as a single. If you're only playing 18 I'd be surprised if you can't get a time.

[Ger21]

3 hours ago, jvincent said:

I didn't do it in May, but in Sept and had no problems getting 36 in as a single. If you're only playing 18 I'd be surprised if you can't get a time.

Cool. I'll have 3 days, and would like to get 3-4 rounds in. Preferably 36-36, but I'll do whatever I can.

[Ger21]

Today was 30 days out from my trip, so was able to book two rounds on the first day (Monday), Cliffs then Links. Tomorrow morning I'll book another 36 for the 2nd day of my trip. They apparently have a two day tournament after that, one course each day, so availability is very limited after that. I'll probably drive to Highland Links the 3rd day, then relax a day before heading home. Can't wait!

[XHoop24]

Question for this group - how firm is the turf on the two Cabot courses?  Heading there in July and wondering if we should expect super firm links turf. 

[Ger21]

I was just there, and it was not super firm. But it was firm enough to land balls short and bounce them onto the greens. Even after an afternoon of heavy rain.

A caddie told me in another month it would be much firmer and faster.

[XHoop24]

1 hour ago, Ger21 said:

I was just there, and it was not super firm. But it was firm enough to land balls short and bounce them onto the greens. Even after an afternoon of heavy rain.

A caddie told me in another month it would be much firmer and faster.

Thanks for the info. On some previous trips - high bounce wedges are completely ineffective and was wondering if Cabot was that type of place. 

[Ger21]

The fairways are pretty tight. In some places it's hard to see where the fairway stops and the green starts. I did a lot of putting from off the green, but that was usually due to the green contours and pin locations. I didn't have any trouble with wedges as long as I had some green to work with.

 

[phent123]

Both courses are playing fast and firm. It will remain so unless you get a lot of rain. 

[Stai]

We're heading to Cape Breton next week. 

 

Regarding caddies, does anyone know how they accept payment?  Will they take Venmo?  Do they do "Caddy Cash" at the pro shop like they do at Bandon?  Any thoughts on appropriate tip amounts for a good Type A caddy?

[NJPhil]

On 7/27/2024 at 8:29 PM, Stai said:

We're heading to Cape Breton next week. 

 

Regarding caddies, does anyone know how they accept payment?  Will they take Venmo?  Do they do "Caddy Cash" at the pro shop like they do at Bandon?  Any thoughts on appropriate tip amounts for a good Type A caddy?

How was your trip?  Heading up tomorrow from Florida, looking forward to some cooler weather and golf courses that don't have water on every hole.

[Stai]

On 8/13/2024 at 12:47 PM, NJPhil said:

How was your trip?  Heading up tomorrow from Florida, looking forward to some cooler weather and golf courses that don't have water on every hole.

 

Sorry for the late reply, just came across this.  Sounds like you already made your trip, hope you had fun!

 

We had an awesome trip.  We flew into Halifax and went out for a night.  Stayed at the Muir Hotel and ate at Press Gang, both were outstanding.  We all got crushed at the blackjack tables at the casino down by the water (no craps tables).

 

It's a 3.5hr drive to from Halifax to Cape Breton.  Cabot has a few Sprinter Vans you can get for the drive, which turned out to be the cheapest option.  You need to book these early on as the schedule gets filled.  We were able to get it for our inbound trip but had to book two drivers for our drive back to Halifax.

 

We played Cliffs three times and Links twice.  We did not wind up playing the Nest as people preferred to play the full courses.

 

We had 8 guys and stayed in two adjacent Cliffs Residences, right by the Cliffs course.  The accommodations, while a bit pricey, were amazing.  We could walk to the Cliffs halfway house for a quick breakfast and hit the range in the morning.  There's only one range for both courses and it's at Cliffs.  It has full Trackman.  It you need to warm up for Links you need to take the shuttle over after you hit balls.  Both courses are about a 5 minute drive away from each other - it's not walkable.  They have shuttles every few minutes.  We did not have cars and it wasn't a problem.  

 

We had the same set of caddies over our 3 days.  We did a Ryder Cup format and we each kicked in extra money for the caddies of the winning team, so the caddies really got into it.  There's no Venmo in Canada.  Caddy fees are paid in CAD directly to the caddies.  When we were there they only had an ATM at Links though they told us they were getting one at the Cliffs proshop eventually.

 

Food was very good.  We ate at all the options - the Barn, Panorama, and Whit's.  No bad meals, but nothing really stood out to me either.

 

The golf was amazing.  I think I prefer Cliffs to Links, but I'm a sucker for the views.  Cliffs #16 was disappointing unfortunately.  The greens were playing so firm there was no holding it.  The play was to hit left of the green at the top of the hill and hope you got a lucky roll down that stayed on the green.  It felt gimmicky.  All our caddies preferred Links to Cliffs.  The way they phrased it was: Cliffs is who you date, Links is who you marry.

 

All in all, it was a great trip.  We did Bandon the year prior and we're going to Sand Valley next summer.  At first I was hesitant to book the trip because there were "only" 2 courses.  But I found that I really enjoyed playing the courses multiple times.  By the 3rd time around the course was familiar and I knew which lines to take.  When we played Bandon there was a degree of uncertainty with every shot.  The next thing I think they should add would be a putting course, like Thistle Dhu or the Punchbowl.  But I highly recommend making the trip.

 

 

[st1800e]

10 hours ago, Stai said:

 

Sorry for the late reply, just came across this.  Sounds like you already made your trip, hope you had fun!

 

We had an awesome trip.  We flew into Halifax and went out for a night.  Stayed at the Muir Hotel and ate at Press Gang, both were outstanding.  We all got crushed at the blackjack tables at the casino down by the water (no craps tables).

 

It's a 3.5hr drive to from Halifax to Cape Breton.  Cabot has a few Sprinter Vans you can get for the drive, which turned out to be the cheapest option.  You need to book these early on as the schedule gets filled.  We were able to get it for our inbound trip but had to book two drivers for our drive back to Halifax.

 

We played Cliffs three times and Links twice.  We did not wind up playing the Nest as people preferred to play the full courses.

 

We had 8 guys and stayed in two adjacent Cliffs Residences, right by the Cliffs course.  The accommodations, while a bit pricey, were amazing.  We could walk to the Cliffs halfway house for a quick breakfast and hit the range in the morning.  There's only one range for both courses and it's at Cliffs.  It has full Trackman.  It you need to warm up for Links you need to take the shuttle over after you hit balls.  Both courses are about a 5 minute drive away from each other - it's not walkable.  They have shuttles every few minutes.  We did not have cars and it wasn't a problem.  

 

We had the same set of caddies over our 3 days.  We did a Ryder Cup format and we each kicked in extra money for the caddies of the winning team, so the caddies really got into it.  There's no Venmo in Canada.  Caddy fees are paid in CAD directly to the caddies.  When we were there they only had an ATM at Links though they told us they were getting one at the Cliffs proshop eventually.

 

Food was very good.  We ate at all the options - the Barn, Panorama, and Whit's.  No bad meals, but nothing really stood out to me either.

 

The golf was amazing.  I think I prefer Cliffs to Links, but I'm a sucker for the views.  Cliffs #16 was disappointing unfortunately.  The greens were playing so firm there was no holding it.  The play was to hit left of the green at the top of the hill and hope you got a lucky roll down that stayed on the green.  It felt gimmicky.  All our caddies preferred Links to Cliffs.  The way they phrased it was: Cliffs is who you date, Links is who you marry.

 

All in all, it was a great trip.  We did Bandon the year prior and we're going to Sand Valley next summer.  At first I was hesitant to book the trip because there were "only" 2 courses.  But I found that I really enjoyed playing the courses multiple times.  By the 3rd time around the course was familiar and I knew which lines to take.  When we played Bandon there was a degree of uncertainty with every shot.  The next thing I think they should add would be a putting course, like Thistle Dhu or the Punchbowl.  But I highly recommend making the trip.

 

 

When did you go, and how was the weather/wind? 

[BallerNate]

11 hours ago, Stai said:

 

Sorry for the late reply, just came across this.  Sounds like you already made your trip, hope you had fun!

 

We had an awesome trip.  We flew into Halifax and went out for a night.  Stayed at the Muir Hotel and ate at Press Gang, both were outstanding.  We all got crushed at the blackjack tables at the casino down by the water (no craps tables).

 

It's a 3.5hr drive to from Halifax to Cape Breton.  Cabot has a few Sprinter Vans you can get for the drive, which turned out to be the cheapest option.  You need to book these early on as the schedule gets filled.  We were able to get it for our inbound trip but had to book two drivers for our drive back to Halifax.

 

We played Cliffs three times and Links twice.  We did not wind up playing the Nest as people preferred to play the full courses.

 

We had 8 guys and stayed in two adjacent Cliffs Residences, right by the Cliffs course.  The accommodations, while a bit pricey, were amazing.  We could walk to the Cliffs halfway house for a quick breakfast and hit the range in the morning.  There's only one range for both courses and it's at Cliffs.  It has full Trackman.  It you need to warm up for Links you need to take the shuttle over after you hit balls.  Both courses are about a 5 minute drive away from each other - it's not walkable.  They have shuttles every few minutes.  We did not have cars and it wasn't a problem.  

 

We had the same set of caddies over our 3 days.  We did a Ryder Cup format and we each kicked in extra money for the caddies of the winning team, so the caddies really got into it.  There's no Venmo in Canada.  Caddy fees are paid in CAD directly to the caddies.  When we were there they only had an ATM at Links though they told us they were getting one at the Cliffs proshop eventually.

 

Food was very good.  We ate at all the options - the Barn, Panorama, and Whit's.  No bad meals, but nothing really stood out to me either.

 

The golf was amazing.  I think I prefer Cliffs to Links, but I'm a sucker for the views.  Cliffs #16 was disappointing unfortunately.  The greens were playing so firm there was no holding it.  The play was to hit left of the green at the top of the hill and hope you got a lucky roll down that stayed on the green.  It felt gimmicky.  All our caddies preferred Links to Cliffs.  The way they phrased it was: Cliffs is who you date, Links is who you marry.

 

All in all, it was a great trip.  We did Bandon the year prior and we're going to Sand Valley next summer.  At first I was hesitant to book the trip because there were "only" 2 courses.  But I found that I really enjoyed playing the courses multiple times.  By the 3rd time around the course was familiar and I knew which lines to take.  When we played Bandon there was a degree of uncertainty with every shot.  The next thing I think they should add would be a putting course, like Thistle Dhu or the Punchbowl.  But I highly recommend making the trip.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed write-up, that’s awesome!

 

Sounds like it was an amazing trip and you guys got lucky with weather.

 

I live in Halifax and drove up and played Cabot Cliffs last year…it was absolutely incredible, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen!

 

Hoping to be able to play Links next time I make the trip.
 

Tricky situation for me is that most of my Golfing buddies are super lazy and never walk, so it’s a tough sell to get any of my buddies to make the trip. And obviously not as fun going solo.

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by BallerNate

[Stai]

On 12/23/2024 at 8:36 AM, st1800e said:

When did you go, and how was the weather/wind? 

 

We were there early August.  Weather was awesome, though I was stressed over possible rain leading up to it.  I was checking weather every few hours and it kept changing.  But we had highs in the 70's, a little breezy but completely manageable.  It poured on the day we left, haha.

 

 

On 12/23/2024 at 9:22 AM, BallerNate said:

Thanks for the detailed write-up, that’s awesome!

 

Sounds like it was an amazing trip and you guys got lucky with weather.

 

I live in Halifax and drove up and played Cabot Cliffs last year…it was absolutely incredible, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen!

 

Hoping to be able to play Links next time I make the trip.
 

Tricky situation for me is that most of my Golfing buddies are super lazy and never walk, so it’s a tough sell to get any of my buddies to make the trip. And obviously not as fun going solo.

 

 

Yeah I hear you.  But both are pretty easy walks, especially if you take caddies.  We did 5 rounds in 2.5 days so I was hurting a bit at the end but if you're in Halifax it's a perfect weekend trip.  Maybe find yourself some new golfing buddies? 😉

 

 

Here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Cliffs Residence (4 bed/4 bath), just a fantastic place to stay:

 

 

[BallerNate]

5 hours ago, Stai said:

 

We were there early August.  Weather was awesome, though I was stressed over possible rain leading up to it.  I was checking weather every few hours and it kept changing.  But we had highs in the 70's, a little breezy but completely manageable.  It poured on the day we left, haha.

 

 

 

Yeah I hear you.  But both are pretty easy walks, especially if you take caddies.  We did 5 rounds in 2.5 days so I was hurting a bit at the end but if you're in Halifax it's a perfect weekend trip.  Maybe find yourself some new golfing buddies? 😉

 

 

Here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Cliffs Residence (4 bed/4 bath), just a fantastic place to stay:

 

 

Beautiful…thanks for the pics!!

 

Were these from Links or Cliffs? I only played Cliffs, and only played it once, so not sure which pictures are from which course.

 

And yeah, I didn’t find Cliffs that tough of a walk, and totally agree that my buddies are lazy woosies…Smh!!

[Chanceman]

How far ahead do you have to book tee times at the Cabots? 

[Stai]

On 12/24/2024 at 11:16 PM, BallerNate said:

Beautiful…thanks for the pics!!

 

Were these from Links or Cliffs? I only played Cliffs, and only played it once, so not sure which pictures are from which course.

 

And yeah, I didn’t find Cliffs that tough of a walk, and totally agree that my buddies are lazy woosies…Smh!!

 

I'm pretty sure these were all Cliffs, just quickly dug up the prettiest shots.

 

 

 

19 hours ago, Chanceman said:

How far ahead do you have to book tee times at the Cabots? 

 

We booked over a year out for summer 2024.  But I'm pretty sure I called the day bookings opened so we had our choice of dates and accommodations.  Not sure if you need to call that early but we had to pivot after Sand Valley filled up.

 

 

[BallerNate]

On 12/26/2024 at 7:20 PM, Stai said:

 

I'm pretty sure these were all Cliffs, just quickly dug up the prettiest shots.

 

 

 

 

We booked over a year out for summer 2024.  But I'm pretty sure I called the day bookings opened so we had our choice of dates and accommodations.  Not sure if you need to call that early but we had to pivot after Sand Valley filled up.

 

 

Makes sense. I recognized a couple of the pictures from Cabot Cliffs, but a couple were angles I didn’t recognize.

 

Hands down one of the most beautiful places on Planet Earth I’ve seen in terms of natural beauty, and that’s including places like Banff, Vancouver Island, Niagara Falls etc…absolutely breathtaking.

 

@Chanceman for booking Tee times on the courses, it’s a 30-day pre-booking window. Not sure if people that book accommodations can book their Tee times before that…pretty sure you book your accommodations up to 1 yr out like Stai said, but the Tee times themselves are 30-days.

[BallerNate]

On 12/26/2024 at 7:20 PM, Stai said:

I'm pretty sure these were all Cliffs, just quickly dug up the prettiest shots.

I just saw yesterday that the pictures of Cabot Cliffs are on the previous page of this thread. ⬅️

 

Spectacular place for sure…can’t wait to go again someday!

[ND2005]

On 12/22/2024 at 9:08 PM, Stai said:

Cliffs #16 was disappointing unfortunately.  The greens were playing so firm there was no holding it.  The play was to hit left of the green at the top of the hill and hope you got a lucky roll down that stayed on the green.  It felt gimmicky

 

Thank you! I've seen so many write-ups rave about this hole, it made me wonder if the writers had actually played it at all. 

 

It's a beautiful hole but it was unplayable for us as well. The guys in the group ahead of us were just laughing as they watched all our balls roll off the cliff into the ocean...

[Ger21]

On 12/29/2024 at 11:10 AM, ND2005 said:

Thank you! I've seen so many write-ups rave about this hole, it made me wonder if the writers had actually played it at all. 

 

It's a beautiful hole but it was unplayable for us as well.

I played it twice the first week of June last year. After two rounds, my thought was that the best option was to play to the lower area on the right, even if the pin was upper left, which it was for both of my rounds. There's almost nowhere to miss on the left, and it's tough to keep it on the green from the left bunker.

[Bandy1080]

Slightly off topic - but heading to Cabot for the first time over Labor Day weekend.  So excited. 

 

On the website it says A Caddies are $90 and B caddies are $60.   We are a group of 3 low single digit handicappers.  Basically we just need someone who knows the course to tell us where to hit it and to carry our bags.  Do you think we could get by with a B caddy?  I have heard mixed reviews about the caddies at Cabot.  

 

Any insight would be great.  Thanks! 

 

 

[ND2005]

On 4/3/2025 at 9:17 AM, Bandy1080 said:

Slightly off topic - but heading to Cabot for the first time over Labor Day weekend.  So excited. 

 

On the website it says A Caddies are $90 and B caddies are $60.   We are a group of 3 low single digit handicappers.  Basically we just need someone who knows the course to tell us where to hit it and to carry our bags.  Do you think we could get by with a B caddy?  I have heard mixed reviews about the caddies at Cabot.  

 

Any insight would be great.  Thanks! 

 

 

I wouldn’t expect much of the “B” caddies except carrying your bags, raking bunkers, and pulling pins. 
 
 

[Drwoods2017]

On 4/8/2025 at 10:28 AM, ND2005 said:

I wouldn’t expect much of the “B” caddies except carrying your bags, raking bunkers, and pulling pins. 
 
 

Have you used their B caddies? The way it was described to me they have 4 levels. 

 

A Caddie: been there the longest and most knowledgeable

B Caddie: Knowledgeable and will give you lines and read putts

Jr Caddie: Just gonna carry your bag and rake bunkers. 

Group Caddies