True links golf, lively Celtic music, place names like Inverness and Ben Eoin, single malt whisky. You can be forgiven for thinking we were describing Scotland. There certainly are many similarities, in fact, thousands of Highland Scots emigrated here and brought with them their music and traditions. Including a love of golf. However, Cape Breton Island is right next door, not across a vast ocean. You can be on the ground in less than four hours from Toronto or New York. From Halifax, it's a quick flight to Sydney or a beautiful drive on the Trans Canada to the causeway that joins the Island to mainland Nova Scotia. Now, you can enjoy an Old World golf experience in North America.
It has been written that Cape Breton is a "magical island," which National Geographic said contained one of the world's great drives. And over the years the Nova Scotia island has become noted for offering some of the best, most intriguing, and exciting golf in all of North America. Names like Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs‐two of the most recognized courses to have opened anywhere in recent memory‐sit on the west coast of Cape Breton, while the venerable Highlands Links, perennially ranked as among the best in the world and celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2016, is to the north. Rounding out the great golf is Bell Bay in the seaside town of Baddeck, and Le Portage in the charming town of Cheticamp.