Highlands Links on Cape Breton is one of the prettiest golf courses in the world

Highlands Links on Cape Breton is one of the prettiest golf courses in the world

I’ve played a lot of beautiful golf courses around the world, and Highlands Links is among the most beautiful I’ve ever played.

The drive alone is worth the time and effort to reach this stunningly beautiful course on the rugged coast of northern Cape Breton, a little north of the Nova Scotia mainland.

This is golf in the wild. The views are breathtaking, over ocean waters – where whales can be seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence – and up to the ringing mountains and over inlets, lakes, ponds and clear, rocky streams holding trout and Atlantic salmon.

It’s like being inside a painting by Audubon.

The course itself is as visually stunning as its surroundings. Noted Canadian architect Stanley Thompson used the natural terrain beautifully, and the layout climbs up and down the coast, and up and around the hilly interior, with mountains rising around you.

One gorgeous hole follows another. Conditioning is excellent throughout, with the focus on keeping the course as natural as possible. The cart paths are gravel and if you’re walking, which you should do on this course, you will walk alongside the Clyburn River and maybe see some salmon.

Look for the full review coming soon.