This Week at TravelGolf.com: July 24, 2008

Brutal summer heat keeping you off the golf course? Consider Nova Scotia

It's hot, isn't it? Yes it is, brother. The heat here on Florida golf courses these days could melt a monkey.

People all over the world wait for summer so they can play golf. Others, like us in the southern climates, yearn for the spring and fall and even the winter. We dread the summer. The heat makes you mean. It makes you irritable. Did you know the murder rate in the summer soars with the temperature?

I have one word for you. One cool word, dripping with temperatures in the 60s and 70s with a fresh, ocean breeze caressing your face.

Canada.

More specifically, Nova Scotia, though I realize that's two words.

Nova Scotia golf courses aren't exactly all over the various lists of Canada's top courses. But, a golf trip to the Nova Scotia area, including Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island, can be a summer life-saver if you factor in the magnificent scenery.

The drive to Ingonish to play Highlands Links alone is worth the time and effort to reach this stunningly beautiful golf course on the rugged coast of northern Cape Breton. 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.

Bell Bay Golf Club is another lovely golf course just outside a lovely village in one of the loveliest parts of the world. It goes without saying, with an intro like that, that this is one scenic course.

So scenic, in fact, that many people choose to get married in an area near the 18th tee box, which has a spectacular view over the Bras d'Or Lake, surrounded by high hills and low mountains. The course itself fits in well with its surroundings. It has good elevation changes, but not overwhelming, and the fairways have good movement, with some tilted at fairly sharp angles.

Nearby Prince Edward Island doesn't have the spectacular mountains Cape Breton does, but it has more golf courses and those same ocean views and breezes.

There's a terrific ferry ride from Portland Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, via the Cat catamaran. It actually has a small casino on it.

So be cool. Go to Canada.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Nova Scotia boasts whales, soaring mountains and full-service gas and golf

It's only 350 miles long and Canada's second smallest province but - in addition to gorgeous natural wonders such as huge inland seas ringed by soaring mountains and whales breaching in the Gulf of St. Lawrence - Nova Scotia has great golf courses.

Also: Hot deals on Canadian golf vacations

From Nags Head to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina island courses test your game

North Carolina has the Appalachian Mountains and the Piedmont Plateau, but if it's island golf you're looking for, it has more than its share of that as well. Bald Head Island Country Club, Nags Head Golf Links and Currituck Golf Club are just a few of the excellent choices for island golf in North Carolina.

Also: North Carolina golf courses and travel info

Central Oregon to debut one of the U.S.'s top courses in 2008: Tetherow Golf Club

If the high desert boomtown of Bend, Oregon isn't on your golf radar yet, it's sure to get your attention this year thanks to the addition July 26 of yet another new stunning golf course: Tetherow Golf Club.

Also: Don't rush your Oregon Trail trek