The Links at Crowbush Cove is laid out near the dunes on the north shore of Prince Edward Island. (Tim McDonald/WorldGolf.com)

Perfect golf vacation itinerary: Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

By Tim McDonald,
Contributor

Take a golf trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to experience great golf courses like Glen Arbour, the Links at Crowbush Cove, Bell Bay and Highlands Links while staying at excellent resorts like Pictou Lodge.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - Neither Nova Scotia nor Prince Edward Island are particularly large, especially in relation to the rest of Canada.

But they are large enough and have enough quality golf courses to confuse someone on a Canadian golf holiday.

Soothe your traveling nerves. We're here to make your trip a relaxing one by weeding out the lesser golf courses. In fact, we're here to make it perfect. Here's your one-week, perfect golf itinerary for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Nova Scotia and PEI: Getting there

First, you have to get there. In this case, getting there is one of the best parts of the trip. Take the "Cat" (catferry.com) from Portland, Maine to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Cat is a sleek, high-speed catamaran ferry that's more like a cruise ship. If you want to get to the picturesque Nova Scotia golf courses from the U.S. mainland, it's a great alternative to the long drive.

The seats are wide and plush, with plenty of leg room, and quite a few of the seating arrangements have tables, perfect for meals or playing cards.

Discovery Channel called it one of the world's top-10 super ships. The Cat has movie screens, restaurants and even a casino (slot machines only.) It holds cars, motorcycles, bicycles, RVs, or you can just walk aboard.

The ship travels up to 40 knots, and rates range from $64 to $99 for passengers, with the shorter Bar Harbor to Yarmouth route being cheaper. Vehicle rates are $115 to $164 for cars, with varying rates for trucks and smaller vehicles. There is a port and security fee of $10 each way.

Monday

Drive from Yarmouth to Halifax.

STAY: The Lord Nelson Hotel (www.lordnelsonhotel.com) is one of Halifax's oldest historic hotels, with an idyll location if you're looking to spend time in the city.

It's right across the street from the Public Gardens, in the heart of downtown, and has a variety of guest rooms and suites, a fitness center, wireless Internet access and the usual amenities of a fine, downtown hotel. The Lord Nelson has an excellent concierge service that can take care of theater tickets or take-home lobster.

It's also close to the cemeteries where victims of the Titanic are buried, the Spring Garden Road shopping district, Point Pleasant Park, St. Paul's Church and the old burying ground.

You can take city tours on double-decker buses or harbor tours on all kinds of boats, including tugboats, sternwheelers or sea kayaks.

PLAY: Glen Arbour, as you Scots know, means "a valley of trees," and that is an apt moniker; Glen Arbour has tree-lined perimeters and a valley through which the golf course is routed.

There are natural elevation changes and a lot of water in the form of three lakes, each of which is usually in view from virtually anywhere on the course. The rather grandiose clubhouse overlooks one of them, Sandy Lake.

The golf course has lush bentgrass tees, fairways and greens, and the natural lakes and streams that cut through the layout are usually in play, if not always in view.

Glen Arbour is a scenic, playable course that's convenient to city dwellers or tourists visiting Halifax. It won't overwhelm you with its length, being 6,800 yards from the back tees.

Tuesday

Drive to Baddeck, Cape Breton, one of the world's spectacular drives.

STAY: The Inverary Inn Resort was originally built in 1850 and still retains that old-time feel even if it now has all the modern amenities, including a spa, indoor pool, fitness center, meeting facilities and wireless Internet.

The inn sits on 11 acres hard by the beautiful Bras d'Or Lake, with a waterfront boardwalk, and rooms as well as cottages. It has the Thistledown Pub and an excellent restaurant.

Baddeck is the home of Alexander Graham Bell, whose estate can be seen from the inn; Bell's gravesite is on his former estate.

PLAY: Bell Bay is a 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 French name means "arm of gold," and it is indeed a dazzling lake, fed by both the Atlantic Ocean and freshwater rivers flowing down from the mountains. The lake is so big - around 60 miles long and 30 miles wide in places - it's sometimes referred to, accurately, as a gulf or an inland sea.

Architect Thomas McBroom knew what he had to work with, and laid out the course beautifully; there are few spots on the course where you don't have broad views of the lake or mountains or just big, blue sky. The course itself fits in well with its spectacular surroundings. It has good elevation changes, but not overwhelming, and the fairways have good movement, with some tilted at fairly sharp angles.

Wednesday

STAY: Inverary Resort.

PLAY: To get to Highlands Links Golf Club, you travel a narrow and winding mountain road from Baddeck. Up, up, up you travel through the Northeast Highlands, and when you hit Cape Smokey you travel even farther up, looking at nothing but the craggy side of a mountain and a deep blue sky.

Finally, you reach the village of Ingonish, and still you journey onward, to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This is where you will find Highlands Links; it's one of only two golf courses left owned by the Canadian government.

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

Thursday

Take the ferry to Prince Edward Island

STAY: The Pictou Lodge and Resort is a gorgeous resort right on the sea, with views as far as you can see, and multi-colored beach chairs to sit in and listen to the waves roll on shore.

It's an open, oceanside resort with log cottages and private beaches, close to the PEI ferry. Some of the rooms come with large, whirlpool tubs or stone fireplaces

Despite having a rustic appeal, it's popular for conferences and meetings, and the resort's Sunday brunch in the fireside dining room - fresh fish and lobster - and Oceanview Lounge are a treat.

Pictou (www.pictoulodge.com) has a heated outdoor pool, nature trails, a large freshwater pond with canoes or pedal boats available. Or, you can try sea kayaks.

There is also a mini-golf driving range and a practice putting green.

PLAY: The Links at Crowbush Cove is a terrific golf course in a beautiful setting, though it isn't technically a links course. Crowbush is laid out near the dunes on the north shore of the island.

The first few holes are tree-lined, parkland holes before the course winds toward the sea. It's a well-groomed course, with sharp-edged bunkers and clear distinctions between fairways and roughs, unlike the more natural, true links layouts. You can hear the roar of the ocean from over the dunes in the middle section of the course.

It's a Thomas McBroom design, as are so many golf courses in Canada. McBroom installed a lot of fairway bunkers on Crowbush, on the edges of the fairway and in the landing areas themselves, the more to confuse your eye as you stand on the tee.

It's a relatively flat layout, though the terrain picks up movement as you approach many greens in the form of mounds, elevations shifts, drop-offs and swales. Most every green has different levels, well guarded and undulating, with ridges running across several.

Friday

STAY: Pictou Lodge Resort

PLAY: You'll see a ton of the famous red clay of PEI in the 120 bunkers at Dundarave Golf Course. The contrast is dramatic because of the velvety smooth, lush green fairway.

You won't find yourself cursing the bunkers at Dundarave (much) because they're such an integral part of the course, defining both strategy and the overall aesthetic.

The bunkering is interesting, but there's more to Dundarave than red sand. The fairways are wide and inviting, bordered by pine, fir and beech trees, and the architects slyly used the Brundenell River that slithers through the terrain and is frequently in view.

Dundarave doesn't have the sea views other island courses do. It's a parkland golf course located in a pristine area close to a provincial park.

March 10, 2009

Veteran golf writer Tim McDonald keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation.