Voyager Golf Travel Blog

June 2024

I recently completed a trip to Nova Scotia with a group of 12 people where we stayed and played at Cabot. We played 2 rounds on the Links course and 3 rounds on the Cliffs course.

Getting There
We departed Newark, NJ and took a roughly 2 hour flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia. While some members of our group rented cars in Halifax, we cooridnated with Cabot to be picked up in one of their shuttle vans. The trip from the airport to Cabot was roughly 3 and a half hours.

Cabot Links Review
The Links course was the first to be built and reminded me of traditional links golf that you would come to expect in the U.K. or Ireland. Most if not all of the holes have a direct view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, providing a specatcular backdrop for golf. Holes of note for me on the front nine include the 3rd, a short Par 4 that lightly doglegs around a wetlands area, the 5th, a dogleg left Par 4 that plays around Inverness Harbour, and the 8th, an uphill Par 5 with a wild double green. On the back nine, the 11th is a roller coaster of a Par 5, the Par 4 13th features a blind, uphill tee shot, and the 14th is a very short but dramatic downhill par 3 played to an infinity green. The greens have a lot of slope and areas that repel balls off the green but overall I really liked the course, and it seems to be a favorite among the caddies as well.

Cabot Cliffs Review
The Cliffs course is located a short 5 minute shuttle drive from the main area of the resort. There is far more elevation on this piece of property, and that is easily visible from the 360 degree view when standing on the 1st tee. Holes of note include the 2nd, a shorter Par 4 with an uphill approach over a pond to a green framed behind a Principal's Nose sandy hill, the 7th, featuring perhaps the most intimidating tee shot on the property, playing uphill, over a pond to a dogleg right plateaued fairway, and the 9th, a short downhill Par 3 with fantastic views of the Gulf. On the back nine, the 10th is a Par 5 that plays directly along the cliff line, the 12th is a demanding Par 3, and the closing stretch of 16, their signature Par 3 played over rock formations, 17, a short Par 4 with a blind tee shot and a dramatic slope down to the green and 18, a long Par 5 with the right side hugging the cliff line, make for a memorable finish.

All in all, from a golf perpective, I preferred the Links course. While the Cliffs course plays at a higher elevation and has great panoramic views, I felt that the 6-6-6 nature of Par 3's, 4's, and 5's along with some wild, sometimes wacky and repelling green complexes made it feel at times too extreme. The caddies noted that the Cliffs is more of the touristy course while the Links course is the championship golf course, and I agree with their assessment. From a lodging perspective, the main rooms are located right off of the 1st and 18th holes of the Links course with fantastic views of the course and the Gulf.

May 2022

My wife and I embarked on a trip to the Scottish Highlands during the Summer of 2022. Below was our itinerary and some travel recommendations if you were interested in doing a similar trip!

Getting There
We flew from Newark, NJ to Inverness, Scotland and connected through London Heathrow. Inverness was a relatively small airport but there were a fair amount of car rental options. We stayed in Inverness at the Kingsmills Hotel which was a nice, older hotel slightly southeast but still only 5 minutes driving or about 20 minutes walking from the city center along the River Ness.

Day 1
We signed up through Timberbush Tours for a Loch Ness & Isle of Skye tour. This was something that we highly recommend if you are looking to see a large portion of the region without having to navigate and do all of the driving. It was a full day bus tour with many stops along the way including Eilean Donan Castle, the coastal town of Portree, the Old Man of Storr, and Kilt Rock. The scenery was fantastic and our guide provided a ton of historical information about the area and Scotland as a whole.

Day 2
I had an afternoon tee time at The Nairn Golf Club, which is located about 30 minutes away from Inverness along the coast. Despite it being an overcast, rainy (at times) day, we had a fantastic time on the rugged layout. The majority of the holes play right along the coastline (with the exception of a little turn inland on treelined holes 13-15). The clubhouse is set right behind the 1st and 18th along the water, providing a great spot to sit and grab a bite before or after the round. Nairn perhaps lives in the shadow of some other more well-known golf courses in the Scottish Highlands. Despite this, it still slots in around #20 in most Scotland Rankings, proving a worthy destination when planning a trip to the region.

After the round, we made a stop at Castle Stuart (now Cabot Highlands) to see the golf course. Despite being a newer facility (founded in 2009), the course seemed to be perfectly carved into a hilly landscape. Since we were leaving the area the following day, the stuggle I had internally when planning this trip was whether to play Nairn, an older (1887), traditional links course or play the newer, more highly-regarded Castle Stuart (which is in the Scotland top 10 and some World Top 100 lists). I decided on Nairn because I love playing older golf courses, and now that Cabot aquired Castle Stuart and is building a second course, I will surely be back at some point.

Day 3
We left Inverness in the morning and headed north about 50 minutes for a tee time at Royal Dornoch. We absolutely enjoyed our experience here! After making your way out from the clubhouse on the first 2 holes, the 3rd tee provides the first great view of the linksland and the sea. For the most part, it is a quintessential out-and-back layout. You work your way out on the first 8 holes along the left side of property before turning back to the south on the Par 5 9th. Every hole on the Championship course is fantastic and the industry-wide consensus on its ranking proves that point. Outside of the golf course, Dornoch is a nice small town with some shops and taverns that make for a nicce walk around. We grabbed some soup and sandwiches on our way out and headed north to our final destination John O'Groats.

John o'Groats is the northeasternmost town of the main British Isle. From John o'Groats we drove 5 minutes east and parked near the Duncansby Head Lighthouse. From there, you can follow the trail a mile or so to the south to see the famous Duncansby Stacks. The trail takes you through open farmland and you might even be walking alongside some sheep on the way. You can take the trail as far down the coast as desired before making your way back to the Lighthouse. John o'Groats itself does not have many food options so we made a stop at the Lidl in Wick on the way up to grab some food and drinks for our room. We stayed at the Together Travel lodges right along the water. The units were spacious and ours featured a full kitchen, washer/dryer and living room.

Day 4 We set out from the John o'Groats Harbour for a day tour of the Orkney Islands. The trip starts with a 45 minute ferry ride across the Pentland Firth to the landing point in Burwick, the southernmost point of the island chain. A bus picked us up from there and we made our way across the Churchill Barriers up to Kirkwall, the most populous city in Orkney. After the stop in Kirkwall, we visited the town of Stromness for lunch before making our way to Skara Brae, a neolithic village that dates back over 5000 years. We also visited other Neolithic landmarks including the Ring of Brodar and the Standing Stones of Stenness. On our way back to the return ferry in Burwick, we stopped at the Lamb Holm Italian Chapel. This was a structure built by Italian POWs in the 1940's during the Second World War. Overall, this was a fantastic addition to our trip and provided a chance to span a good portion of the island chain.