The Highlands Links is a special place where nature has been sculpted into a one-of-a-kind golf course. Under the watchful eye and delicate hand of renowned golf course designer, Stanley Thompson, the majesty of Cape Breton’s Highlands has embraced every golfer who has come to take up the challenge laid down by the master over 60 years ago. With each stroke, they travel back to 1939, when Thompson designed his “mountains and ocean” course.
This inspired 18-hole, par 72 course is set within one of Canada’s most beautiful natural settings- the Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada. Together, Thompson’s genius, the contributions of the local community and the dedicated efforts of Parks Canada have resulted in the restoration of a legendary course which delivers a unique experience to all golfers, no matter what level of expertise they bring with them.
Stanley Thompson
In 1939 when the National Park Service hired Stanley Thompson to design and build what he later called “the mountains and ocean” course, he told friends that it was the best contract he ever had. He was given the breadth and scope of a National Park setting as his tract of land and simply given one stipulation – to take advantage of the scenery and vistas. The end result was an inspired piece of architecture that proved to be one of Thompson’s finest design achievements. It began as a nine-hole course with Thompson convincing his employers at the time that a second nine holes was essential. Normally one to remain with his original plan, Thompson in this case changed the routing of the course during construction, which led him to follow the Clyburn River, an integral element of the final layout.
Constructing the course was a huge project and actually progressed quickly in two phases over two years using only the most basic of construction methods. It was difficult to bring machinery to the site and hard working local labourers did much of the work by hand. Many of today’s golfers don’t realize that at the time of construction, a great deal of the course site was clear land and the growth of the surrounding flora, fauna and vegetation has come since then. Holes #1, 2, 15, 16 and 18 did not need to be cleared back in the early stages of construction. Very few trees were present and it’s a tribute to Thompson’s vision that with all the growth, the course is still attractively framed and has retained its shape over sixty years later.
Thompson chose to use many elements of Scottish culture, history and golf holes in Scotland to name and truly describe the holes on the course and interpret his design elements. Names like “Heich O’ Fash” which means “Heap of Trouble” becomes appropriate when one plays #4. Many of the fairways are remarkably similar to Scottish topography. In Scotland, the Highlands are renowned for their romantic scenery and history. The seventh hole at the Highlands Links, Killiecrankie, resembles that long narrow historic pass of Killiecrankie in the Highlands of Scotland – a famous wooded gorge that played a significant role in Scotland’s history in 1689.
The Scottish influence was not limited to names or scenery alone, but incorporated into the building of a fine traditional test of golf. Some of the same tests that have challenged golfers at St. Andrews since the 15th century are duplicated at the Highlands Links. One example of this is the fifth hole, “Canny Slap” that is similar to the most famous one-shot hole in golf, #11 (Eden) at the Old Course, in St. Andrews, Scotland. A typical Scottish trademark at the Highlands Links is the heroic tees with their long forced carries. Other Scottish embellishments that Thompson included were blind tee and green strokes; rolling, meandering fairways, dune-like mounds, pot bunkers, small undulating greens, seascape panoramas and ever-present heather.
In addition to fairways contoured like “rolling waves of surf,” balance for the golfer was another critical component in Thompson’s design of the Highlands Links; balanced stroke values were intentionally built into the construction of each fairway; balance in overall architectural design and the balanced blending of scientific strokemaking combined with the beauty of the natural landscape constituted the elements of Stanley Thompson’s work at the Highlands.
Thanks to the determination, focus and perseverance of both Parks Canada and the Cape Breton Highlands Golf Club Society, Highlands Links was restored to its original world-class standards during the mid-nineties. With the relaunch of the course in 1997, golfers once again experienced all of Thompson’s care and concern about the use of outstanding landforms, awe-inspiring views and the integration of the pristine environment. In the years since its restoration, golfers have been generous with their praise.
In 2005, Highlands Links was ranked top Canadian course in GOLF Magazine's "Top 100 Courses in the World" (71st in the world), top Canadian public course (22nd overall) according to Golf Digest's prestigious “Top 100 Best Courses Outside the United States,” and was awarded the title of Best Course in Atlantic Canada by SCOREgolf magazine "Golfer's Choice Awards.
Today, the staff at Highlands Links, as well as the community of Ingonish, are eager to offer a warm Cape Breton welcome to golfers from around the world who have arrived to enjoy what Stanley Thompson proudly called, “the mountains and ocean course."