Have Golf Will Travel

October 4, 2006 - Linknet Golf

Golf Swing Tips - Join the 1% of Golfers who swing like a Pro - You could knock as many as 30 shots off your average round of Golf!

Bell Bay in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

On the second leg of our summer '06 golfing trip to Atlantic Canada we crossed over the nine mile long Confederation Bridge from Prince Edward Island into Nova Scotia and headed east towards Cape Breton Island. While part of the province of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton has a distinctive history, a more rugged landscape, and a much more rural feel. While mainland Nova Scotia will undoubtedly remind you of Scotland, Cape Breton has much more in common with the Scottish Highlands.

Follow up:

As with most of Atlantic Canada the culture is a unique mix of French, English, Scottish, and now, of course, new cultural influences from around the world. In fact, along with Quebec, Cape Breton was one of the last outposts of the French colonial empire, not actually becoming part of Nova Scotia until after the French were defeated in 1763 at Quebec City. If you are interested in history a visit to Louisburg is a must. Louisburg was orignally built as a large French fortification on the extreme eastern tip of the island in order to guard the shipping lanes leading to French North America.

We had already visited the fort on a previous trip, and this time our destination was Baddeck, a major cultural and tourism centre located right in the middle of the island on the north shore of Bras D'or Lake. During our five day stay in Baddeck we planned to drive the famous Cabot Trail, and get in at least four rounds on two of Cape Breton's most well-known golf courses -- Bell Bay and Highlands Links.

I have written about our two rounds at Highlands Links in a previous post. It is truly a spectacular, one-of-a-kind golf course, and a must visit for any serious golf traveler.

By comparison, while Bell Bay is a very nice Thomas McBroom course, it is nothing at all like Highlands Links. Built near the shores of Bras D'Or Lake, many of the views are quite magnificent. But frankly I found the course itself just a bit uninspiring.

It could have had something to do with the rainy weather and the soggy fairways. One of my pet peeves is how modern golf course fairways all seem to be constructed the same way, and have the same narrow range of conditions in which they are at their optimum. If conditions are too wet they get soggy, and if they are too dry the grass has to be watered like crazy in order to prevent it from burning out.

Highlands Links seemed to be an exception to this rule -- the fairways were hard and fast even with all the rain the region had received over the previous weeks. But Bell Bay was much more typical (as was Crowbush Cove in PEI, another recently constructed McBroom course.)

While Bell Bay lacked the sheer beauty, rugged character, and indigenous feel of Highlands Links, as modern golf courses go -- especially golf courses in a remote location like Cape Breton -- it is a very fine course, not overly expensive or busy, and well worth the visit.

Bell Bay Golf Club
Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Local: 1-902-295-1333
Toll Free: 1-800-565-3077
Email: pro@bellbaygolfclub.com