Where to Play Golf in Canada: Part One

Bordering the golfing behemoth that is the United States, Canada is somewhat of a hidden gem when it comes to hitting the fairways. Blessed with vast open spaces and incredible scenery, it has some of the finest public golf courses in the world. Here’s our pick of the best.

Greywolf Golf Course – Panorama, British Columbia

Greywolf, part of the beautiful Panorama Mountain Resort, is set against the backdrop of British Columbia‘s Purcell Mountains. When it comes to Alpine golf experiences, this is hard to beat. It combines sculpted undulating fairways and hair-raising elevation changes with serene woodlands and incredible views of the surrounding mountains. The infamous par-3 sixth hole, dubbed ‘Cliffhanger’, with its green perched on its own cliff, would get even Sylvester Stallone’s pulse racing.

Algonquin Resort – St. Andrews, New Brunswick

Set on the grounds of the luxurious Algonquin Resort, this oceanside course is one of the country’s oldest and was already a great layout before it was renovated in 2018 by acclaimed Canadian golf course designer Rod Whitman. It’s now among the country’s finest courses, blessed with breathtaking views of Passamaquoddy Bay. Near St. Andrews, it seems only right this pretty Canadian town should have its own world-class golf course.

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge – Jasper, Alberta

Set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta in Jasper National Park, it took 200 horses and 50 men an entire year to clear boulders and debris to bring this amazing course to life in 1925. Designed by arguably Canada’s greatest course architect Stanley Thompson, it boasts elevated tee boxes, wide tree-lined fairways and incredible Alpine views. Jasper Park Golf Course is regularly listed among the most scenic golf courses in the world. Thompson also designed the nearby and equally spectacular Fairmont Banff Springs.

Cabot Links – Cape Breton, Inverness, Nova Scotia

We rate this as Canada’s best golf course. Designed by Canadian Rod Whitman and opened in 2012, golfers get to play amongst rugged cliffs and sand dunes right by the Atlantic Ocean on the country’s most authentic links experience. More than just beautiful scenery, the Cabot Links expertly encourages golfers to play true links golf and connects them to the natural landscape in a way only few courses across the world can match.

Cabot Cliffs – Cape Breton, Inverness, Nova Scotia

The sibling course to Cabot Links, Cabot Cliffs, from dynamic design duo Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, opened just half a mile away in 2016 to worldwide acclaim. Sitting atop bluffs overlooking the Gulf of St Lawrence, this links course boasts a great variety of landscapes and routes through woodland, wetland and meadowland areas. The signature hole is the 16th played across cliffs over the shoreline.

The Nest, a par-3 10-hole course from Cabot Links designer Rod Whitman is due to open in 2020. In years to come, the golf offering at Cape Breton could rival Bandon Dunes. In fact, one of the chief financiers of Cabot Links was Mike Keiser, the creator of that celebrated resort in Oregon.