"You’d have to go to Scotland to see this type of a golf course."

Bill Spurr profiles Cabot Links and the town of Inverness as the much-anticipated links opened last weekend. There's an enjoyable video showing the town and sites along with a nice sidebar of travel tips for those thinking of making the trip.

We spent two days and a bit visiting Cabot Links and the surrounding area, and lost track of how many times one of us said: "This place doesn’t know what’s about to hit it." One has only to see the site, where every hole is on the water, to imagine hordes of golfers descending on Cape Breton, especially given the new facility’s proximity to Highlands Links in Ingonish, considered by many to be the best golf course in Canada.

"As great as Highlands is, and as great as we expect this to be, even better might be the drive between the two, along the Cabot Trail," said Ben Cowan-Dewar, managing director for Cabot Links, who moved from downtown Toronto to Inverness three years ago.

"What we were blessed to take over was a site that is one of the most physically beautiful spots for golf I’d seen in Canada, if not the world."

Ten holes are open for play now, and it’s expected most will be ready by the end of this season. Cowan-Dewar is so confident about the future of the area as a golf destination that he has bought enough land to build three more courses, and is already building a hotel.

Inverness is going to be more than a beach and a harness racing track.

Six other golf courses in Nova Scotia have the word "Links" in their title inaccurately. But Cabot Links has it all: a course built along the sea, with deep natural bunkers, sandy soil, firm, fast fairways and high rough. What it doesn’t have are power carts.