Highlands Links

Highlands Links is an 18-hole, par-72 golf course in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, laid across wooded hills above Ingonish. Go for Stanley Thompson's design and the mountain-and-ocean setting; expect a demanding round with sloping lies, blind shots and small, contoured greens. It measures 6,592 yards from the blue tees. Parks Canada calls it a links course, though much of the front nine runs through wooded hills. Ocean and mountain views open from parts of the round.

The course is at 247 Keltic In-Road, separate from Keltic Lodge's lodging address. Parks Canada requires an entry permit year-round for park facilities, including Highlands Links. The operator offers golf carts and club rentals; check current availability when booking.

Stanley's Sunset Grill sits at the pro shop and welcomes non-golfers. It serves pub fare such as wings, poutine, burgers and nachos. Washrooms are reported by the clubhouse entrance.

The fairways roll over uneven ground, with elevated tees, blind shots, bunkers and small greens that add to the challenge. At No. 10, the course reaches its halfway point a long way from the clubhouse. Don't count on a midway snack stop; reports about that service vary.

Stanley Thompson was hired in 1939 to design a mountain-and-ocean course. He began with a nine-hole plan, then secured a second nine and changed the routing to follow the Clyburn River. Local laborers did much of the work by hand because machinery was difficult to bring to the site. The course opened on July 1, 1941, after two years of construction.

The hole names carry Scottish references. No. 7, Killiecrankie, takes its name from a wooded Highland pass tied to Scotland's 1689 history. No. 5, Canny Slap, echoes the Eden hole at St Andrews. Heich O' Fash means "Heap of Trouble." The design also draws on Scottish golf with blind shots, pot bunkers, rolling fairways and undulating greens.

A major storm damaged the course's 57 sand bunkers. A 2011 restoration used archival material and aerial photographs to recover parts of Thompson's layout, including bunkers on holes 5, 13 and 18.