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From the ocean clifftops of Cape Breton — home to two of the world's top 25 courses — to the Rocky Mountain fairways of Banff and Jasper, Canada offers golf experiences that exist nowhere else on earth.
Canada has quietly become one of the great golf destinations in the world. The Cabot collection on the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, has placed Canadian golf firmly on the global map: Cabot Cliffs is ranked in the world's top 15 by Golf Digest, and Cabot Links in the top 25. A thousand kilometres west, the Canadian Rockies offer something completely different — mountain golf designed by the legendary Stanley Thompson at Banff and Jasper, with the kind of scenery that stops you mid-swing. All three of Canada's great golf regions are explored in this guide.
On the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, above the Gulf of St Lawrence, two courses have transformed a remote corner of Atlantic Canada into one of the most talked-about golf destinations in the world. Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs sit side by side, both accessible to all visitors, both ranked among the finest courses on the planet.
The Cabot Cape Breton resort was built on the site of a former coal mining town on the western shore of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Rod Whitman designed Cabot Links in 2012 on land that runs directly alongside the Gulf of St Lawrence — with the ocean in play on several holes. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw completed Cabot Cliffs in 2016 on the clifftops above, with even more dramatic ocean exposure. Together, the two courses have made Cape Breton a bucket-list destination for serious golfers from around the world.
Both courses open to public · Season: May–November · Walking encouraged
Inverness, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Rod Whitman's 2012 masterpiece is the course that started it all — the first true links-style course built in North America, on land that runs directly alongside the Gulf of St Lawrence with the ocean visible from almost every hole. The land had been a coal mining site for over a century; Whitman saw its potential and shaped a course that feels as though it has been there for a hundred years. Ranked in the world's top 25 by Golf Digest and consistently voted the best public course in Canada, Cabot Links is open to all visitors without a handicap requirement. Walking is strongly encouraged — caddies are available.
⛳ 18 holes · 🌊 Ocean views throughout · CAD $450 resort / $565 day (peak) · 📍 Inverness, Nova Scotia
Visit Cabot Links → Rates & booking →Inverness, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw — the team behind Bandon Trails, Sand Hills and several of America's most celebrated modern courses — designed Cabot Cliffs on the clifftop above Cabot Links, overlooking the Gulf of St Lawrence. Opened in 2016, the course is consistently ranked ahead of Links by most global benchmarks: Golf Digest places it in the world's top 13, and Golfweek in the top 12 internationally. The drama of the routing — holes that sit on the clifftop with nothing between the green and the water — is matched by the precision of the design. Many consider it the finest course in the Western Hemisphere built in the last 30 years. Walking only, caddies available.
⛳ 18 holes · 🌊 Clifftop, Gulf of St Lawrence · CAD $450 resort / $565 day (peak) · 📍 Inverness, Nova Scotia
Visit Cabot Cliffs → Rates & booking →Stanley Thompson was Canada's greatest golf course architect — a contemporary of Alister MacKenzie who worked with the raw material of the Rocky Mountains to produce two courses that many consider the most beautiful in the world. Banff and Jasper are both within UNESCO World Heritage-listed national parks. Golf season runs May to October.
Stanley Thompson designed the Banff Springs course in 1928 and the Jasper Park Lodge course in 1925 — both within national parks, both using the dramatic glacial landscape of the Rockies as a canvas. They are among the most photographed golf courses in the world, and among the most memorable rounds any golfer can play anywhere. Both are public-access, booked through their respective Fairmont resorts.
Stanley Thompson design · UNESCO World Heritage parks · Season: May–October
Banff National Park, Alberta
Stanley Thompson had the most dramatic natural canvas of any golf architect in history when he came to Banff in 1928 — the Bow River valley, the Rundle Mountain range, and the medieval silhouette of the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel rising above the treeline. The resulting 18-hole course weaves through the valley floor between the river and the mountains, with the Devil's Cauldron — a par-3 descending to a green beside a glacial lake — widely regarded as one of the great golf holes in the world. Consistently ranked in the top 10 courses in Canada and a multiple Golf Digest and Score Golf award winner. Green fees are variable by season; tee times book through Banff Mountain Golf. Golf season May–October.
⛳ 18 holes + 9-hole Tunnel Mountain · CAD Green fees variable by season · 📍 Banff National Park, Alberta
Visit Banff Springs Golf → Book tee time →Jasper National Park, Alberta
Three years before he designed Banff, Stanley Thompson laid out the Jasper Park Lodge course along the shores of Lac Beauvert — a glacial lake of almost supernatural turquoise-green colour in the heart of Jasper National Park. The course is surrounded by wilderness; elk and deer regularly cross the fairways, and the Rockies form a complete panorama in every direction. Thompson shaped the terrain gently to produce a course that flows through the landscape as though it was always there. It is one of the most beautiful places to play golf in the world. Tee times are available to resort guests and day visitors; booking is made through Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.
⛳ 18 holes · CAD Green fees on request · Elk on course — normal · 📍 Jasper National Park, Alberta
Visit Jasper Park Lodge Golf → Book through the resort →Canada's top golf resorts span the country — from a self-contained links destination on the Atlantic coast that rivals Bandon Dunes, to a castle hotel in the Rockies and a mountain resort in British Columbia with a course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Inverness, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
The Cabot Cape Breton resort is Canada's answer to Bandon Dunes — and many serious golfers rate it just as highly. The resort village of Inverness has been transformed around two world-ranked courses: Cabot Links (#25 Golf Digest world) and Cabot Cliffs (#13 Golf Digest world). Resort accommodation includes the Cabot Links Lodge, beach-facing suites, private cottages and a growing collection of residences, all within walking distance of both first tees. The resort also has a restaurant, a bar, a short course (The Nest) and a practice facility. Stay-and-play packages combine accommodation with multi-round access to both courses. Fly into Sydney (YQY) or Halifax (YHZ) — Sydney is one hour from the resort.
Visit Cabot Cape Breton → Rates & booking →
Banff National Park, Alberta
Canada's "Castle in the Rockies" is one of the great hotel-and-golf combinations in the world. The Fairmont Banff Springs was built in 1888 as a luxury railway hotel; Stanley Thompson designed the golf course on the valley floor below it in 1928. The two together — the turreted stone castle visible from almost every fairway — create an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in golf. The hotel has 764 rooms and suites, multiple restaurants, a world-class spa and pool complex, and serves as the base for year-round exploration of Banff National Park. Golf packages including accommodation and rounds on the Stanley Thompson 18 are available from mid-May through September. Fly into Calgary International Airport (YYC), 1.5 hours east on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Visit Fairmont Banff Springs → Book a stay →
Whistler, British Columbia
British Columbia's answer to the Rockies resort experience — the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 1993, climbing through the forests above the Whistler mountain village with dramatic elevation changes and views across the Coast Mountain range. The course is rated among the top courses in BC and offers a completely different style to the Alberta courses: forested, with forced carries over mountain terrain and dramatic changes in elevation between tees and greens. The Fairmont Chateau Whistler hotel has 539 rooms and suites and is ski-in/ski-out in winter, golf-in/golf-out in summer. Golf season runs June through October. Fly into Vancouver International (YVR), 2 hours south on the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
Visit Chateau Whistler Golf → Book a stay →Cabot and the Rockies are the obvious destinations for international visitors — but Canada's golf landscape runs much deeper. St George's Golf & Country Club in Ontario is ranked the finest course in the country. Capilano in British Columbia offers mountain golf above Vancouver. And Cape Breton Highland Links — a Stanley Thompson design within the national park — sits in the Canadian top 10 and shares the same island as Cabot. None of them are in this guide. All of them are worth playing. Browse the full rankings or search by region.
Top 100 courses in Canada → All courses by region →Found this useful? Share it.
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