Highlands Links

History of Highlands Links:

In 1938 when the National Park Service hired Stanley Thompson to design
and build Highlands Links, he told friends that it was the best contract he ever
had. If you consider that Thompson had created and built world famous
courses such as Jasper Lodge, Banff, St. George's and Capilano it's easy
to understand that he knew Highlands Links would be a course to rival
anything that he had done before.
He was given the breadth and scope of a National Park setting as his tract of
land and simply given one stipulation – to take advantage of the scenery and
vistas.
The end result was an inspired piece of architecture that proved to be one of
Thompson’s finest design achievements and has established Highlands Links
as one of the top 100 courses worldwide. Highlands Links began as a nine-hole
course with Thompson convincing his employers, at the time, that a second
nine holes was essential. Normally one to remain with his original plan, Thompson in this case changed the routing of the course during construction, which led him to follow the Clyburn River, an integral element of the final layout and thus created the what is now known as the "The Mountains and Ocean Course".

Constructing the course was a huge project and progressed quickly due to the efforts of the local work crew. The course was constructed in two phases over two years using only the most basic of construction methods and just two pieces of machinery. It was difficult to bring machinery to the site and hard working local labourers did much of the work by hand. Many of today’s golfers don’t realize that at the time of construction, a great deal of the course site was clear land and the growth of the surrounding flora, fauna and vegetation has come since then. Holes #1, 2, 15, 16 and 18 did not need to be cleared back in the early stages of construction. Very few trees were present and it’s a tribute to Thompson’s vision that with all the growth, the course is still attractively framed and has retained its shape almost seventy years later.

Thompson chose to use many elements of Scottish culture, history and golf holes in Scotland to name and truly describe the holes on the course and interpret his design elements. Names like “Heich O’ Fash” which means “Heap of Trouble” becomes appropriate when one plays #4. Many of the fairways are remarkably similar to Scottish topography. In Scotland, the Highlands are renowned for their romantic scenery and history. The seventh hole at the Highlands Links, Killiecrankie, resembles that long narrow historic pass of Killiecrankie in the Highlands of Scotland – a famous wooded gorge that played a significant role in Scotland’s history in 1689.

The Scottish influence was not limited to names or scenery alone, but incorporated into the building of a fine traditional test of golf. Some of the same tests that have challenged golfers at St. Andrews since the 15th century are duplicated at the Highlands Links. One example of this is the fifth hole, “Canny Slap” that is similar to the most famous one-shot hole in golf, #11 (Eden) at the Old Course, in St. Andrews, Scotland. A typical Scottish trademark at the Highlands Links is the heroic tees with their long forced carries. Other Scottish embellishments that Thompson included were blind tee and green strokes; rolling, meandering fairways, dune-like mounds, pot bunkers, small undulating greens, seascape panoramas and ever-present heather.

In addition to fairways contoured like “rolling waves of surf,” balance for the golfer was another critical component in Thompson’s design of the Highlands Links; balanced stroke values were intentionally built into the construction of each fairway; balance in overall architectural design and the balanced blending of scientific strokemaking combined with the beauty of the natural landscape constituted the elements of Stanley Thompson’s work at the Highlands.

In 2005, Highlands Links was ranked top Canadian course in GOLF Magazine's "Top 100 Courses in the World" (71st in the world), top Canadian public course (22nd overall) according to Golf Digest's prestigious “Top 100 Best Courses Outside the United States,” and was awarded the title of Best Course in Atlantic Canada by SCOREgolf magazine "Golfer's Choice Awards.

Today, the staff at Highlands Links, as well as the community of Ingonish, are eager to offer a warm Cape Breton welcome to golfers from around the world who have arrived to enjoy what Stanley Thompson proudly called, “the mountains and ocean course.”

Note: If you are interested in the history of Highlands Links, the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and the Ingonish community you may be interested in:

- Contacting Ken Donovan. Ken has spent years studying the history of northern Cape Breton and is considered an authority when it comes to the history of the area.

- Refer to "The Nashwaak Review" Volume 14/15 Fall 2004/Winter 2005 which includes an essay by Ken Donovan titled 'Thinking Down the Road': Stanley Thompson, Canada's Golf Architect, Artist and Visionary, 1893-1953

- Refer to "Natural Selections - National Parks in Atlantic Canada 1935-1970" Author - Alan MacEachern, McGill - Queen's University Press 2110

- Joe Robinson, a native son of Ingonish, has been the head professional of Highlands Links for more than thirty- five years. Joe started as a caddy on the course at the age of twelve and his love of the game flourished. In January 2007 Joe was interviewed for golfclubatlas.com, an internationally recognized website for golf experts and aficionados. The interview provides numerous details and insights into the Highlands Links Golf Course over the years and is a must read for anyone interested in Highlands Links and it's history. You can find the interview at: http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewrobinson.html