Cabot Cliffs golf course opens to public in Inverness, Cape Breton

Today is the official opening day for the Cabot Cliffs golf course in Cape Breton.

The long-awaited sister course to the world-renowned Cabot Links golf course in Inverness, Cape Breton, is now open to the public. 

Cabot Cliffs along the Gulf of St. Lawrence has been open for about a year to reviewers, but now the public can pay to use what Golf Digest and Golf Magazine dubbed the Best New Course of 2015. 

The Cliffs are carved into the landscape, with part of the course along a five-storey drop to the sea below. 

• Cape Breton's Cabot Cliffs named best new golf course in North America
• Cabot Cliffs opening eyed by golf world as 'getting back to the roots'

The newest addition to the remote community of Inverness (a four-hour drive from Halifax) and the existing Cabot Links are both rated among the top 100 golf courses in the world.

Cabot Cliffs made its debut this year at number 19 in the Golf Digest World Top 100 Courses. 

Cabot's rates range from $185 at peak season for resort guests to $215 for golfers only. There are discounts for residents of Nova Scotia and further discounts for Cape Bretoners. For example, if someone from Cape Breton wanted to play during off-peak times it could cost as little as $95 a round.

The course was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

To attract visitors to the course, there's a high-end golf-touring company launching its first tour of the Maritimes in September.

The tour package starts at $10,788 per person.