Cabot Pacific’s par-three eighth, which demands a carry of over 250 yards from the back tee, is touted as a potential Canadian signature hole. (Hole simulation by Harris Kalinka)
Why Rod Whitman’s Cabot Pacific course at Cabot Revelstoke, scheduled to launch in 2026, is the most eagerly anticipated Canadian mountain golf design in almost a century.
Start the countdown golf world: Rod Whitman’s Cabot Pacific course at Cabot Revelstoke, scheduled for launch in 2026, is certain to be the greatest mountain design since Stanley Thompson unveiled his totemic Jasper Park Lodge and Banff Springs layouts in the 1920s.
Normally I prefer to view a completed golf course before venturing an opinion. But my recent tour of the still rough-and-tumble and unseeded Cabot Pacific site with the course’s superintendent, Bradley Allen, was genuinely thrilling. Designed by Canadian architect Whitman, best known for his acclaimed work on the Cabot Links course at Cabot Cape Breton, Cabot Pacific occupies a bench of land at the base of Mount Mackenzie, high above the Columbia River. Whitman has artfully carved his holes to frame long views of the surrounding Selkirk and Monashee Mountain ranges, as well as a vast emerald-green wetland seen in the distance.
Architect Rod Whitman is best known for his acclaimed work on the Cabot Links course in Cape Breton. (Image: Whitman, Axland & Cutten)
I won’t attempt to describe every hole I toured here. But the starting and finishing holes, both par fours, are sure to astonish. The opener jump-starts the fun by launching from a wildly elevated tee, while the closer twists through a gorgeous alpine amphitheatre directly below the clifftop clubhouse. The par-three eighth, meanwhile, is touted by everyone working on site as a potential Canadian signature hole. It’s a gorgeous brute that demands a carry of over 250 yards across a yawning gorge from the back tees.
Greens at Cabot Pacific are large, fairways are wide, and the bunkering is bold. Whitman and design partners Dave Axland and Keith Cutten have brilliantly scaled every element of this determinedly “playable” design to the natural grandeur of the British Columbia setting.
Cabot Revelstoke is yet another link in the Cabot Collection of high-profile golf and real estate resorts overseen by Ben Cowan-Dewar, a Toronto-based entrepreneur who first made his mark with the opening of Cabot Links at Cabot Cape Breton in 2012. Cabot Links and its even more famous sister course, Cabot Cliffs, a Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw collaboration opened in 2016, sparked the growth of a chain that now includes Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, Cabot Citrus Farms in Central West Florida, Cabot Highlands in Scotland, and Cabot Bordeaux in France.
It’s difficult to imagine a more awe-inspiring setting for Cabot Pacific, a course that, considering the lustre attached to the Cabot brand, ultimately has to be judged brilliant to meet expectations. Located 641 kilometres east of Vancouver (415 kilometres west of Calgary) in a region marketed as the Kootenay Rockies, Cabot Revelstoke is fueling anticipation and even excitement among the mostly laid-back citizens of a booming outdoor playground famous as the “heli-skiing capital of the world.” Other Revelstoke tourism highlights include white water rafting or kayaking on the Jordan and Illecillewaet Rivers, the hiking trails and other natural charms of nearby Glacier and Mount Revelstoke national parks, live music in downtown’s Grizzly Plaza every night in July and August, and a blossoming cultural scene that includes three museums and an art gallery.
Whitman has scaled every element of this determinedly “playable” design to the natural grandeur of the British Columbia setting. (Image: Harris Kalinka)
Happily for golfers, Revelstoke is already home to a mountain valley course long regarded as a British Columbia must-play. Now celebrating its 100th anniversary, Revelstoke Golf Club is an affordable jewel that snakes alongside a heavily timbered bank of the Columbia River.
The Cabot property sits next to Revelstoke Mountain Resort, renowned among skiers as the site of North America’s greatest vertical drop at 1,713 metres (5,620 feet). Owned by B.C.-based Northland Properties, Revelstoke Mountain Resort has partnered with Cowan-Dewar in the development of 79 single-level, two- to five-bedroom luxury homes ranging from 2,200- to 5,500- square feet within six chalet-style buildings. Prices start at $3.95M (CAD).
“I don’t think there’s another destination in Canada that would have been on our radar,” Cowan-Dewar has said of Revelstoke. “It’s one heck of a great location whether you’re a golfer, a skier or just love a beautiful view.”
Best to start planning your 2026 trip to Cabot Revelstoke right now.
My great fear: how many days this course will actually be able to be open each season. There is a ton of snow in Revelstoke and shorter the season the more expensive each round will have to be to keep the quality up. But now that I’m talking about it, if you’re already going to spend $400 for a round, whats the extra $50/$75?