The Chronicle
Herald
October 6, 2005
Mary Ellen MacIntyre
Golf project
swings into action by next
spring
INVERNESS — Construction on
a $5.6-million golf course
will tee off here next
spring.
“It’s been a long time
coming and the community is
delighted this is
happening,” said Tom Ryan, a
spokesman for the
community’s Industrial
Development Association.
More than 78 hectares of
prime oceanfront land will
be handed over free of
charge to a group of silent
investors. Some of the
property is owned by the
province and some by the
association, while one
portion is owned by
businessman John Chisholm
and another by the owners of
an adjacent campground.
The Cape Breton Growth Fund,
an arm of Enterprise Cape
Breton Corp., will chip in
$2.5 million in equity
funding for the project,
which means that if the
project makes money, the
group will repay the federal
government.
Ben Cowan-Dewar will head up
the project, known as Cabot
Links.
He is president of GolfTI of
Toronto, a luxury golf
travel company and a
course-ranking panellist on
some golf magazines.
“I represent the group and
am the president, CEO and
developer, but the group of
investors comes from
different parts of Canada,”
said Mr. Cowan-Dewar.
The province’s Registry of
Joint Stocks lists Greg
Foote, an associate with a
Halifax law office, as the
president of Cabot Links at
Inverness Ltd. but Mr. Cowan
said Mr. Foote’s name was
placed on the registry to
expedite the company’s
registration last week.
Mr. Cowan-Dewar said the
golf course will be designed
by Rod Whitman, an Alberta
golf course architect. Mr.
Whitman’s projects include
the Wolf Creek Golf Resort
and Blackhawk Golf Club,
both in Alberta.
Mr. Ryan said the community
has been trying to get the
land developed for almost 10
years.
“We’ve had good interest
over the years and we had
one group from the United
States that was really
interested, but it fell
through,” said Mr. Ryan.
“The beach and 150 feet
above the high water line
with our boardwalk will
still belong to the
community, and the community
will have access to the
beach from two roads,” said
Mr. Ryan.
“This golf course will be a
real economic engine for our
community and will create 20
jobs and many more as
spinoffs,” he said.
As for the “free” land, Mr.
Ryan said once the golf
course is opened, there is a
requirement for the owners
to give the development
association a sum based on
the green fees over the next
15 years.
“The (association) really
didn’t take part in the
negotiations, so I can’t
tell you what that sum would
be,” he said.
