Cabot announces its newest resort—Cabot Wilds—being built on a sprawling 2,500-acre site
A rendering of the view looking up at the clubhouse from the 18th fairway of Cabot Wilds.
Courtesy of Cabot
It’s a full-circle moment for architect Jeff Mingay. Over 20 years ago, he accompanied his long-time friend Ben Cowan-Dewar, the co-founder and CEO of Cabot’s golf portfolio, on their first visit to the site that would become Cabot Links at Cabot Cape Breton.
Icicles were flying in their face, and the wind was blowing sideways on the desolate coastline of Inverness, Nova Scotia, a town falling on economic hardship. It was obvious the land was perfect for golf. Mingay would spend three to four years building most of the bunkers for Rod Whitman on Cowan-Dewar’s original course in Nova Scotia.
Now Mingay was given an opportunity to design his own course in Nova Scotia for the Cabot brand.
Cabot has announced its latest project, Cabot Wilds, a sprawling new 2,500-acre resort in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia—a bucolic rugged site in the foothills of the Cobequid Mountains, more than three hours from Cabot Cape Breton. The course is scheduled for preview play in late 2027. The project is in partnership with Canadian businessman John Bragg and his family, founders of Oxford Frozen Foods, the world’s largest wild blueberry farming operation.
Courtesy of Cabot/Andrew Harvie
The land, formerly used for farming and mining, sits on the river valley of the River Philip, which weaves through the property and will be visible or utilized on nine holes of Mingay’s design.
"It was pretty obvious right out of the gate that we wanted the river was the star of the show," Mingay said. "But really, it's such a beautiful river. It's renowned for trout, salmon fishing, beautiful rapids and it's just a it's a really beautiful river and often windy."
Courtesy of Cabot/Andrew Harvie
Mingay, a Canadian designer who after 10 years alongside Whitman opened his own firm, working at clubs such as Victoria Golf Club in British Columbia and Minneapolis Golf Club, says Cabot Wilds has a different vibe to Cabot Cape Breton. He likened the rustic, peaceful setting to a New England-type of location.
“What I've been thinking about a lot is I think what's cool about Cabot Wilds is it's very, very different from the other Cabot properties,” Mingay said, “which, that part excites me. This is a totally different environment. Nova Scotia is so well known for its coastline, and obviously Cape Breton shows it off. But this is also such a beautiful part of Nova Scotia, it’s a rural, rustic kind of small town, small villages kind of province, too, which is so quaint.”
Cabot Wilds will also include a real-estate component as part of a Hart Howerton-designed community, including all-season living with outdoor experiences in the surrounding maple forests, wild blueberry fields and the salmon-rich river.
This will be Cabot's third Canadian property, following Cabot Cape Breton and Cabot Revelstoke in British Columbia, which will officially open in 2027. Its other locations include Cabot Saint Lucia, Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida, Cabot Highlands in Scotland, Cabot Bordeaux in France and Lofoten Links in Norway.
