The climb up the staircase to the 11th tee at The Links at Crowbush Cove takes about 30 seconds. Trees overhang and cleats click against the wood. Upon reaching the top, everything opens—and you’re hit with the salty ocean air. Locals call it Prince Edward Island’s own “stairway to heaven.” Red sand on the beach is everywhere you look—and way, way across the ocean is northern Quebec. It’s the kind of setting you think about in the depths of winter, the kind of place where golf was made to be played.
Crowbush Cove is the highest-ranked course on Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province (about 2,220 square miles and only 140 miles across), sitting No. 25 on Golf Digest’s latest ranking of the Best Courses in Canada. In 1994 when it opened, it won Best New course in the country.
Brady McCloskey
If you look at PEI on a map you might initially think, well, how could this be taken seriously as a golf destination?
But Crowbush Cove is part of a strong collection of courses across Prince Edward Island that offers so much—championship tests, modern layouts and iconic designs using the natural movement of the oceanside land as their canvases.
It takes no time at all to zip around—in fact, Sam MacPhail, the CEO of GolfPEI, and one of the head pros on the island, and Ben King, played one hole from all 18 courses on PEI in one day (!) last year. The year prior they played 63 holes, nine-hole spins at seven different golf courses, on one brilliant July day—and while going from course to course, you’re also able to eat some of Canada’s best cuisine.
And, oh, it’s probably the best value for golf in the country—maybe North America.
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American travellers are “blown away” by the value, MacPhail tells me, with the American dollar hovering around being worth $1.35 Canadian.
“Prince Edward Island is a place you can wrap your arms around. I like to think of it as one big golf resort,” MacPhail says. “You’re never far from great golf, great food and great entertainment. It’s all just down the road.
“People come for the golf, but they stay for everything else.”
Let’s start with the golf.
Brady McCloskey
The Links at Crowbush Cove has fairways that spill through dunes toward the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A few years ago, Hurricane Fiona ripped through PEI, and power wasn’t fully restored for three weeks. Rows and rows of trees were taken out on the first five holes, turning it into a better linksy experience. There are a hearty handful of Cabot-esque views (which makes total sense, since Cabot Cape Breton is about 68 miles away as the crow flies), and a highlight is the penultimate hole, a cheeky par 3 with a funnel-type green that is just begging for an ace.
Crowbush has a pair of sister courses in Dundarave (first photo) and Brudenell River (below), each owned by the government. Dundarave winds through mature trees and along the river itself—plus it boasts some of the most iconic bunkering patterns in the country—while Brudenell offers a traditional parkland experience with six par 3s, six par 4s and six par 5s. It also takes you right into the river, as on the par-3 10th you tee off from a wee island in the water.
Brady McCloskey
The north shore is also home to the Stanley Thompson-designed Green Gables Golf Course (below). Located in PEI National Park and renovated in 2008 by Thomas McBroom, there are Instagram-worthy views around every corner including the iconic Anne of Green Gables House, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Cavendish beach. Thompson is the mastermind behind plenty of Canada’s best including Banff Springs in Alberta, Highland Links in Nova Scotia and multi-time PGA Tour host St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto. At Green Gables, he was at his creative best—using the parkland mounds and rises to thrill golfers of all skill levels.
Brady McCloskey
Canadian golf legend Lorie Kane is an ambassador of Mill River Golf Course (below), close to the northwest tip of the island, and she knows what she’s doing—Mill River is another one of PEI’s top-ranked courses and impressive bunkering, tumbling fairways and subtle elevation changes across the property that make each hole a pleasure and a challenge.
Brady McCloskey
There are probably a good half-dozen courses worth mentioning, but the island’s golfing beauty might only be surpassed by its culinary efforts. Chef Michael Smith’s FireWorks Feast at the world-renowned Inn at Bay Fortune gets all the love—and it should, it’s a five-hour indoor and outdoor culinary experience that includes unlimited raw oysters, a farm tour, a multi-course meal and a sabre toast—but whether it’s a roadside food truck like the Dreadnaught Eatery (just eight minutes from Crowbush), an elevated wood-and-leather steakhouse like Sims in downtown Charlottetown, or a quaint coffee shop like Receiver, you will eat just as well as you golf on PEI.
It’s quick to heap praise on both the golf and the food but where you lay your head at night is just as nice. Summertime in Atlantic Canada is tough to beat and the cottages at Crowbush are an idyllic setting to see—and feel—all it offers. The Crowbush resort has a hotel, one- or two-bedroom cottages for groups of any size, a pool, and a private-access point to the beach. With basically every room having golf-course views, too.
Just the golf is a good enough reason to think about PEI. But the people are kind enough, the landscapes are beautiful enough, and the food is delicious enough that a return trip may be booked before you even leave.
There are plenty of big, iconic golf destinations in Canada.
But the best value comes from its smallest province.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
