The Cabot Collection has expanded its golf portfolio yet again, with a strategic investment in the world’s northernmost links-style course and one of the game’s most visually dramatic properties: Lofoten Links in Norway.

Built on a rugged, seaside landscape above the Arctic Circle, Lofoten Links (pronounced Luh-footen) is playable 24 hours a day under the midnight sun during the summer months and with the northern lights as a majestic backdrop in the fall. The 18-hole facility is situated on the island’s northern edge and faces directly north towards the Norwegian Sea, positioning it perfectly to see one of nature’s most dazzling phenomena.

Cabot CEO and co-founder Ben Cowan-Dewar, who’s made a living experiencing the world’s finest courses, said photographer Jacob Sjoman’s image of Lofoten’s par-3 second hole on the water with the northern lights swirling overhead is the best golf photo he’s ever seen.

“For me, just being able to be a little part of it, it’s off the charts,” Cowan-Dewar said in an interview. “I hope all golfers who share the wanderlust for the game get there at some point in their life. The whole destination of Lofoten is just unbelievable. It’s shockingly beautiful; amazing people, wonderful landscapes. And on its own it has been an extraordinary destination. So, I think there’s just so much there to draw people and hopefully give them just a truly amazing experience.”

The investment in Lofoten Links – terms weren’t disclosed – brings a seventh property into the Cabot Collection, which specializes in luxury resort and residential golf destinations.

The company in July expanded to continental Europe with Cabot Bordeaux, having acquired the 400-acre Golf Du Médoc Resort and its two 18-hole courses in Bordeaux, France. Cabot last year debuted its first U.S. property, Citrus Farms in Florida, and also opened its first Caribbean property in Saint Lucia.

Having burst onto the global golf scene in 2012 with the opening of Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Cabot is currently developing its second Canadian destination (Revelstoke) in British Columbia and is building a second course at its Castle Stuart property in the Scottish Highlands.

LEARNING ABOUT LOFOTEN

Cowan-Dewar said he first met the developer of Lofoten Links, Frode Hov, back in 2019 and learned the backstory of a special course that took almost a quarter of a century to bring to life.

Following through on the vision of his late father, Hov in 1997 had a six-hole course built along with a small number of cozy Nordic-style cottages on his family’s farmland to house traveling golfers. Almost 15 years later, having proven that a golf course could be maintained so far north, Lofoten Links began expanding to 18 holes and opened in its current form in 2015.

“It was a lot like Cabot and Cape Breton in a lot of ways, of sort of having a dream to build golf on a (challenging) site and being able to realize that very few people are nutty enough to have done that,” said Cowan-Dewar, adding that Hov was the one who ‘willed’ it to happen. “We engaged with them in the lead-up to Covid and then in Covid, we sort of put it on the back burner. And then the opportunity resurfaced.

“There are few courses that I’ve ever seen that are as amazing a site and as beautiful,” he added. “Whether it’s Cape Breton or Saint Lucia or the Highlands of Scotland, we’re trying to find beautiful seaside sites. This hits all of those notes and we’re just thrilled to be able to be a part of it. There’s a high degree of probability had Covid not happened that it might have been something we would have gotten to in 2020. Obviously, as the world sort of shut down and nobody knew what was happening, we were focused on our existing projects and really doing that.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

So, what’s next with Lofoten Links?

Unlike the other destinations in the current portfolio, the property won’t be rebranded as Cabot Lofoten Links. At least for now.

“It’ll be an evolution, and we’ll see where we go,” said Cowan-Dewar, noting that Hov remains the facility’s general manager. “There’s no name change. There’s no dramatic changes. It’s really just trying to support them and plan. It will certainly be tied to the Cabot Collection and we’re honored to have it in that company and just keep building on the foundation of the success that they’ve had.”

Asked whether another course could be in the mix in this remote stretch of Norway, Cowan-Dewar was reminded of the early days in Cape Breton, where Cabot Cliffs opened just over three years after the debut of the original Cabot Links.

“I remember the day we opened Cabot Links and somebody said, `When is the next course coming?’ I said, ‘God, can’t we enjoy it?’ But the thing we know for sure is that you can’t have two courses until you have one course, and they have a hell of a course. Hopefully we’ll figure out an opportunity to grow that and certainly we’re always on the lookout to add great golf and great destinations.”

Cowan-Dewar and his team have taken differing approaches with various destinations in the growing portfolio.

Citrus Farms, the former World Woods, was completely overhauled – with two brand new 18-hole courses and two short courses. Revelstoke is being built from the ground up, and the Highlands enlisted noted architect Tom Doak to build its second 18-hole course. Chances are that Lofoten Links might more closely follow the lead of a property like Cabot Bordeaux, where the existing golf gets a refresh.

“It’s really just trying to create the greatest experience we can for golfers who are going to set out on this journey to be able to get there,” said Cowan-Dewar, who teed off at 11 p.m. when he visited in July and finished his round without the sun going down. “It’s just one of the magical days in your golf life and we’re thrilled to make it better in any way, shape or form we can.”