Nova Scotia Resort Fox Harb’r Doubles Down On Golf

The Ocean Course at Fox Harb’r Resort in Nova Scotia offers myriad views of the Northumberland Strait

Fox Har’br

In Canada, when you order a double double at Tim Hortons, you get two shots of cream and two packs of sugar poured into your coffee. The dough that built Fox Har’br, a sprawling 1,100 acre oceanfront property that snuggles up against Nova Scotia’s North Shore came from selling tens of millions of that exact order along with billions of timbits and apple fritters.

The resort was founded a quarter century ago by the late Ron Joyce, who parlayed part of the fortune he built as co-founder of Tim Hortons—sold to Wendy’s in 1995 for $425 million, nearly two decades before Burger King acquired the Canadian quick-service giant for $11.53 billion—into the creation of the property. Today, the resort is owned and operated by Joyce’s son Steven, who is spearheading an expansion of its golf facilities and guest amenities.

The original routing was a tale of two courses in one, mixing parkland golf with a linksy Scottish-style layout. Braggadocious golfers who pull the ‘what’s the course record and where is the first tee’ act will be thrilled to know the owner of the course record is none other than Tiger Woods. The progenitor of the famous phrase shot a 63 here on a sunny spring day in 2009. That record will stand for perpetuity now that the course is midway through a $30 million renovation that will see two new wholly separate golf courses with their own singular vibes, the nearly complete Ocean Course and the inland Vineyard Course. Golf is still on offer during the renovation, with an evolving mix of finished holes that could swell to 27 by the middle of next season.

Double Trouble

The project brings together the singular talents of Doug Carrick and Tom McBroom, the great white north’s two biggest living design names, working in tandem on both courses.

Corralling the Carrick X McBroom dream team was a happy accident that came about during an open request for bids on the project.

“When we did the RFP, Doug and Tom, among others, both submitted. We really liked their design ideas, we loved the fact that they’re Canadian architects. That is certainly advantageous,” Kevin Toth, president of Fox Harb’r Resort explained. “I am a big admirer of both their designs so Steven and I couldn’t really decide between either of them. I went a bit on a lark and sent both of them a note saying ‘would you guys consider working together’. Doug got back to me saying ‘give us 48 hours to talk about it,’” and the deal was done.

“When Tom and I are generating ideas we see things a little bit differently but in many ways that is good. We each our have our own ways of doing things and this gives it a different look when you have input from someone else,” Carrick said.

Technically this isn’t the first time Carrick and McBroom have joined forces. They worked concurrently on separate tracks at Legends on the Niagara. But, while they tackled the masterplan together, they each did their own course there and then paired up on a nine-hole course.

But at Fox Harb’r, rather than hand each design stud an eighteen to tackle, both turf and bunker sculptors take on every hole together. So, it’s a true Carrick-McBroom collaboration on both courses that will get golf architecture nerds drooling as their worlds collide.

On what unites them, Carrick points to a shared design philosophy: “We both prefer natural looking golf courses as opposed to something that really looks manufactured, even though you know you are manufacturing something. We both strive to create something that looks fairly natural, like it belongs on the site we are working on.”

Where they diverge, he says, is in the more finite details: “I think the difference would be how we approach bunkers from an artistic standpoint and how we design our greens but we are close enough that it has worked. As I say we haven’t really had any disagreements about anything”

“This is kind of a dream come true for me. I’ve always wanted to do something on the ocean and to have a stretch of coastline like this to work with is very exciting,” he added. “Both Tom and I felt strongly about taking full advantage of it and getting holes right out along that shoreline so people can experience the beautiful scenery,” he continued, noting that great care was also taken care to frame memorable vistas as golfers transition from inland holes to the coastline

Variety is the spice of life and when all’s said and done there will be two courses that offer completely different golf experiences with the inland Vineyard track styled after a heathland course.

“The wind can really blow hard here, certainly in the Spring and Fall when it’s a little colder and people want to get away from that and we thought an inland course would give people that opportunity—escape from the wind and play something a little more protected,” Carrick said.

The duo has been doing nine holes at a time so during construction there would always be 18 to play, and with new holes on the Vineyard course set to open next year, guests could have 27 to play at some point next season.

The resort also recently unveiled a new Spa & Wellness Centre featuring a contrast therapy circuit with a sauna, salt room, aromatherapy steam, and cold plunge. A putting course, an increasingly hot amenity these days, is also springing up on the grounds.

Travel golfers planning a Nova Scotia getaway may want to consider an extended stay so they could hit both Fox Harb’r and Cabot Cape Breton, home to a pair of acclaimed tracks along with an 11-hole par 3. The two resorts are separated by a scenic three hours and change drive.