N.S. backs golf course with $8M loan

The Cabot Links golf course in Cape Breton is getting an $8.25-million loan from the Nova Scotia government.

Graham Steele, minister of economic and rural development and tourism, announced the loan Sunday in Inverness, saying Cabot Linksis an economic asset to the region.

"It is providing good jobs for residents, and economic spinoffs throughout the community, and more are on the way," he said in a statement.

The money is to helpdevelop Cabot Cliffs. The $14-million project includes a second 18-hole course and hotel expansion. It's expected to open in 2015, creating seven full-time and 60 part-time jobs.

Co-owner Ben Cowan-Dewer said the expansion will do more than just double capacity on the course.

"The other thing that it does is that it makes more of a destination for people travelling from outside the province here,so Ithink it's huge and with it, you know, there are more demands," he said, citing rooms and restaurants as examples.

The province says the loan is interest-bearing and fully repayable. Plus, the company must meet all regulatory requirements to get it.

Cabot Links has been open for just over a year. About 120 people work there.

GOLF magazine recently rated it No. 82 on its list of Top 100 courses in the world.