Resort records and contemporary promotional materials agree that the White Point course opened in 1932 as part of White Point Beach Resort’s inter-war expansion. The club’s own historical page places construction between 1929 and 1932 and attributes the layout to Donald J. Ross, while clarifying that day-to-day field work on site was handled by Ross associate Walter B. Hatch. A provincial archival postcard dated circa 1932 showing “Beach and Golf Course, White Point Beach” corroborates that the course existed by that year and was part of the province’s tourism push in the early 1930s. No published Ross office drawings, correspondence, or construction ledgers specific to White Point have surfaced publicly; neither the club nor secondary compendia provide document numbers or plan dates. One modern Ross timetable compiled by architect and researcher Tyler Rae lists the course under “Liverpool G&CC (FKA White Point Beach),” and adds “(Walter B. Hatch; Assistant),” suggesting the commission was handled through the Ross organization with Hatch in the principal field role. In the absence of preserved plan sets from the Tufts Archives or the club, the safest reading is that White Point was a Ross-office project realized locally by Hatch and completed for summer 1932 play.
Unique Design Characteristics
Because White Point remains a nine-hole loop on its original headland, the routing still showcases how the holes were threaded along rock-armored shoreline and low inland ground. The scorecard map and the club’s hole descriptions identify the long par-3 4th as a coastal one-shotter set hard to the Atlantic, while the 6th follows the shoreline as a par-5, emphasizing carry control in cross-winds and the value of using down-breeze ground as a running avenue. Inland, the 2nd crosses a small brook about 100 yards short of the green, a modest hazard that nevertheless dictates lay-up vs. approach position. The 5th bends sharply to the right around a small cemetery—an idiosyncratic boundary that enforces line-off-the-tee discipline and is part of the site’s long-standing cultural landscape. The 7th tightens between trees and a pond, then rises to a sloped green that is more effectively approached from below; the finishing 9th climbs to an elevated target that rejects short-spun approaches, a recurring test when the wind turns down-coast.
The club’s current scorecard documents the nine-hole par as 35 for men and 36 for women, with 2,951 yards from the back markers (5,902 for 18 using alternate tees). Those distances—modest by modern standards—magnify the routing’s exposure to the elements: angles that sit obliquely to the surf, short-par-4 decisions (notably at the 8th), and compact green pads that are difficult to hold when the wind freshens. The clearest surviving expressions of the 1932 work are the way the 4th and 6th nestle along the ocean and the headland’s repeated “in-and-out” pattern that sends the player toward, along, and away from the water within a short walk; both ideas are visible on the club’s course map and in period/modern aerial imagery.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Canadian output, White Point represents a small, resort-driven commission in the Maritimes, completed late in the architect’s career and contemporaneous with his better-documented Canadian work in Ontario and Manitoba. In Nova Scotia specifically, White Point is one of only a handful of courses attributed to Ross or his firm; Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth is the province’s only 18-hole Ross design, while White Point stands as the Ross-era nine-hole coastal complement associated with the province’s shoreline hotels and lodges. A provincial tourism postcard from around 1932 placing the beach and golf course side-by-side underlines the extent to which the layout was used to market Nova Scotia’s “Ocean Playground” image, and helps explain why the club retained a public-facing, resort-adjacent identity rather than developing into a private championship venue. There is no evidence that White Point hosted major provincial or national championships in the Ross era; its tournament calendar today is community-oriented (men’s and ladies’ events and local invitationals).
Current Condition / Integrity
The course remains a nine-hole layout on the original resort peninsula, and the hole sequence and general siting of the 4th and 6th along the Atlantic appear consistent with historic images and modern mapping. The club’s scorecard and local rules reveal present-day overlays not uncommon on compact coastal properties: power lines impact play on 8/17 and 9/18, and a large rock outcrop within fairway height turf is treated as an immovable obstruction only in certain contexts—practical adaptations to limited acreage. In late 2024–early 2025, the club publicly documented work “on greens 4–9” and “greens and greenside bunkers,” indicating an active renovation phase; social posts reference a “golf course architect,” although the designer’s identity and scope are not formally documented on the website. Absent project specifications, it is premature to say whether this work is restorative (seeking to recapture 1932 contours and bunker placements) or a modernization.
The documentary base for White Point is thinner than for better-archived Ross courses. The resort and club websites, Nova Scotia tourism listings, and a 1932 provincial postcard provide the backbone for dating the course and describing its present form. The most specific attribution nuance comes from the club’s own “Donald Ross Design” page, which states Ross did not oversee construction and credits Walter B. Hatch with ensuring the design intent. Secondary research (Tyler Rae’s timeline) also ties Hatch to the job and suggests a historical alias (“Liverpool G&CC”).
Sources & Notes
White Point Golf Club — Scorecard page (images of front/back card with hole yardages, par, course map, and local rules; shows 2,951 yards for nine from back tees; indicates power-line local rule on 8/17–9/18).
White Point Golf Club — “Donald Ross Design” page (states construction “built between 1929 and 1932,” that Ross did not oversee the build, and that associate Walter B. Hatch ensured the design).
White Point Golf Club — “Course Details” page (current descriptive material identifying hole-by-hole features: brook crossing at #2, shoreline setting at #4 and #6, cemetery on #5; provides present-day characterization).
Nova Scotia Archives — “Beach and Golf Course, White Point Beach” postcard (ca. 1932) (visual confirmation of course’s existence and resort pairing in the opening year).
Tourism Nova Scotia listing for White Point Golf Club (reinforces opening year and resort course status).
White Point Golf Club — PDF resort brochure (“Welcome to your club”) (states seasonality and that the course welcomes members and green-fee golfers).
Tyler Rae, “Donald Ross — Timeline of Courses” (lists “Liverpool G&CC (FKA White Point Beach) … (Walter B. Hatch; Assistant),” suggesting a Ross-office/Hatch field role).
White Point GC Instagram reels (renovation updates stating “progress … on greens 4–9” and work on “greens and greenside bunkers” in 2024–25). Designer attribution not named in the posts cited.