#312: Ben Cowan-Dewar, Cofounder & CEO, Cabot – Be an idea collector

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of How Leaders Lead with David Novak. Today's guest is Ben Cowan-Dewar, co-founder and CEO of Cabot. Ben was just 24 years old when he set out to build a world-class golf course in a small town in Nova Scotia. 20 years later, Cabot has become one of the most respected golf brands in the world.

Ben's leadership story is a master class in courage of conviction, patience, and knowing what you're simply not willing to compromise. Enjoy this conversation with David and Ben, and I will see you at the very end of the episode for the debrief.

David Novak (0:42)

I got to ask you, what's the best golf shot that you've ever hit and where'd you hit it?

Ben Cowan-Dewar (0:47)

Gosh, that's a great question. I think it was a 5-wood. I hit in the hole on an uphill par 5 for a 2 with a good friend of mine. He wasn't a very good golfer and didn't totally get the gravitas of it. As someone who's not had a hole in one, everybody tells you that that's really meaningful, but you're still waiting for the one.

David Novak (1:10)

Yeah. Well, I got to tell you, an albatross, a 2 on a par 5, it's never happened to me. Now, what's the best shots you've ever seen someone else hit?

Ben Cowan-Dewar (1:19)

Well, I saw somebody had a driver out of a bunker off the deck onto a green, which was just unfathomable, but he would be too embarrassed if I said who that was.

SPEAKER_1 (1:29)

No, that's why I asked the question, because I hit the shot. Oh, yeah.

David Novak (1:34)

A 287-yard mini-driver out of the trap at Nashville on the ninth hole. Best shot I've ever hit in my life.

Ben Cowan-Dewar (1:41)

The caddy did say it was the best shot he'd seen, so I have to give you props.

David Novak (1:46)

Forget the humility part. I've already taken care of that.

Now, getting back to what you're all about, Ben, and you are all about golf and creating golf experiences, and you want to create what you call soul-sturried experiences. I love that phrase. What do you mean by that?

Ben Cowan-Dewar (2:05)

Well, I think I'd grown up loving golf and just addicted to the game as a kid, and I would watch it.

My first real memory of watching television was watching Jax win in 86 with my dad, and I would have been six years old. And my love of the Masters was born from that, my love of watching golf on TV. And I think when I was probably 12 or so, I started drawing golf holes, and my mom kept the binder of it. And the course I was a member at, and the odd time I get photos of my paint on the plaque there, was a course that I'd get dropped off at with my best friend. First thing in the morning, we'd play 54 holes. We'd have a grilled cheese and a Coke. And it had no bunkers. And it was just fostered a love of golf. But very early on, I also got to play. And so, it was not on any World Top 100 list, but I got to see glimpses of great golf. And when I got to see truly great golf courses, it just felt so different. And I think what I realized was one of the ingredients was if you were by the ocean, it was pretty incredible.

And I have three wonderful kids who can tell me wherever we go in the world, whether a site is beautiful. And so many of the seaside courses were so memorable. But it sort of then fostered my love of golf courses as much as it did the game. And I just, I couldn't describe it. But I knew it when I saw it. And that sort of set me out on a journey to see as many as I could.

David Novak (3:45)

And I know you see the world and you're always checking things out.

When was the last great experience you had somewhere else that really inspired you to raise the bar even higher at Cabot, which is already world class? Did you go somewhere that said, you said, Hey, you know, there's something here I really want to pick up.

Ben Cowan-Dewar (4:04)

Almost all of our competition in the resort and public side and even in the private side, it's such a small industry that I think everybody would and would share best practices and and see it. And I think I try and see almost everything I can. I played most of the world's great courses and I try and seek out the new ones. But I think it's so often going back to the classics of what made it really so great. And I think I've been to Cyprus twice in the past year, and I've been a few times, and lucky a few times over the years. But as I was there and you sort of see how McKenzie got so much out of a piece of land that obviously had such amazing attributes, but it was really how he wove the other holes in around to get to eight and nine in the dunes, and then to get back out to the coast. I think, you know, sometimes you go back to the classics you've seen before and get as much inspiration as the stuff that's new. And I did go back to Bandon Dunes, which Mike Kaiser built, and Mike was one of the seminal influences in my life this summer and saw Sheep Ranch, which Bill Coor and Ben Crenshaw had done. We'd be lucky to work with them.