Highland Country Club

I received an invite to play Highland C.C., located in Highland, IL. It will celebrate its 100th year anniversary this month. From what I could research, looks like the 9-hole course was built in 1957. The club has a pool and a large area for outdoor events. The guest fee was only $25 – you can’t beat that!

Several interesting facts about the course. There is no pro shop. A bar area is on one side of the clubhouse and the dining room on the other. Most members have their own carts which are stored and charged in a new cart shed. There are no tee times except for the weekends in the summertime. If you arrive and there are several groups on the tee, many members go to hole #3 to start their round. When you finish your first nine holes, you have the honor of teeing off on hole 1 first again.

With the course being built in 1957, it is of the older architectural design. Very little earth was moved and you will have very few flat lies. It is hilly, many blind shots and the greens are mostly tilted from back to front – with several greens being very severe (especially hole 3). The condition of the greens were splendid. It is wide open off the tee and it is a second shot golf course. On holes 1, 3 & 4, your approach shots are extremely uphill to the greens. Sometimes it is hard to see the flagstick. The course has plenty of character and challenge, that you would never get tired of it.

The yardage switching from playing the whites/blues each nine is 6,450 yards. Holes 4 & 6 switch from a par 4/5 on one nine and just the opposite on the next nine. If I was going to compare the course to something I’ve played in St. Louis, it would be Normandie. However, Highland C.C is much hillier than Normandie.

After the round, we stopped into the bar area to grab a bite to eat and have a few drinks. The service was outstanding and the burgers were exceptional. The club gave off a friendly atmosphere vibe. Looked like a fun place to be member, with yearly dues roughly $2,000/year. While we were there, they had a Halloween Party for the children of the members.

If you get a chance to play here, will it be like a country club you find in St. Louis – no. What you will find is a small town, fun 9-hole country club which has a friendly membership vibe. Can’t wait to be invited back next summer when the fairways are not dormant. Enjoyed the invite very much.