Highland Revisited

Last week, in response to Jerry Zgoda’s rankings of metro courses, I talked about the key elements of a great golf course. This week, I’ll talk about Highland National in St. Paul.

Golfers who played Highland Golf Course prior to the recent renovation recall a parkland golf course with trees uniformly lining the fairways to provide definition to the golf holes.

A key feature of the new Highland National is the use of the mature trees on the golf course to impact the strategy of the golf holes. Although the bunkers at Highland help shape the strategic route on many of the new holes the mature trees play an even more definitive role.

Water encroaching on golf holes at Highland would only be considered a negative if you view the water on number 16 at Cypress or number 18 at Pebble Beach as negatives. In Minnesota and elsewhere, water is a vital and historical part of the game (re: Bobby Jones lily pad shot at number 9 at Interlachen in the 1930 U.S. Open).

A more refined critique of the Twin Cities Municipal golf course layouts would find that Highland National deserves a high ranking in the metro area golf offerings based on its strategic playing features. Like all great golf courses its appeal grows the more it is played and its subtle rewards are discovered.

On the Paul Miller Golf Places to Play List, Highland National ranks a rocking 4 birdies.

Paul Miller can be reached at:

Paul Miller Design, Inc.
220 Division Street
Northfield, MN 55957
507-645-6999
paulmillerdesign@msn.com