Highlands Country Club

Set at roughly 4,000 feet on the Highlands Plateau of western NC, Highlands Country Club is a private, seasonal club located a mile west of downtown Highlands along Dillard Road (NC-106). The golf course is a compact, walkable par-70 whose character remains defined by creeks, wooded slopes, short transitions between greens and tees, and a run of exacting one-shot holes. Members today encounter a classic, sub-6,300-yard routing that places a premium on accuracy into greens rather than brute length. Around the course sit a modest clubhouse complex and a broad slate of non-golf amenities; the club’s Life Enhancement Center underwent a major renovation and expansion in 2014 and the campus supports croquet, tennis, a heated pool, and fitness programming. The club’s calendar is anchored by member events and by the Bob Jones Invitational, a long-running charity tournament that benefits the Highlands-Cashiers Health Foundation. The course itself plays over cool-season turf with Penn A-4 bentgrass on the greens, which is actively managed for shade and rainfall challenges typical of this high-rainfall, mountain micro-climate. Visitors fortunate enough to see the golf course as guests will find a traditional presentation—narrow corridors in places, sharp elevation changes, and Ross-style targets—culminating in an uphill par-3 finisher below the clubhouse.