Highlands Country Club

Highlands Country Club is a story of two nines, not so much in that the flavor of the course changes dramatically between them, but that the two portions of the property play on opposite sides of North Carolina Rte. 106.

Both were designed by Donald Ross in due time, but it’s the opening half (on the clubhouse side) that gets more of the historical attention because one of the first players to give it a spin was none other than Bobby Jones, who struck the ceremonial tee shot. It was more than just a paid endorsement: Jones’s father Colonel P. Jones was one of the founding members (the course, near the southern border of the state, is not so bad a jaunt from Atlanta).

Both sides of the course feature large, squared greens, which may lead some Googlers to confuse the putting surfaces with the club’s equally-renowned croquet facilities.

Although the course does use a Scottish Highlander as its logo, the club itself was not necessarily named for highlands of Scotland. Instead, the entire town that the club calls home was named for the Scottish region. That said, the involvement of the Jones family at Highlands Country Club ultimately made the most headlines, and brought the most golfers to the area.