- "Worth playing"
Good conditions, greens are a little chewed up with ball marks but not nearly as bad as some other courses and they were definitely challenging to read! Everything else is in really good shape. Course makes you think a lot regarding distance off the tee and setting up the next shot. Fun course to play!
Starter mentioned that they'll be closed for renovation for a few months in 24. Replacing greens, tree maintenance, cart path maintenance, etc. Look forward to seeing them reinvest in the course! Read The Review
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- "Great course"
First time playing here in several years. The greens were good, still some signs of recent aeration, but putted pretty smooth. Tee boxes, bunkers and fairways were in good shape. I love the layout of this course, it was one of, if not my favorite Charlotte area course until it fell on hard times. Hope the bent grass greens can hold up to summer weather here in the Carolinas. Not sure why they didn't go to Bermuda greens like everyone else seems to be. Read The Review
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- "Average"
I played this course on a Monday in September, it was sunny and about 70 degrees but a very strong & gusty wind, maybe 20 to 25 mph.
I had never played this course before so that certainly impacted conditions of play and my experience overall.
I would say, the front nine on this course is much better than the back nine. The back has many holes with blind shots, extreme dog legs, many berms with rolling hills and fairway and green side bunkers that are not easily visible and can make it difficult playing the first time.
In general the course is OK. The tee boxes and fairways are good.
There are some narrow fairways on many holes where you are heavily penalized and risk going into the high rough on fairway lined creeks.
The greens were mixed, OK on some holes but on most of them pock marked with un-repaired ball marks.
The pace of play was good on a Monday afternoon, I was playing solo and had a twosome in front of me and a solo in back of me. I was able to play 18 holes in about 3 hours.
The toughest hole is the Par 5, 18th that plays 460 yards but you have water at about the 150 yard mark which is a challenge.
The Staff is nice, the gas carts were clean and in good order. Visually, it's nice with ponds, creeks and branches running throughout. The cart paths wind through the housing area, I crossed under 3 tunnels where the road goes over. When you come off the 17th green and drive the cart path you come to a large lake and the road forks. There is no sign.
There was a nice man walking his dog and he said "the 18th tee is that way'. Otherwise I would have had no idea I needed to go left.
It's a decent value overall I would say. I got the GolfNow discount at $38 bucks.
It's about 45 minutes from my house in Fort Mill, SC so it wasn't really an exceptional enough experience to make me feel as though I would want to play it again as there are too many better choices that are much closer to where I live. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played this in a scramble tournament so not a regulation round. The Bentgrass greens are still doing okay. Just a crap ton of unfixed ballmarks on every hole. The greens are very soft and average speed. The downhillers will roll out a bit but you'll need to take a good whack at the uphill ones. Conditions around the rest of the course were fine, though many bunkers have not been touched by the maintenance crew. This seems to be a trend around some of the courses here lately. Without the rakes, courses should be giving the bunkers some love every day. All in all, this course is in about the best shape it's been in the past few years, but it still ranks in the lower half of my Charlotte rankings due to the conditions / $$$ value combo. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Finally got back up to Highland Creek in Huntersville. I had been seeing and hearing better things lately and I used to play here often with a friend who lived in the community. I had modest expectations and I'll say the course met them. The Bentgrass greens were fine -- not great, not bad. The speed was decent but not fast. Putts seem to take more break because of that and that made shorter makeable putts more challenging today between the speed and the break. Perhaps I'm biased with some of the nicer courses I've been playing lately but it just goes to show that courses with smooth, fast greens stand out compared to the likes of Highland Creek. The bigger issue with the greens was the collars and areas just off the edges of greens. On several holes there was no grass on the edges, just several feet worth of bare dirt and/or weed clumps. This issue made chips and putts from just off the green dicey. Tee boxes were okay. Fairways were okay though there were some holes with the weed clumps here and there. Overall the turf conditions throughout the course was just kinda average. That said, this course has a fantastic and very challenging layout that I really like. So the gem is there. They just gotta bring it back up a notch to where it was 10 or 12 years ago when it was one of the nicest public tracks in town. All the par 5's are scoreable and offer great risk reward options -- especially the signature 18th hole, which surrendered my first eagle of the season! Much like other courses, this one is using the foam fillers in the cups, which don't affect play and do the job for not having to touch the flagstick. One note of caution, for now, this course (and supposedly others in Meck Co, though this is the first one I've heard this rule) strictly allows one rider to a cart, no matter your relation to the person. At the end of the day, I enjoyed revisiting an old favorite, but I will likely give this course another season to improve before I come back. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I hadn't played here in over 10 years because of how far I heard it had fallen. Based off recent reviews we thought we would give it a shot. The fairways were in good shape, the greens were in good shape but fairly slow. You can tell the new management is trying to get this course back. However they need more water stations and they did not have a cart girl so your only opportunity for refreshment was at the turn. It is one of the harder courses in the area and can give you headaches. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Similar to some recent reviews, there are still challenges but it seems the course is improving. There are some issues with some tee boxes (just tee off around them), there are some issues with the greens on a couple of holes (yes 10 is bad), and probably the one that's the most confusing is the amount of weeds in some of the bunkers (easy fix). But overall, the course is in an improved condition. Its such a unique layout that seeing improvement is encouraging. As i said, there are issues, but $55 for a weekend round is unfortuntely on the low end around CLT these days, and you do get a good challenge with overall good conditions at HC.
*We did get a cart that barely worked, which is odd and indicative of the financial challenges they face. Traded it in before we started, moved on. All went well after that. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Tee boxes still have not improved. Par 3's are the worst. Some fairways have bare spots but for the most part are in great condition. Biggest issue right now is the bunkers, they are not raked and there are weeds/grass growing in them. I feel this is an easy issue to fix but shows that they aren't worried or can't pay someone to do it. I booked on teeoff.com and had a discount code so for $35 definitely worth it. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Played here for the first time since the fall 2016
and I was impressed by the course conditions based on past reviews. Some of the greens had bare/dead spots, but with the exception of #10(almost unplayable) and #14 , they were located mainly on the edges away from the hole. The course could use a good soaking from mother nature as fairways and tee boxes were very firm. Hopefully this is an indication that Highland Creek is on it's way back to the shape I remember in the late 90's and early 2000's. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Overall, this is a good beginner course, but after playing Rocky River Friday, this course just about drove me crazy. A lot of bare spots in fairways, a lot of rocks in areas just off fairways, bunkers as hard as concrete, and greens that might have ran at a 7 on the stimp (if they weren't losing them). Overall, the conditions wouldn't bother me if the green fee/cart fee weren't higher than the majority of the other public courses in the area. But $52 to play, and another $10 for approximately 45 range balls, is a joke. I don't suggest playing Highland Creek, especially with Skybrook and Rocky River so close. Read The Review
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- "Never going back"
I know I posted on this course about 3 weeks ago and said it would take a lot to get me back but unfortunately I was asked to be a 4th and after I committed I found out they booked here. Not much has changed. Rough hasn't been cut in weeks, weeds growing everywhere including the greens and fairways. Bunkers weren't raked and had grass coming through. On top of all this, the starter was a complete jerk. We had a 835 tee time and he tried to push us out at 820 when our entire group was just arriving. He told us to stop talking to the other group on the first tee as "someone needs to tee off." Then after 9 when we let a 2-some play through he again yelled at us for being slow when we were doing them a favor. I have played here a lot of the last couple of years and have never seen this guy before. The course was pretty much dead other than the group behind us and the 2 some we let through yet he still told us we were moving slow. I will not return to this course until I see a better review Read The Review
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- "Never going back"
The golf course was atrocious. Greens were furry and seemed like they haven't been cut in days. Almost unputtable. The whole course is just poorly maintained. Clumps of clover and weeds intermittently throughout most fairways. Some holes there was no way to tell when the fairway ended and the rough began. Fairways and rough seemed like they hadn't been cut in days as well. Bunkers had grass growing in them on most of the holes. The layout is nice, but just not a great experience. It would take a lot for my group to go back. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Course needs some significant work. Bunkers were atrocious and some have grass growing in them. It seems as if they haven't mowed in a while, the greens were hairy and very slow. The rough behind greens, off the fairways and off the tee boxes have weeds and bushes coming in. Fairways and tee boxes are about the only thing in good shape. I normally play here monthly but will be looking to change that up after this experience. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Greens rolled well but everyone in our group felt the majority of them were hard. We couldn't get the ball to stop on the green from the fairway or even chip shots. Fairways were in great shape and most of the bunkers were fine. Bunkers were a little inconsistent with the amount of sand in them but no real issues. Tee boxes were the main concern, playing from the blues we felt most of them were chewed up or had minimal grass. Read The Review
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- "Bad, stay away"
Where to begin. 3 hour front 9 so I walked off. From what I could tell they had just punched the greens and sanded over them as they were in horrific shape. There was no Marshall or ranger out there to enforce pace of play, the groups in front of us were playing to a snails pace. They were covered in denim too which is a terrible sight to see. We waited 5-10 minutes between each shot. It's kind of a nice layout and a positional golf course, too bad the slow play and lack of rangers on the course makes it easy not to go back. Read The Review
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- "Average"
I didn’t intend to play this course – it was fourth on my list of possibilities for the day. But, my first two choices quickly fell through (see my reviews for Olde Sycamore and Charlotte National), and my third option, The Tradition, had greens under repair (pro shop very upfront when I called, saying that I probably wouldn’t enjoy my outing because of it). So, I was “stuck” with Highland Creek, and wouldn’t be able to start until 9 AM, or later, due to a seniors’ event that appears to be a regular occurrence on Thursdays. Imagine my surprise when, after having paid my greens fee, a gentleman in the pro shop indicated that their greens had also been “plugged and sanded”. The greens were absolutely TERRIBLE! For example, on the first four holes on the back nine, I had putts of 3, 5, 4, and 4 feet respectively, and took two putts on each to hole out – the putts just did not roll smoothly, or true. I will repeat my one basic complaint of Highland Creek – there are no teeboxes commensurate with my “play it forward” distance, and I struggle to hit greens in regulation because of it (78% of fairways hit, 22% of greens in regulation, and half of the latter on Par 3 holes). So, I will likely not play the course in the future. Others, who are comfortable with the existing tees and distances, would be well advised to avoid playing Highland Creek for a couple of weeks, or more, to allow the greens to recover such that their impact upon scoring will be minimized. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I found the course to be a little better than that posted last week. Four of the greens had been aerated yesterday (with the remainder scheduled for next week), and it definitely affected putting on at least one of them. The good news is that the greens fee was reduced accordingly, and I believe the round was worth the $25. Pace of play was an issue due to a Seniors event. I'm not sure that the foursome of seniors ahead of me were involved in the event, but they didn't allow me to play through, and were inordinately slow in EVERYTHING that they did whether it be finding their ball in the rough (one player seemed to hit all of his shots either into the rough or a bunker), lining up their putts, walking off the green, etc. This was my return visit to Highland Creek (see earlier review), and this time I obtained a yardage book which helped immensely in navigating the course compared to the previous round played with no clue whatsoever. My one criticism of the course remains: No Senior/Play-It-Forward tee for my driving distance. This meant that I was constantly hitting longer irons to the greens. The numbers speak for themselves: 12 fairways hit, but only two greens in regulation. If pristine greens are important to you, you may want to skip Highland Creek for a week or two until the aeration is complete and the greens recovered. If you enjoy a bargain in greens fee while suffering some putting irregularities then, by all means, give it a try. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Very disappointed with the course! Every since the new management took over the course had made some great progress and different problem areas were being worked on. I've played this course the most as I really like the layout and is challenging. Unfortunately it looks like they seem to be going backwards. Greens on front were in really bad shape, covered with weeds. They weren't mowed in the while and were slow and bumpy. Tee boxes were in bad shape and more than a third of the bunkers were unplayable. Fairways and rough hadn't been moved. I didn't know if this was intentional. It was almost impossible to find your ball if you ended up in the rough. All the employees were courteous and very helpful though. Don't think I'll be coming back till I hear some better reviews.
However, even though it doesn't concern this course the other courses like The Divide, Waterford and The Tradition all seem to be doing really well. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Greens slow, cut long. Fairways pretty fluffy also, but no bare spots or problems to really jump on. Tee boxes need some work and a few bunkers. Overall, decent shape and I would go back. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This will be a longer than normal review. I haven’t played Highland Creek for 3 years due to the Carolina Trail fiasco even though the course is only 6 miles from my house. I checked this website, and the most recent reviews (April) were mixed with one expressing the sentiment that it was the first, and probably last, time that he would play the course. I resolved to give the course a try with the intent of providing as thorough and honest review as possible.
I easily made a tee time by calling the Pro Shop the day before. Highland Creek is to be commended for scheduling tee times for singles – not every course in the Charlotte area does. I was cheerfully greeted upon arrival at the bag drop, and found the other staff to be very pleasant and congenial. The Senior Rate of $30 is competitive with other, similar courses in the area. Carts are powered by internal combustion engine, and that is my, personal preference – I have never had one of those fail me on the course, but have had several “dead battery” experiences with the electrics.
The practice green was cut long, and was very slow (overnight rain/thunderstorm may have had something to do with that). The on-course greens were equally slow, but rolled true in spite of some patchiness and an abundance of
un-repaired ball marks. Of course, the latter is more of an indictment of the clientele than of course management. The conditions put a premium on hitting the hole in the center with good pacing – putts would not “fall” no matter how closely they came to, or skimmed, the edges. The fairways and tee bases were green, and in generally good condition with only isolated spare, or patchy, areas. The rough was moderately thick, and balls that did not find the fairway sank into it and were hard to find (I actually found someone else’s lost ball by stepping upon it while searching for mine.) Many areas surrounding the tees and greens need to be cut/weeded if for nothing other than aesthetic reasons. The bunkers are the one area that do need work – all seemed to be a roughly 50:50 mix of sand and clay, and one bunker had severe erosion. The concrete cart paths were in good condition (Reviews of other courses have been rather critical of respective cart paths.)
My complaints with the course are really minor. First, there are no, real Senior tees available. The White tees are 600 yards longer than the upper limit recommended by the “Play It Forward” guidelines for my driving distance. Second, I would like to have better course/hole pictorials on the scorecard (I failed to check for a yardage book if, indeed, one exists – my bad). I generally play with a tracking app on my iPhone that includes satellite views and yardages, and that information is useful/critical to strategic round navigation and course management. Unfortunately, Highland Creek is not in the app’s inventory of courses, and lack of knowledge of the course made for a difficult round especially on the Par 5 12th hole where not knowing the layout of the hole, or the available lay-up distances/yardage was penalizing. Third, the #15 green (play started on the back nine) was being watered at 10 AM and, although I was able to dodge the sprinkler stream, the water made the green even SLOWER and I missed my sand save. Finally, the on-course restrooms are locked, and there was no key on my cart. This was easily rectified at the turn, but the situation did result in increased pressure and tension during the first nine holes of play.
All in all, I was very pleased with the course. It’s a challenging course, but I believe a fair one. Current physical conditions are generally good, and did not affect scoring. I genuinely enjoyed my outing, and will return in the very near future. I would encourage the dissatisfied April reviewer to give the course another try – I think that he would be pleasantly surprised. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Great layout and the greens have improved now that they have cut them down. There is POA annua in them, but when they are cut down, they roll real well. Need some work in the fairways and tees, but they are playable. Very good test of golf and once the fairways and tees improve a great value for the layout that this is. Pro shop staff very attentive as well as restaurant staff. Read The Review
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- "Average"
Tee boxes and fairways were in decent shape but greens were in rough shape. I would say about half of the greens need significant work, they are either burned out or have sand spots all over them. These spots affected all putts and a lot of shots into the greens. I would have rated lower but we were able to get a deal of $35 (which is still high for the conditions). $55 for a regular tee time is not even close to worth it right now. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
This course is an awesome layout, clubhouse staff and outside personnel are great, food and beverage has a great view, clean, well kept, professional. Tee boxes and fairways are some of the best around (especially with all the rain lately). Greens are the only thing keeping it from a 5. They are coming in after the aerification, they need some more time to get right. Some of the greens are fantastic, others need some work. As good as this course is, it would regain its status as one of the best public facilities in the area with some new greens. Almost everyone has switched over to the championship bermuda, man would this place rock! Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
The course itself was in good shape. The greens are beaten up from a long summer, but were still rolling well enough, just a tad slow and showing lots of wear and tear. Traps were great, fairways ok (lots of unfilled divots) but tee boxes were not very good. Fortunately we get to use tees, so who cares. No big problems with the course conditions.
What we did have a big problem with is the guy in the pro shop. We played on the sunday before labor day, we showed up to a course that was very quiet, my friend had the 4 for 3 clickitgolf coupon that is valid on weekends, and the guy in the pro shop told him he could not use it because "holiday rates" were in effect. Again, we played on sunday, before the holiday. Come on dude, the course was completely quiet, there were plenty of gaps on the tee sheet, yet this guy wanted to risk turning customers away because the course is being greedy, and wants to milk its customers when the course conditions are not even up to scratch to charge premium rates. To be fair though, in the end the manager was called, and he ok'ed it. But beware when using coupons on a "holiday weekend". Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Finally got back to Highland Creek after many years. I had let it fall off my play list when the Carolina Trail went downhill and then came under new management. It definitely has come back and is in good playable shape. Still one of the toughest and well designed tracks around town. Tees, fairways and bunkers in fine shape. The rough is not only thick and tough on most holes, but a bit weedy and overgrown on some holes. There were maybe a handful of holes where even the fairways had some trouble and there were spots marked as ground under repair. The greens were pretty good. Similar to Emerald Lake, a few had some weed sprigs and bare spots, but they rolled just fine. So, overall, the course doesn't have any major issues and is very playable. I used to enjoy the challenge of this course and will play it again soon. A few things I wasn't as happy with. We had a 1:30 tee time as a twosome that was only a few holes behind several groups playing in an Inter Club championship. So once we caught them on about the 6th tee, we were stuck behind them for the next 3.5 hours - just brutally slow, waiting on them on every hole. We actually had chipping and putting contests on the greens to pass the time. Might have been better if the staff had spaced it out a little further or at least given us a heads up when we made the tee time. Also, there were no Gold tee boxes. We were playing the Blues, which were supposed to be the next one inside the tips. Since there were no Golds, the Blues were on the Gold box most holes (perhaps because of the Inter Club). At any rate, that made an already difficult course that much harder. One of the par 4's on the back played 430+. Anyway, still a great track and I'm glad it's playable once again. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I have always like this course and its layout, very interesting and challenging. Very pleased to see that a lot of work has been done to bring this course back to what it used to be. There is still a lot of work being done and it is very encouraging. Course should be in even better condition is a couple of months. They had a storm the night before we played and the maintenance crew did a great job getting it ready. Greens in great shape, fairways were mostly good and bunkers were being worked on. Tee boxes need work like the other trail courses, but not a major issue. Good value if you have the Queen City Passport. I will be coming back for sure. Read The Review
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- "Average"
As with most other former CT courses, I've avoided playing Highland Creek for quite some time. Recent reviews have talked about how the course is coming back, so I decided I'd give it a try for the $29 twilight rate online. You can tell that the new management is working on improving the course, but it will take some time. Most of the fairways and greens are very, very thin. The fairways were all running very fast, as I got good roll on every tee shot. The only exception was #2 fairway, which may be the lowest point on the course. The greens need more uniform grass growth on them. The slopes on HC greens are too severe for as bumpy as they are currently. You can't get a putt started online and have it hold because of the thinness of the grass. Some teeboxes have had extensive work done to them, while others need more attention. I think the course is going to need another full growing season to get to where it needs to be. They also need to repair/replace steps/walkways to some of the tees and greens. All of the bunkers did have nice, white sand in them. Highland Creek is definitely a work in progress and should improve as the year goes on. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
I haven't played this course in quite a few years. I have heard of how the course was a year ago and I have read on this site by a few people about the turn around the course has made. I was NOT disappointed at all!!! I love the track by how some holes take my driver out of my hand and makes me play all types of shots. Greens were more receptive then I thought they would be. Everyone says they were fast leading up to the round, but they weren't as fast as they were saying. The greens rolled true, but playing behind a few groups some of them wasn't fixing ball marks and dragging their feet along the green. We just fixed it and moved on. The one thing that I would like to see is that the club house do would be to eventually upgrade from the gas carts. I will be back again especially after spring starts, I want to see how the course is when the grass isn't in a dormant state. Great job turning the place around. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
If you have played Highland Creek in the past couple of years, then you probable still have a bitter memory of your last experience. Course conditions were poor from tee to green, with exception of the fairways, and the cost of play exceeded the conditions. Bunkers were left to wastelands and the cart path was equivalent to an off-road adventure in a 4x4. It is only through sheer boredom and decent weather that I decided to stop by for a round and see how things had been since my last round which was in the spring of 2013. To say that I was shocked would be a slight stretch of truth, however I would be fully willing to admit to being pleasant surprised. I would honestly say that the upgraded course conditions were obvious from the very first tee. Nice, fluffy sand in bunkers that were edged and visibly well maintained. Greens were surprisingly firm and quick, given the recent precipitation and time of year. Tee boxes had defined borders and much flatter hitting surface than in my personal recent memory. Cart path had also received some fresh concrete and offers a pleasant ride. If there is one course that I believe deserves a second chance this coming season, I would say that Highland Creek is it. It is an undeniably excellent track that challenges a wide skill set, and with the return of conditions that made it stand out as one of the best public courses in charlotte for years, I personally think it is taking the initial steps needed to reclaim its right to be called one of the best public courses in Charlotte. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Highland Creek deserves another look, for those who, like me, have avoided it past couple of years. It has moved from my Do Not Play list to Worth Playing. The challenging layout will both hook you and madden you. The greens are not great like Springfield or Ballantyne Resort, but good. Fairways are very good, refurbished bunkers have lovely fluffy sand (some are still under repair), rough is tough, tee boxes are average, staff is friendly, clubhouse is excellent. It's a bit high on the price/value curve for me to play there more often, but if you find a good discount, go for it, you won't be disappointed! Read The Review
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- "Average"
I played here for the first time in 7-8 years probably. I had heard the course was really turning a corner, so I wanted to check it out. To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the course. The greens have just recently been punched, so they're very bumpy. There were a few tee boxes that if I had been hitting iron, the ball would have been sitting down...not mowed recently. A few greens had some disease showing and one of the pins was right in the middle of it when there was a whole other corner of the green that was in good shape, so I'm not sure why you wouldn't put the pin there. The bunkers were in pretty good shape and the sand looks fresh. The rough was a little unkept in places. The absolute worst thing though was I stopped to use the bathroom on the back at one of the on course bathrooms and it was so NASTY. There were spider webs everywhere, toilet paper all over the place, the top of the toilet was missing, etc. Luckily I only had to pee. I can live a little with places on the course being less than ideal, but the bathrooms were atrocious. While it may be better than it was, it's pricey in my opinion for the course condition. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
4 Stars, shocker I know but I might have gone 3.5 but had to give an extra .5 just because of how bad Highland Creek was a year ago and where it is now. I was almost shocked. Tee to Green I would say 4to4.5. We played it down and never got a lie to complain about (3 players). The fairways are nearly perfect, all the bunkers are rebuilt and excellent except 2 still under construction and almost finished. the rough is pretty consistent and there are a few areas of bad spots, not many and a few weeds here and there but nothing terrible. The greens rolled fantastic yet the only bad part of the course still is maybe 5 or 6 greens have some bare dirt spots on the edge of the green. The greens are maybe a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 due to the bad spots but 95% was beautiful bent that rolled great. These are bent greens in summer after all. Obviously the pens don't go in those areas. All 3 of us are very experienced players and we all liked it and said we would play there any time. Tee to green and the views were beautiful actually. I have pictures, hopefully I can post here or you can see them at findagolfer.com on the Blog. You will be surprised. Oh yea, cart paths are better, new signage and tee markers and the course was well marked. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
So I never played this course in the Trail days as I heard it was trash. Well my friend and I played it and has a great time. The layout wasn't as bad as people said and the course was in good condition. The only problem we ran into was that they just bought a crap ton of new sand. ( allegedly $25,000 worth). Well they just dumped the sand in and it was like playing out of a beach where you step into and the sand rises to your ankles. This made some bunkers almost unplayable. Though with the rain we had and the couple weeks that went by I imagine these sand traps are now in good condition. Go check it out Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
A bit sad when okay conditions are a good thing, but things are definitely looking up. Greens quite good - a few bumpy patches - tee boxes good, traps raked and most with decent sand. Fairways were iffy - I know it is still early, but it is frustrating to be in the middle of the fairway and have a marginal lie (more than once). They still have a long way to go here - cart paths are very torn up in spots, traps need new sand, fairways need overseeding or something, probably need to switch to Bermuda greens. But still, it is a great layout and appears to be on the way back. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
I was very surprised after I was done playing this course. I was expecting it to be in worse shape based on what the reviews have described. Just to put things in perspective we purchased the $100 for 6 rounds at the trail, so I wasn't expecting much for $17/round.
Yes, the course has severe issues. Almost every bunker is washed out and has bushes growing in it. Greens were fairly decent, but seemed to have a lot of Poa annua. At least they were mowed to the same height. I guess people have just stopped fixing divots. Roughs needed a good mow and the tee boxes were a bit hairy.
However, fairways were in much better shape than I can remember. Driving range seemed to be in good shape, but the balls definitely need replacing. The beverage girl made her rounds about every 5 holes and so did the Marshals. This course has great potential and I really like the layout of this course. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
The greens on the front 9 were in pretty bad shape with some almost being unplayable, especially hole # 1. The back 9 surprisingly was in pretty good shape with #18 being almost perfect. Hard to explain the difference . The course also seems to send out people on the back as we had the first tee time of the day and while making the turn we noticed a foursome on #18. This is one of our favorite tracks in the area and we hope the condition of the greens is due the weather we have had in the winter and spring. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Greens are in rough shape right now. The combination of bare spots, crabgrass, and hardness makes it nearly impossible to score well. The tee boxes were also full of weeds, and they seemed like they havent been cut in a week or two.
The fairways had some weeds and bare spots, but nothing major. I will not be back to this course anytime soon, since it wasnt even worth the money and pace of play. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
The Senior Rate of $29 is hard to beat - the course itself is extremely hard to beat. The course was in generally good condition, especially under 90 degree cart rule. The greens were problematic - couldn't identify any particular problem other than they didn't seem to roll true. The course played much tougher than its Rating/Slope figures AND from what it appears from each tee (I wonder when the slope and rating were last checked). I attribute this to three factors: (1) brutal pin placements, (2) "hidden" hazards, and (3) steeply banked greens that were compounded by the pin placements. No. 18 pin was on the upper left side about 5 yds from the edge of the steeply sloped green - there was no way to get your approach shot to stop near the hole. There is no yardage book available, and hidden hazards came into play all too frequently (I was actually fortunate to mishit and come up short a couple of times, otherwise I would have been in the hazard without knowing that it was there). The banked greens ALWAYS made the ball roll into trouble (very discouraging to see the ball land just off the green, almost stop, but then roll steadily into a creek never to be found). I think that my statistics reflect these observations: I hit 14 of 14 fairways, but only 2 of 18 greens in regulation (many of those actually hit the green, but would not hold due to the slope). Summary opinion: good value, but penalizing course. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
This will be a mixed review... but I'll start off with the positive. While the greens didn't look to great in most spots, they were rolling true and were fast. I would say probably a 10-11 on the stimpmeter. The negative is that the rest of the course isn't in great shape.. especially the sandtraps. Almost all if not all of them had rocks everywhere and many had weeds. The fairways and tee boxes had weeds as well. The carts were pretty dirty too which I found to be odd. To sum it up, if you are looking for some good greens then I don't think you'll be dissapointed in that regard. However, everything else surely needs some work. Read The Review
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- "Average"
Conditions are typical of the CT courses I have played this year on my "gift of golf" card. But all things considered the price was still a good deal.
The tee boxes were only fair because most were not level and the greens had a bad case of the poa annua "chicken pox". However, lush bermuda fairways and rough make me overlook a lot of flaws. It is a nice layout and piece of land that seems to have a creek in play on every shot which could take some enjoyment from high handicappers.
As with most CT courses the design is there, they just need some TLC and probably $$. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
This course was in better shape than what I expected. I would say it was priced just right for the course conditions. Tee Boxes and fairways were in great shape and that was about the only good thing with this course. Greens on the front 9 were almost diseased, heavy poa anna and the unfixed divot marks tearing up these greens. Could not play out of a single bunker. Most of them didn't even have any sand left in there. If you're looking for a cheap round of golf and don't expect good condition I would suggest this course. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
How sad. I live at Highland Creek, but usually play elsewhere for many reasons. Reminded today of the biggest one: the decline of this course from it's original place as "The Crown Jewel of Charlotte" . A lot of people don't know that HC was the first high-end daily fee course in Charlotte - opened in 1993, when the only choices were expensive private clubs or goat tracks. In the early years, HC had immaculate conditions, flowers on the ladies teeboxes, and, yes, prices to match - $65 on a weekend - but boy was it worth it.
Today: pock-marked greens with tons of poa anna issues and bunkers with no sand, even with the base bunker netting pulled up. The only positives were good fairways and a great pace of play - probably because nobody wants to play the course. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Last time I played this course was about 2 years ago and I decided to never play it again. Now that we got theCcarolina trail deal we had to play this course. I'm surprised to say I was impressed. Last time around the greens were absolutely horrendous, but they have obviously taken care of that issue and probably some of best greens around. Tons of divot marks from lazy people obviously not caring about others. Fairways however could use some help and weed killer. There was no sand in bunkers on the few holes just a collection of mud and pebbles.
I really like the layout of the this course and it can very challenging. I wish they would put more effort into this course and bring it back. Doesn't looks like the greens are going to survive the summer. Play it now while it lasts. Read The Review
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- "Average"
First time playing this course. It is definitely a step up from some of the other Carolina trail courses. (Tradition, Divide, Links) I enjoyed the layout. Not many flat lies. Conditions were ok. The tees and fairways were above average. The greens were typical of what I have seen from other bent greens in town - soft and torn up. Very bumpy from ball marks. The traps are a disaster - washed out, water filled and rocky. And then there was the pace of play. Granted it was cart paths only but almost 6 hours for the round? There were rangers out but I am not sure what they were doing. One told us that they are trying their best to maintain conditions with less money - and it is noticeable throughout the course. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
The course is in the best shape I've seen over the last 3-4 years. The greens have some spots where people aren't fixing their marks, but besides that they look good. The fairways are in good shape too. I played here 3 times so far in the month of June. One day it took a loooooonnnnnnnggggg time, but the other 2 days I flew through it. Read The Review
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- "Worth playing"
Sorry forgot to post this. Greens were a pleasant surprise. Way too many un-repaired ball marks, but except for being just a bit slower than fast they were smoother and greener than advertised. Generally speaking the Carolina trail folks have "dumbed-down" their holdings in ways obviously targeted at cash-flow (less maintenance / easier, faster-to-play / less interesting). I will cautiously state the Highland Creek seems to be an exception. They seem to generally (not totally) be committed to providing a really nice golf course that retains it's architectural interest and above average conditioning. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course is in great shape. Tees, fairways, greens all in excellent shape. Bunkers are hit and miss but they are saying all of them are getting new sand. The greens are very soft and since no one seems to know how to fix a ball mark they are getting marked up. Combine that with The Trail offering discounts and they will get bad very quickly. Play it now if you're going to play it. Read The Review
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- "Below average"
Highland Creek is in ROUGH shape. Probably the worst I've ever seen the greens. Greens are very spotty and bumpy (bare spots everywhere) and there seems to be maintenance all over the place. The practice green was even closed the morning of July 10th. The green complex on number 15 (short dogleg left par 4) is completely torn up and virtually unplayable. To be fair, the fairways were great in spots. Glad I had a coupon because their regular rate of $59 on the weekend is inexcusable. I would give it some time to recover. A lot of courses around are taking a beating from the heat. Read The Review
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- "Great course"
Course looks better than this time last year. Greens are firm but fair,things are greening up nicely. Looks like there's bunker work being done( back green side no. 10) which is good. Besides golfers themselves not picking up their own broken tees or fixing their ball marks I think the place looks good.
It has the potential to be one of the best public courses in Charlotte. Read The Review
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