Brewed to be better! As long as it ain't Virgil's Root Beer (insert barf emoji)

-Highland is a real gem and its own unique genre of disc golf. The course is very much "out there" in terms of its individuality. It's pretty far from the North Carolina average. Some may say that it has some similarities to Richmond and it does have a few similarities. Some may some it's a Richmond 2.0. That would be debatable. While it is heavily wooded and hilly like Richmond, the whole design concept is much different. There are reasons to think that Highland is an improved version of Richmond and reasons to think that Highland has its own individuality.

-First of all, the obvious, Highland seems to have been a much larger investment. When I lived in Asheville a few years ago, I saw Highland while it was still in its planning phase and before the back nine was even designed. When it was only nine holes, I saw either a second basket or a marker indicating while a second pin location would be. There were also dual pads either installed or marked out and they followed through completely. You have short pads and long pads and each pin position serves some sort of purpose. To add to that, it's very nicely kept and polished. Especially the front nine.

-Brings me to say, anyone can play Highland and have a blast. The shortest layout is only 4300-4400 feet long. The front nine is under 2000' so it's beginner friendly. The longest available layout is over 6700' and incredibly difficult with the longer wooded fairways and the increased potential for punishment for missing. In spite of this, the shortest possible layout still has a few difficult holes. #17 and #18 are both hard par threes even from short to short and the longest possible layout still has a few easier holes (#8, #10, #11). There's a shift in difficulty regardless of what layout you play and even if you play a mixed layout.

-For example, #17 is an intimidating par three even from short to short. It's about 365' over a massive valley sloping downward on the left. This is a pro par three on an easy layout. #10 is a severe downhill putter with the creek past the basket. It's 300' but 60' down in elevation, so anyone can reach it if they throw their straightest putter. And the first hole short to short is a very simple putter toss down the hill. I aced #1 short to short when I first arrived here. It can be played as a jump putt. Then you see holes like #17 in the long pin. This is a vicious par four with horns for teeth. 680' with death written all over it. Creek on the far-left side. Catch a bad roll on the sleep sloping fairway and you could end up double penalized. Left with a penalty stroke and with a daunting uphill approach full of guardian trees lined up toward the green. The challenge availability ranges from valleys to peaks.

-There's a putting course by the parking lot. Don't see this type of thing often but there's a reason why it's there. Being able to putt will help you score well especially at a course like Highland. There are some tough greens here where if your putting is on point, you'll be gaining strokes on other players. A few platform greens (#1, #18), elevated basket on a stump (#12 long). And a few general rollaway greens.

-Elevation is taken very seriously. Some holes consist of extreme elevation. The first seven holes have light to moderate elevation change. Once you get to #8, you start to see some bigger elevation changes as you tee off on that elevated deck. #9 from the long pad is a major uphill pro par three. #10-#13 (at least in the long pins) all exceed 40' in elevation change. #13 may have the greatest use of elevation in the Asheville area. You throw of the top of the hill to the very bottom. You literally throw from the highest point to the lowest point of the entire course. A truly outstanding hole. I recorded the elevation changes with my rangefinder and I previously mentioned that #10 is 60' down. #13 is more than that. I won't give the exact number because I don't want to spoil it, but if you want to know, PM me!

-Being at a brewery, there are alcoholic beverages available for purchase.

-Being a huge trilogy golfer and a fan of their dynamic baskets, I enjoy the dynamic veteran pins here! There are two pins in place on holes #1, #5, #6, #9, #14, #16, #17, and #18. All of the other holes except #10 and #15 have alt pin locations that appear to change regularly.

-A few of the long pads are just not as fun. #5 is weird flex tweener from the long pad. #16 is fair and all, but I feel like the short pad on #16 serves more of a purpose. It's a short touch shot on the terrace. Both pin positions are on the edge of the terrace, one is just higher up. It's a neat ace run but the long pad seems to be more of an afterthought. And the parking lot is a little more likely to hit on a 350' bomb.

#18 long I REALLY don't like at all. I've played Waid Park in Ferrum, VA (possibly the hardest course in the world) and #18 at Waid Park from long to long is more tame than #18 long to long at Highland. There are three sets of pads on #18. The middle pad is a legit pro par four with a clear line. The long pad is further back on the trail. Straight ahead is the narrow path that bends a good bit to the right side. You can't see the turning point from the back pad and it's a good 350' before the path breaks off right. It's too tight of tee shot and any effort to go for it will likely have you kicking right into the OB creek. It's just sadistic without giving a clear view of how to throw it. I REALLY don't like the long pad. It's my main beef.

The medium pad on #18 is excellent. It's an anhyzer flex down the trail (which you can clearly see the landing zone) and you can clearly see the short pin on the edge of the trail by the OB creek. The approach on #18 is excellent. Requires a power hyzer up a large hill being on top of a huge platform green. Hole is 500' long from the medium pad and has a 51' elevation rise. It's strange how a 120' difference can have you loving a hole to hating it. It's just that the tee shot from the middle is perfectly logical and still very hard.

#17 is a very intimidating par four, but it's a true one to the long pin. It seems like they were trying to top #17 and make #18 even harder, but #18 a little less monstrous than #17 from the mid pad. But it's still an excellent hole from there. They should embrace that #18 is a little less grueling than #17. I probably sound like Simon right now, and I often find myself strangely disagreeing with him when it comes to how courses should be designed, but I think we'd both agree that #18 long is just ridiculous. I think they need to abort the long pad idea on #18 entirely. Maybe leave it as an option, but never for tournament play.

-Eight holes with two pin locations still only have one pin in play, while the other eight have both in play. I think #12 needs to have its second pin in play. It's for sure the most grueling green at Highland, but it's truly a neat one. I really wanted to play it in that pin. #12 in the long pin is one of those par fours (399' long and 375' short) that seems easy because of it being short for a par four, but it's actually quite terrifying without being unbearable.

-Huge drag pile on #18 on the left side of the fairway. It's a disc eater. Beware of the OB electric fence on #13 as well. It's a real obstacle.

-Highland Brewing Company is electric! It's Asheville's comeback after it's breakthough at Jackson Park five years prior! Highland was also designed by Jay. He is largely responsible for making Asheville the disc golf attraction that it is becoming. If you were mad about how un-accessible Wintersun is like I was? Now you don't have to be! Or at least as much as you used to be!

-I feel like Jay is the Johnny Sias of NC when it comes to course designers. I was signed up for the Seth Burton Memorial tournament in WV (both courses designed by Johnny) and had to drop out unfortunately. Highland looks to have some similarities to Orange Crush in Fairmont WV. Haven't played it, but I've seen footage of it. I feel like this is going to be the main attraction for out of towners. It has the potential to be even better than Jackson Park. With time, I'm sure it will become better. I believe that a lot of pros in different states would sign up for an A tier at Highland without hesitation. It's an awesome course! You have many different shaped fairways, unique greens, extreme elevation, wide variety of distance, and wide variety of challenge.

-My thoughts on whether or not it's like Richmond:

I would say no for the most part. There are tons of valley shots at Richmond and many odd shaped fairways. While Highland is definitely harder than Richmond at least from the longs, it's much more defined and clear when it comes to shot shaping requirements and there's less roller potential on the fairways. It's not as fickle. Still there may be a few similarities here and there. #18's green at Highland in the long pin is quite similar to the long pin on #17 at Richmond. #13 at Highland is like a more extreme version of #15 at Richmond having more elevation, OB, and more length to it.

-Highland is a true gem. So glad Asheville golf is evolving the way that it is! Well done to Jay and the WNC volunteers. This is what we wanted to see here in the Asheville area!