If you couldn't tell by the name already, Highland Hills has some serious usage of elevation change. If you are wondering how much elevation change there will be, don't worry - this course is going to let you know on Hole 1, with an ace run, down a steep hill, with a large ditch between the tee and the basket. The best part: there are holes later in the course that make even better use of elevation than this one! Up, down, and all around! I have heard some people complain about the amount of elevation gain and loss, but as an avid hiker/backpacker I never really noticed anything that was too extreme. That being said, bring some water and take your time.

There are three different Tees: Red, White, and Blue - allowing for an extremely varied experience based on your skill level. I only got the chance to play this course once so far - but the White tees felt fine. Unless you are truly an absolute novice, I don't think you would enjoy the Red tees. (And if this is the case, there are probably better courses for you anyway.)

The course manages to keep things fresh with multiple shots required from the tee. This, plus the elevation changes, and the multiple tees really manage to increase the replay value on this course. At least for me.

Let's talk about Hole 4, because a lot of work seems to have gone into making this hole happen. It is one of the most memorable holes on the entire course. If you thought Hole 1 was a big downhill shot, wait until you get to this one. You are shooting downhill almost the entire way, and the Yadkin River is just past the green. The local DG club has gone to great effort to build a trail from the tee to the basket, utilizing long switchbacks the whole way. If your journey from the tee to the basket ever feels perilous, or you are heading in a straight line - then you are on water runoff, not the trail. Please stick to the trail to avoid injury and creating further erosion. Plus the trail clearly took time and effort to build, might as well make use of it.

This course is going to require precision from the tee. Very few holes are going to require you to really open up. The balance between fairway length and width flirts with being unmanageable at times - but I played in the middle of the summer and thought they were all pretty fair. They never really asked me to throw something completely ridiculous. I did have to sit on the tee and look around a few times before throwing, but eventually I'd find a line that would work for me.

Water comes into play on a few holes. This is something that can be intimidating at times, but to me also adds to the course. Not only are a few holes along side the Yadkin River, or tributary creeks, but Hole 7 plays up one of the creeks through a little "waterfall". It is an amazingly unique hole, where the water on it is played casual.

Parking does not seem to be an issue, since from what I understand the park is mainly used for disc golf. The park has a couple of nice permanent shelters that probably makes for a good Tournament HQ when needed.

The tees and baskets here leave a lot to be desired. I have never been a fan of Kingpin baskets, because putters seem to get some sick pleasure of splashing out of them, and many of the "tees" are just colored strips of plastic stuck to the ground. One of the red tees I only managed to notice because a local pointed it out as we stepped over it. The plastic was pretty much buried underground. This made many of the tees short and uneven, and the blue tees were often overgrown with rough. Hole 1 was pretty much an island shot when I played, rough the hole way.

This course has 20 holes, and considering how many of those are what I would consider memorable holes - it's disheartening to realize that it has just as many holes that almost feel like filler holes. And even from the Blue tees, the majority of the holes are fairly short - meaning you'll almost never need to reach for a driver. If some of the holes could have been combined to have longer fairways, then opened up their width a bit - I think this course would benefit.

Some of the holes were clearly suffering from some pretty severe storm damage when I played, which is not the con listed here. But when compared to its next door neighbor, Rolling Pines, this course clearly does not receive the same level of maintenance. Even though it's clearly harder to keep the fairways clear here, I think with some TLC this course would see more people playing here, which would potentially help keep the fairways and rough beat in.

There are areas where erosion bars and/or steps should be considered, or just made more clear. I like how the switchbacks on Hole 4 are marked with yellow rope, but I did not see the stairs to the green of Hole 5 until it was too late.

I am going to rate Highland Hills a 2.0 for the time being - and it kills me to rate it so low because of its incredible usage of elevation and memorable hole designs. The things this course does well, it does really well, but when it comes to many of the basics, such as tees, clear fairways, and lack of rough - I think Highland Hills has room for improvement. I could easily see myself giving this course a higher rating if some work is done to improve the course. I was happy that H!H! ended on such a high note with Hole 20, because it reminded me all the potential this course has. Which is a lot!

Favorite White Holes: 4, 7, 16, 20