Highland Links - Truro, MA - PHOTOS

[Michael Moore]

Highland Links, perched atop the towering bluffs near the Cape Cod National Seashore in Truro, Massachusetts, has been around since 1892. Its funky layout and eye-popping scenery make this course 100% fun.

Sweeney asked me about this place a few times in the past, and I told him that it was very fun but that there was very little grass to be found in the fairways. Well I am here to tell GCA that in the past two years they have grown plenty of lush, tall, green grass in the fairways.

Get my drift? As happens to all of us from time to time, Highland has become somewhat slow and shaggy. If there were ever a course poised for a Maintenance Meld Makeover, it is this one. I am not always in favor of fast and furious, but Highland deserves it.

Who doesn't love the contrast of fescue and fairway?

The 460 yard second plays off the edge of a cliff into this saddle.

The approaches are mostly blind, including the 160 yard third.

Never ever a flat lie on the exceptional 361 yard fifth.

Truly a spectacular setting for golf.

They don't make finishing holes like this 110 yard gem anymore.

[T_MacWood]

Wonderful photos. I have a soft spot in my heart for Truro; it was the first golf course my son (and I) played. The golf course is great fun...a few years ago it was playing very firm. In fact, so firm that judging the approach to the par-3 ninth became an intense riddle.

[Doug Wright]

Michael,

Thanks for these great photos. What a great site for golf. If you can't make it to The Monterey Peninsula or across the pond, this little gem suffices. I can smell the salt air...Please pass the fried clams!

Best,

[Tony_Chapman]

Holy buckets!! This place looks wonderful, grass or not. I would love to have a round here. Thanks for the pics.

[Tom_U]

If one is spending a week on the Cape (Chatham) and realistically only has time for 9 or 18 (with the kids), is this the place to go? If these pictures tell the story, then I wouldn't want to go any place else. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I played there after a delightful afternoon at Eastward Ho. It was 7:30 in the morning and I was the first person out. I played the nine twice in 2 hours. It was glorious fun and I hope all who go there have the ear to ear smile I had during that wonderful morning. yes a little maintenace would help but it was grand golf none the less.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Given that this 9-holer might be one of the few true links courses in the country (according to TD) and its public, I'd love to hear more about it.  Anyone have new pictures?  Is it worth the trip up there?  Some of my best rounds have been on 9 hole courses (see Grindstone Neck!).

[Tom_Doak]

I have to say, having visited the place this summer, that it was somewhat underwhelming.  I would count it as a links and it is maintained as low-key as any Scottish course I've seen ... the fairways are so narrow I think I could hurdle them in places.  The property is quite hilly and there are a lot of back-and-forth holes, which kind of get old until you get closer to the edge of the bluffs.

Eastward Ho! is a COMPLETELY different kettle of fish (or clambake).

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Thanks for your thoughts, Tom.  It sounds like it might be a nice add on to Eastward Ho! but not worth making the trip solely to play it.

Here are some additional photos I found on the web (not sure if they will post correctly):

[Tom_Doak]

Geoffrey:

Those are very good pictures of the course, although as always, they make the hills look a bit smaller than they are.

The lighthouse is really only in your field of vision on #6 (playing towards it), #7 (par 3 playing past it), and #9 (par 3 playing toward it), which are three of the last four pictures in the set.  The second photo (tee shot on #2) gives a better sense of scale and of the narrow fairways!

[Brad Tufts]

Yeah, I will agree that it's a nice place to spend a couple hours and snap a few photos, but it won't really challenge your game like a full layout would.

The first hole is a 240-yd straightaway par 4, the fairways are rock hard...sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a make-a-hole-impossible sort of way, and the course is like 2550 yards.  There are some cool shots here and there, and the 3rd, 4th, and 9th are especially neat, even though #4 is really the only one that wouldn't be out of place at an Eastward Ho or one of the Boston faves.

One of the coolest things may be the lack of thick hay in the rough, as you get some scraggly lies (sometimes perfect, sometimes screwed) just like you probably did in 1892 when HL opened.

It's a bit of a museum piece, and it may be best experienced as holes 19-27 in a day, but it's the Cape's certified hidden gem.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Here's the scorecard:

[jeffwarne]

It's a bit of a museum piece, and it may be best experienced as holes 19-27 in a day, AND it's the Cape's certified hidden gem.

Brad,
I edited your quote-it's now perfect

Cool place-I discovered it on a 1990 trip to the Cape-wish I'd discovered it earlier as I spent quite a few vacations on the Cape as a kid.

[Kalen Braley]

The place certainly looks very minimalistic...

Looks like a blast to play even if its not the sole reason for visiting that destination.