Highland Peaks courses

How a highland course plays

Highland days set the holes among mountains, with the high ground rising along one side of each hole. The corridor plays like any other course — fairway, rough, deep rough — but the scenery and the rocks are distinctly alpine.

Kick boulders

Some highland holes have a large boulder sitting in or beside the fairway. It blocks a ball rolling into it, then rebounds the ball strongly up the hole. That makes it more than an obstacle: a drive that runs into the boulder can finish further up the fairway than one that misses it.

You have three choices with a boulder. Fly over it, so the ball lands beyond and rolls on. Steer around it and ignore it. Or play the rebound on purpose and let the rock add distance. The rebound is deterministic, so it is the same kick every time for the same contact — but it can also send the ball somewhere you did not plan, so use it when the ground beyond is open.

The marmot

On recent courses one or two landing zones on longer holes belong to a local animal; in the highlands it is a marmot. Stop your ball in its patch and it is carried off to its burrow in the rough, a little back down the hole. No penalty stroke, just a worse lie and lost yards. The patch is visible from the tee and never covers the whole fairway.

Scoring on a highland day

Look at where the boulders are before you pick a club. If one sits at the distance your driver finishes, a 3 wood that stops short may be safer — or the driver may be better than ever if the kick sends it on down an open fairway. Either way, it is a decision rather than luck.