Best Golf Courses Near Highlands, NC

Highlands, along with Cashiers, its nearby twin town in the mountains of western Carolina, boasts some of the top-rated mountain golf in the country, though almost all of the clubs in the area are private. The great Bobby Jones loved Highlands Country Club. The Wade Hampton Club is a Tom Fazio masterpiece. Fazio also rerouted, redesigned, and rebuilt High Hampton. Both the private High Hampton and the Old Edwards Club, which has a regulation eighteen and a 12-hole lighted par-3 walking course, are associated with resorts and restrict non-member play to overnight resort guests. If you want to make a tee time, Sapphire National Golf Club, with its par-4 14th that skirts a greenside waterfall followed by the island-green par-3 15th, is the only public-access eighteen around. Two 9-holers—Red Bird Golf Links in Sapphire and the 1923 Franklin Golf Club in Franklin—also welcome public play. At over 4,100 feet elevation, Highland is a lofty place that pleases its predominantly upscale residents and visitors who revel in the pure mountain air, the gorgeous surroundings highlighted by dozens of waterfalls, and a charming Main Street that is abuzz in summer and fall.