Introduction
A couple months ago, the Plugged In Golf staff was looking for a place to go for our annual retreat. McLemore Resort, located on Lookout Mountain in northern Georgia, was suggested and, after a brief look at their stunning photos, received unanimous support. The Highlands golf course is the resort’s original eighteen, and, situated on cliff edges, canyons, and mountain plateaus, it’s one of the more visually dramatic courses we’ve experienced with the golf to match.
Practice Facilities
The Highland has all of McLemore’s practice facilities steps from its first tee. There’s a driving range with both natural and artificial hitting surfaces. You’ll also find a sizable practice green with a bunker and chipping area.
Behind The Highland’s clubhouse is the highlight of the practice area: The Cairn, McLemore’s short course. This is a collection of six holes, most around 60 yards with the longest one listed at 83 yards. The greens are appropriately small, demanding precise wedge shots. There is no cost to play The Cairn, and there is no tee sheet: just show up with a wedge, a putter, and a ball. Whether you’re using The Cairn to warm up, improve your short game, or round out the day with a drink in hand, it’s one of the highlights of McLemore. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Customer Service & Amenities
The customer service at McLemore was uniformly outstanding. From the valets to restaurant staff to the pros and assistants at the golf courses, everyone was energetic, warm, and helpful. The staff at McLemore is unquestionably one of the resort’s biggest strengths.
The Highlands is just one part of McLemore – a full-service, high end resort. It also includes Cloudland, the hotel, and homes of all sizes which you can rent for your stay. We stayed in the hotel, which put us close to all the amenities: pool, hot tub, gym, and spa. My favorite offering is the beautiful library – perfect for waiting out rain or fog delays.
Finally, the food at McLemore is excellent. The Creag serves “elevated comfort food” inside the clubhouse at The Highlands. If you stop here, you need to have the burnt ends appetizer. There are also four restaurants inside Cloudland: Croft, Pocket Cafe, Skyside, and Auld Alliance. Pocket Cafe has everything you need to get your day started, and they host a nightly happy hour. We had two dinners at Croft which offers a menu that’s curated but still has something for everyone.
Beauty & Scenery
The Highlands golf course moves through three different environs – Canyons, Highlands, and Cliffs Edge – offering golfers a variety of beautiful views throughout the round. Most dramatic are the Cliffs Edge holes that bookend the round. Your first tee shot is blasted from a precariously elevated tee box (don’t hook it into the Cloudland valet stand). #18 is the signature hole, dangling on the edge of Lookout Mountain from tee to green.
While not as dramatic, the Canyon holes are some of the most challenging. These holes feature rock faces and significant elevation changes into and out of the namesake feature.
Appropriately, the majority of the holes fall into the Highlands category. Situated on the mountain’s plateau, these tree-lined holes are flat only in comparison to their more dramatic course mates.
Common to all the different types of holes at The Highlands golf course is the sense of isolation. Each hole is set off on its own, allowing golfers to bathe in the sounds of nature and the feeling that they’re alone with their game. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Tee Shots
Our expectations, having first played the wide open Keep [review HERE], was that The Highlands golf course was going to be much tighter. This isn’t really the case. The fairways and first cut areas at The Highlands are quite generous. What’s different is that you can’t miss these areas without significant penalties. 18 of the 26 fairway sides are partially or totally out of play, and only one got the “hit it as crooked as you like in this direction” checkmark.
The Highlands golf course tips out at 7,005 yards with a par of 71, though the I tees are wisely not listed on the scorecard. Numbered tees, from II to VI, range from 6,618 yards to 4,253 yards with two combo sets – Member and Senior Member – offering very sensible distances of 6,332 and 5,827.
One thing to keep in mind before selecting your tees is that there are a lot of forced carries at The Highlands golf course. The carries are generally appropriate relative to the total length, but if you get a bit nervous on the tee, you might want to play forward.
Another thing to consider is that if you are playing forward, you have a lot options off the tee. Over the course of two rounds, I hit drives from the I, II, III, and IV tees. I can carry my driver 275 yards, but the III and IV tees only took driver out of my hands a couple times. They did, however, give me the choice of taking on a lot of risk or laying back to the “normal” landing spots with a hybrid or long iron. While it was fun to challenge the long carries from the tips, I enjoyed the risk/reward of the shorter tees even more.
Approach Shots
All the optionality off the tee will have a big impact on your approach shots. If you play forward and hit aggressive, high quality shots off the tee, you’ll be rewarded with a lot of wedges shots into the greens. Players who choose to lay back off the tee or stretch the course with their tee box selection will have mid and sometimes even long irons in hand. Within any given set of tees, the length of the approach shots is fairly consistent if you stick with the same strategy off the tee.
The Highlands golf course protects its greens with numerous forced carries. The greens that are connected to the fairways tend to be more elevated, and every green sits at least slightly above its surround. These factors combine to limit the ground game and emphasize a precise, aerial approach.
One design element that I enjoyed was the variety of green sizes. On the whole, the greens at The Highlands golf course are average in size, but the range includes greens that are significantly above and below. With few exceptions, the variance in green size makes sense with the hole: larger greens for longer holes, smaller, more demanding greens for shorter approaches.
The Highlands golf course gives players every chance to hit quality approach shots with welcoming lies in the fairway and first cut. Most holes feature modest movement, rarely placing the ball well above or below your feet. Things get a little more uneven in the first cut, but that’s a fair penalty for wayward drives. The first cut is moderately thick but not very long. You’ll have no problem finding your ball, but you may not have full control of your shot.
Finally, all of the elevation changes and forced carries work together to make a lot of the approach shots look intimidating. They also make it hard to judge your yardages. There are no caddies on The Highlands golf course – it’s riding carts only – so it’s a good idea to have a slope-enabled rangefinder and/or a strong GPS unit. There are good GPS units on the carts, but they’re of limited use on cart path only days. Get a device you can trust, and play the number it tells you regardless of how the shot looks. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Greens & Surrounds
The fact that The Highlands and The Keep were designed by the same team is most evident on the greens. Architects Bill Bergin and Rees Jones left the drama to nature. On the greens, they kept things subtle. You won’t find massive, sweeping undulations or dramatically tiered putting surfaces. At a glance, you might even think them plain.
That glance would leave you fooled. These greens have ample complexity, simply at a volume that’s several notches lower than some modern designs. In a collective 144 holes, I don’t believe anyone in our group found a putt of more than a few feet that was actually straight. Similarly, you can never take the speed for granted. Numerous putts stopped well short of their target or ran past because inadequate time was spent reading the green.
This subtle complexity is made possible by the wonderful condition of the greens at The Highlands golf course. Every putt that we hit rolled smooth and true. The speed of the greens was quick but fair. There was no need to putt defensively, but recklessness was punished. It can’t be overstated how enjoyable it is to play on surfaces that are a pure test of putting ability.
The surrounds at The Highlands golf course match the greens in their understated character. There are spots with prominent swells and undulations, but the majority of the time you’ll be facing a straightforward chip or pitch to a slightly elevated green. Each green is defended by one, two, or three bunkers of modest to moderate depth. Good sand players have nothing to fear from these traps, and timid sand players should have an easy time avoiding them.
Overall Design
Discussing the course over dinner, our group agreed that The Highlands golf course comes out of the gates as strong as almost any course we could think of. A bold tee shot on a gettable par 5 is followed by a strategic par 4 that’s the toughest hole on the course.
Looking back over our rounds and the course, I think that undersells The Highlands a bit. This is a course with a strong sense of pacing through all 18 holes. Tough holes are quickly balanced by scoring opportunities. The most dramatic holes sandwich the mild ones. No matter what type of hole you prefer, you’re never far from the next one.
Overall, The Highlands golf course provides players with the chance to hit a lot of memorable shots in one of the most striking environments imaginable. Played from the right distance, you can find some birdies, but the course won’t yield low rounds without seeing solid ball striking and very strong putting.
Most Controversial Holes
#6 – Par 5 – 531 Yards
This hole is so unusual that McLemore put a large explanatory plaque near the tee box calling it an “acquired taste.” From the tee, you can see only a portion of the fairway. The last twenty to thirty yards slope toward the cliff, so any drive that’s “too aggressive” ends up lost. However, if you want any kind of view of the green, you need to be within spitting distance of the cliff – quite a catch 22. The shot to the green is a lot of fun, but getting to it is frustrating. Our group agreed this hole would be better as a par 4.
#9 – Par 4 – 418 Yards
There are a lot of forced carries off the tee at The Highlands golf course but none more intimidating than the one on 9. Staring straight at a rock face, you drive it over a chasm to an elevated fairway. If you make it to the fairway, a stretch of exposed rock decorates the right side of the fairway on your way to a slightly elevated green.
This is a super cool hole, but on the day we played the tee boxes were very poorly set up. From the III tees, which play to a total of 6,101 yards, getting to the fairway required every bit of a 200 yard carry. Most golfers do not consider 6,100 yards a long course. Most golfers don’t carry their average drive 200 yards. That means most golfers are putting their drive straight into the rock face, which is not a fun way to wrap up the front nine.
Favorite Holes
#2 – Par 4 – 423 Yards
The toughest hole at The Highlands golf course starts with a downhill tee shot to a thin fairway that shimmies to the right around a pond. Playing short off the tee is an option, but it leaves a long approach that’s entirely over water. Your second shot is a forced carry no matter how you drive it, but taking a bold swing will make the distance much more manageable.
#18 – Par 4 – 417 Yards
There’s little doubt why the eighteenth is the signature hole at The Highlands golf course – it’s one of the most visually stunning holes you’ll find anywhere. This is also one of the toughest, so you can’t afford to be distracted by the views. Your tee shot almost has to curve right to counteract the steeply sloping fairway. It also needs to have plenty of length because the approach shot is significantly uphill. Everyone will leave The Highlands golf course with a nice picture of the 18th; leaving with a par is a big accomplishment. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Conclusion
Superb putting surfaces and loads of dramatic views are just two of the reasons to put The Highlands golf course on your list of potential golf destinations. McLemore Resort is a wonderful spot for groups of all kinds, and the pairing of The Highlands and The Keep will satisfy any golfer. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Book Your Trip to McLemore Resort HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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