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3.7
22 Reviews (22)
5 Stars
13
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
6
2 Stars
2
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.9
Value
3.0
Layout
3.7
Friendliness
4.4
Pace
3.1
Amenities
4.8
39.9%
Recommend this course
19 out of 22 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.0
1 Reviews (1)
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
5.0
Value
2.0
Layout
3.0
Pace
2.0
StaffFriendliness
4.0
0%
Recommend this course
1 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.0
1 Reviews (1)
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
5.0
Value
2.0
Layout
3.0
Pace
2.0
StaffFriendliness
4.0
0%
Recommend this course
1 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Public
Par 70
Length 5801 yards
Slope 128
Rating 68.1

Located in the center of downtown Birmingham, Highland Park Golf Course is popular among locals and visitors for the beautiful downtown views as well as the excellent game it provides. The course has built its reputation on having pristine greens and well-manicured fairways. The golf course is approachable to players of any skill level and elevation changes and water hazards that come into play on half the course will provide adequate challenge for advanced golfers. The course requires a sharp short game for anyone who plays it. The immaculate greens are well-bunkered and fast and there are many holes that require uphill approach shots. Highland Park Golf Course's signature hole is the par-3 fifth hole, which requires a downhill tee shot over water.

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Highland Park Golf Course
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Course Details

Year Built 1903
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Bentgrass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Bob Cupp (1998)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Golf School Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex Accepted
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities

Accolades

  • Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Alabama (2022 #11)

Reviews

3.7
22 Reviews (22)
Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
3.0
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Course was in great shape, however

It should be on the website and inside the pro shop that it is a cart path only course. Definitely not worth the $71 to play this course especially if you have to walk to every shot.

Conditions Excellent
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Great Course!

We had a great time…as always!
Great staff. Great experience! Love the conditions, especially after the recent renovations.
Beautiful views of downtown!!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Renovations are GREAT

Glad to have Highland Park back again after a few months of renovation. The greens are much firmer but roll well. Course is in great shape as always. Can only walk at this time. However, it is an easy walk with distance from tee to green very close together. Go check out all the improvements if you have the time!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 310
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Birmingham Advisor
Top 10 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Highland Park Re-birth

The HP renovation is an absolute success.

The new greens are fantastic. Changing over from Bent to the Victory Bermuda was a tremendous upgrade. The newness of the greens, however, render them hard, so carrying balls to the pin and getting them to stop is not currently an option. But not walking up to greens that are pockmarked with pitch marks is a welcome sight. As the greens mature, they will soften, but play short of flags and allow for some rollout.

Also liked the subtle tweaks to the course they made during the closure. The bunker fronting the first green is a nice addition to provide some defense to a driveable par 4.

Love the brush clearing done around #16 green and #17 tee that reveals even better views of the the Magic City skyline.

Currently it is walking only due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will never happen, but I wish HP would go to walking only after all of this is over. The pace of play benefits from the current model. It was not as difficult a walk as I anticipated either. Definitely not as bad as it looks.

My only criticism is that $40 to walk is a bit steep, compared to other value offered by area courses. I’m sure this is a result of being shut down for as long as they were and they are trying to make up for that lost revenue, but that’s a bit overpriced.

All in all, well done to the staff for improving the course immensely.

Conditions Excellent
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/06/2020

I do t understand the comment about a recent change on the greens from Bentgrass to Victory Bermuda. The greens are bentgrass. They arent firm and are typical soft bent greens. They are nice, but people need to do a better job of fixing their ball marks. I loved the course, very interesting. Lots of birdies to be had given short yardage, but it can definitely challenge with narrow fairways, penalizing rough, elevation changes, and water hazards.

Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Amazing course renovations!

Got to play at Highlands for the first time in a few years while on a business trip! It’s always one of my favorite parts of traveling to Birmingham! It’s an amazing course that is newly renovated. The greens are the nicest of any course I’ve played on while visiting Alabama, and doesn’t break the bank like a lot of courses! Very nice pro and helpful pros in the pro shop, and always have marshall’s keeping the pace of play consistent!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0

Really nice course!

They just went through a renovation of the greens and bunkers, and the course is in amazing condition. I highly recommend playing here for your next round. Overall great experience and will definitely be back.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
1.0
Previously Played

For the money, play Roebuck

I typically think Highland Park is okay, but my friend and I paid $30 for a twilight yesterday. We teed off at 4:50 and sunset was right at 8:00. More than 3 hours to play with no one in front of us. It was bliss. We hit our tee shots on hole 5 and a horrible storm hit. We sat in our carts under the clubhouse for about half an hour before the marshal sent someone to pull the flags and call it a day. Our round was over at 6:20. We requested a 9 hole rain check since we could have easily gotten 18 in and only played 4.5 holes. They told us that they don’t give rain checks for twilight no matter what as they proceeded to give everyone who paid for 9 or 18 a rain check. We paid more than the 9 hole players. We could have paid for 18 at Roebuck after 3:00 for LESS than the twilight AND gotten a rain check there. Highland Park is okay, but it tries to be classier than it is because it’s in an older money part of Birmingham. It’s also really short. Save the money and play Roebuck. The greens have been better there the last 3 times I’ve played than Highland Park. And they treat you better.

Conditions Average
Value Poor
Layout Fair
Friendliness Poor
Pace Average
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Cold weather
Used cart

Great course!

Very friendly staff and fast paced course at a good value. Also love reading about the history of the course. Will definitely be back!

Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart

Great, fun course!

Very welcoming, friendly staff! Considering the weather Birmingham has had over the past month, the condition of this course is unbelievable! The course has a few really challenging holes that makes this course very fun for an amateur golfer!
The carts have the Shark Exspirience on them, so you can have course GPS, Bluetooth Radio/Speakers, and updates on all live or past sporting events. I really look foward to playing there more often!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap Don't know
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart

Fantastic Course!!

For the constant rain, and freezing weather Birmingham is having, Highland Park has managed to keep their course in great condition! Fair greens fee, especially towards the late afternoon with the twilight, and super twilight rates.
The staff was very kind and made sure everyone got off on time and had a great experience. They have the Shark Experience on all of their carts with GPS, Bluetooth radio/speakers, and running scores of all live and past sporting events. I will definitely be back soon!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Cold weather
Used cart

Great course!

Played here for the first time in a while and the course was in great shape from tee to green! Staff was very friendly as well. Will definitely be back out to Highland soon.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 310
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
2.0
Birmingham Advisor
Top 10 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Greens floundering

Fairways are in excellent shape, likely due to permanent CPO, but the greens are in really poor shape. Played here about a month ago and they weren’t as bad, but today they were pretty shabby. Bare spots and some uneven growth. Lots of unrepaired pitch marks. Did not putt consistently. Fall temps cannot come quick enough to help them out.

Also, still no water in coolers around course.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 13
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
2.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Greens are really bad

Greens here are extremely bad. I dont know what has happened here... The greens used to be very good. Fun track when the greens are good.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 310
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Birmingham Advisor
Top 10 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

New cart media options available

The course is in phenomenal shape. As green as I have ever seen it.

Fairways are lush and greens were immaculate. Great job of keeping greens looking good with so much stress on them from not only the extreme heat but wedge assault they get from this short course.

Traps have improved since my last visit in February.

Something new to Highland Park is GPS in cart and they are also outfitted with the new Shark System, which allows you to connect your music via Bluetooth and play through mounted speakers in cart. Shark System also allows for radio stations and some TV, although we could not find The Open. Has internet capability as well. Costs $8. Only disappointment is GPS for holes doesn’t work unless you buy the package. Would like to see that change, especially since this course is permanently CPO unless you have a handicap flag.

Conditions Excellent
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 12
Handicap 20-24
Skill Beginner
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Hot weather
Used cart

Love This Course!

First time playing this course. Lots of short par 4s, which I liked. Greens were pretty fast the day we played. Great views of the city, too. Pace of play was extremely slow on the front 9, due to a tournament that was going on during the morning. Would have been nice to have known before I booked the tee time. Took us 3 hours for front 9, 90 minutes for back 9. Staff was super friendly and seemed to know what they ware doing. Shot my lowest score to date here. Will be back!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Short but challenging and fun!

Course plays fairly short but has some rather lengthy holes. Pretty awesome design, and a great fun course to play no matter the skill level. Will definitely return!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 310
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Birmingham Advisor
Top 10 Contributor
Perfect weather
Used cart

The course had taken on a good amount of rain in previous days so the fairways and chipping areas around the green were a bit soggy. No fault there. The greens, however, which have long been the source of this course's reputation, have sagged a bit.

All of the greens had places where either Bermuda had crept in on the bent, or weeds were being killed off - not sure. At any rate, I thought the greens were slower than they should be for this time of year and bumpier than normal.

To the crew's credit, however, they are doing a really good of repairing pitch marks that go unrepaired. This course gets heavy play due to it's proximity to downtown and it playing so short. So a lot of wedges for approach shots had scarred the greens in recent years. Good job.

This is still a fun course for all abilities. Better players can really sharpen their wedge game. Beginners won't be overpowered by the layout.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 310
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Birmingham Advisor
Top 10 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Really fun course, but there are better values in the area

Course is in really good shape. Greens were smooth, but a bit on the slow side. Fairways were nice (cart path only at all times here). Some bunkers were in bad shape. If playing here this time of year and throughout the summer, be aware that pace of play is extremely slow. We played a 5-hour round today. Main reason is this course is inundated with casual golfers that don't play a lot. Still a lot of fun to play, but not sure if it is a good value at $52. A little steep, probably because of the Troon label.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Good
Difficulty Fairly Easy
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