Highlands at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa
Rating Snapshot
About
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa boasts two championship golf courses. The Brute Course is a formidable test while the Highlands Course presents a more player-friendly layout though it still has plenty of challenges in store. Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye teamed up to design the Highlands. It is a traditional links-layout that is tumbles across glacier-carved hills and valleys. It perfectly mimics the feel of courses of the British Isles especially on the undulating greens that are flanked with bunkers. The course is playable for all skill levels though low handicappers looking for a challenge might want to tackle the Brute. The resort has garnered a popular following amongst both locals and visitors. Conde Nast Traveler ranked it in the top ten northern US golf resorts and that is just one of the many accolades Grand Geneva Resort & Spa has received.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament | 71 | 6659 yards | 71.5 | 125 |
| Championship | 71 | 6207 yards | 69.2 | 120 |
| Regular | 71 | 5675 yards | 66.8 | 114 |
| Forward (W) | 71 | 5011 yards | 68.3 | 115 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 72.0/131 | 389 | 506 | 432 | 192 | 438 | 549 | 153 | 345 | 461 | 3465 | 318 | 594 | 205 | 394 | 398 | 334 | 374 | 143 | 400 | 3160 | 6625 |
| Gold M: 69.8/124 W: 75.5/141 | 376 | 483 | 394 | 153 | 413 | 511 | 144 | 320 | 450 | 3244 | 308 | 553 | 193 | 333 | 384 | 309 | 346 | 127 | 372 | 2925 | 6169 |
| Silver M: 67.6/117 W: 72.5/129 | 340 | 450 | 350 | 117 | 370 | 483 | 126 | 264 | 435 | 2935 | 272 | 525 | 155 | 330 | 332 | 282 | 333 | 117 | 362 | 2708 | 5643 |
| Red M: 64.4/105 W: 68.6/112 | 290 | 421 | 328 | 91 | 355 | 457 | 93 | 230 | 304 | 2569 | 226 | 481 | 120 | 305 | 320 | 230 | 305 | 108 | 308 | 2403 | 4972 |
| Handicap | 11 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 8 | |||
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 11 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 8 |
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A scenic, playable course through beautiful woodland
TheHighlands used to be called The Briar Patch. It was one of the early, and few, Pete Dye-Jack Nicklaus collaborations, opened in 1968 as part of the Playboy Resort. Some older buddies of mine who played the original said it was much tougher at that time than its sister course, The Brute. But it was reworked and softened in the mid-late 1990s by Bob Cupp and Bob Lohman -- and renamed to sound less threatening. A bit more target-golf than The Brute, but "getable". A guy I played with had 5 birdies and an eagle, but still shot 80, due to some triple-bogeys. In other words: getable, but still plenty of trouble to find -- wetlands, woods, high grass. Lots of short par 4s, which will challenge your club selections and strategy, depending on the tees you play -- anything from a driver down to hybrid will be an option. Undulating greens that still show telltale hallmarks of the Dye-Nicklaus days. Great staff and practice area!
All was great except for the Korean foursome group that were playing in front of us. They were playing from the tips and only hitting 200 yards. This slowed the pace down tremendously to 4 hours 30 minutes. There should have been a ranger out on the course to monitor.
Fall golf
Me and my dad tried out the Grand Geneva courses over the past few weeks and left very impressed. The Highlands was a fun challenge with some unique holes. Rabbits Road standing out for me. The staff has been great everytime and it will be added to our annual playlist for sure.
Highly Recommend
The Highlands was in exceptional condition and was a true pleasure to play.
Worth a look
One of my favorite courses in the area.
I just wish the staff were as excited to be there as I was
Bargin
I have no complaints. Got a bargain price off of golf pass. 2nd time was as good as the first!
What about the greens?
The course was in good shape overall, and the resort setting is spectacular. It has been very dry, so fairways greens and even the rough was fast. Very fast. The course is perfect for nearly every golfer up to about a 25 handicap. After that it gets a little long and my get frustrating (particularly a couple of the par threes).
The surprise to me was the greens. Not that they were a little brown in some cases from lack of rain, but that they had inconsistent surfaces, sometimes in the same green. In many cases, foreign growth had made it onto the putting surface. There are some bargain greens fees available ($72), which give the course "value for the money".
But if you pay $120 - the same value is not gained
First time at Highlands Course
Played as a single but was paired up with another golfer. Had a super round except that we were following a golf tournament group that was slow so it took 4 1/2 hrs.
Beautiful layout
Course was in great condition, and very challenging!
SentryWorld Stay & Play Package
Destination Kohler - Champions' Trail Golf Package
Destination Kohler - To Dye Four Golf Package
SW Michigan Golf Around Package
