Invitation & Access · West Suburbs
Chicago Highlands ClubWestchester
Arthur Hills's links-style private course in Westchester, built on a former landfill with skyline views.
Par
72
Yardage
7,490
Rating · Slope
77.2 · 145
Holes
18
Green Fee
Members only
The Course
About Chicago Highlands Club
Chicago Highlands, a Westchester club in the west suburbs for members and their guests, plays across 270 acres of fescue-covered hills with more than 80 feet of elevation change and views of the downtown skyline. Arthur Hills built it as a modern links-style course. From the Black tees it reaches 7,490 yards, rated 77.2 with a 145 slope. Caddies are encouraged, and staff and caddies are not tipped. Not to be confused with Highlands of Elgin, the City of Elgin's public course.
History
Chicago Highlands Club — History
Founders John Baxter, Tom Healy and Joseph Hills, Arthur Hills's son, hired Hills in 2003 for a site that had been one of the area's largest 20th-century landfills. About 125,000 truckloads of soil built the hills, and the course opened in spring 2010. Golf Digest named it among its top new courses that year and the 9th its Hole of the Year, according to a 2012 Bull Sheet article by the club's Billy Sharp.
Design
Chicago Highlands Club — Design
Hills shaped a links-style course from imported fill, with the 9th green at its highest point. Fescue hills frame the holes, and steep-faced hollows, cross bunkers and a grass moat do much of the defending, alongside prairie, streams and a large wetland on the back nine. Greens run big: the 7th's covers about 17,000 square feet and the 4th's is nearly 200 feet long.
What Sets It Apart
Why Play Chicago Highlands Club
It turned a flat former landfill beside I-294 into a hilly links-style course, with the Chicago skyline in view from the 9th green, Golf Digest's 2010 Hole of the Year, and from the 14th.
The Round
The Journey at Chicago Highlands Club
I.
The Opening
The 461-yard 1st shares a vast fairway with the 18th, with steep hollows left and bunkers right. The 484-yard 2nd drops from a high tee past 40-foot hills to a green behind a bluegrass moat. The 389-yard 3rd rewards precision over driver, and the 243-yard 4th, the Bowling Alley to members, plays down a chute to a green nearly 200 feet long. The par-5 5th is a birdie chance, and long is lost at the downhill 6th.
II.
The Middle
The 615-yard 7th, the No. 1 handicap, splits its fairway with bunkers and ends at a 17,000-square-foot green. The 432-yard 8th lands in a bowl below a perched green with a 40-foot wall on the right. The uphill 9th climbs to the skyline view. The 478-yard 10th plays downhill to a green sloping toward a pond, the 11th crosses a wildflower valley to a pond, and the par-5 12th has two streams short of the green.
III.
The Finish
The 233-yard 13th is a hidden, downhill par 3 with two bunkers right. The 363-yard 14th is drivable, aimed at the Willis Tower, with a wetland across its north end. The 519-yard 15th is the longest par 4, with out-of-bounds possible left. The 405-yard 16th has a bunker mid-fairway, the 158-yard 17th rings a two-tier green with seven pot bunkers, and the 573-yard 18th ends at a peninsula green beside a wetland.
How to Play It
Chicago Highlands Club — Playing Strategy
Beginner / High Handicap
The club has seven sets of tees, and at 77.2 and 145 from the Black, one of the shorter sets is the right call; take a caddie when one is available. On the 6th, short is better than long, since nearly everything over that green is lost. Treat the 7th and 15th, the two hardest holes, as bogey holes.
Intermediate / Mid Handicap
Favor the left side of the landing zone on the 3rd to stay clear of the thin cross bunker, and keep the drive right of the bunker in your line at the 8th. On the 10th, stay below the hole on a green that slopes toward the pond. The 5th and 12th are the par 5s a solid player can reach.
Advanced / Low Handicap
The scoring holes are the drivable 14th and the reachable 5th and 12th; on the 12th, a drive left of the fairway bunkers sets up the shot in, and high and right is the safe miss past the streams. The 7th needs a drive right of the western ridgeline and a second over the center bunker. At the 15th, trace the right fairway bunker.
Signature Holes
Chicago Highlands Club — Signature Holes
The Card
Chicago Highlands Club Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
| Yards | 461 | 484 | 389 | 243 | 531 | 207 | 615 | 432 | 344 | 3,706 | 478 | 479 | 576 | 233 | 363 | 519 | 405 | 158 | 573 | 3,784 | 7,490 |
| Handicap | 5 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 11 | — | 10 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 18 | 8 | — | — |
Good to Know
Chicago Highlands Club — questions answered
- How do I get on Chicago Highlands Club?
- Chicago Highlands Club is a private club — play is reserved for members and their guests. The only way on is a membership or a member's invitation; there is no public tee sheet.
- Who designed Chicago Highlands Club?
- Chicago Highlands Club was designed by Arthur Hills and opened in 2010.
- What is the par and yardage at Chicago Highlands Club?
- Chicago Highlands Club plays to a par of 72 over 7,490 yards from the championship tees, with a course rating of 77.2 and a slope of 145.
- Is Chicago Highlands Club public or private?
- Chicago Highlands Club is a private member club — not open to public play. Access is by membership or a member's invitation; there is no public tee sheet.
- Where is Chicago Highlands Club located?
- Chicago Highlands Club is located at 2 Bluebird Trail, Westchester, IL 60154, in the West Suburbs area of Chicagoland.
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How to Play It
How to Play Chicago Highlands Club.
Chicago Highlands Club is a private club — play is reserved for members and their guests, with no public tee sheet. The only way on is a membership or a member's invitation.
Golf in CHI is an independent guide — we don’t sell tee times or mark them up. We map the exact way on.
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