The next round on my extended weekend in Colorado was at Highland Meadows Golf Course. Highland Meadows appears to be one of a number of high-quality courses in the Windsor area.

I booked a 2:50pm tee time, got there early, and waited for a thunderstorm to quickly pass before checking in. Thankfully the timing worked out great as that storm passed and another one hit right as we finished up on the last hole. Overall, it took about four hours to play on a Saturday afternoon. Sweet.

Highland Meadows is a newer course that opened in 2004. Art Schaupeter is the designer and while I haven’t heard his name before, it looks like he did some work at the Highlands of Elgin in Illinois. It has been quite a few years since I played Highlands of Elgin, but I recall enjoying that one quite a bit.

Like many modern courses, Highland Meadows plays through a community. Homes line most of the holes and while the homes are very visible from the course, they shouldn’t really come into play. The course has a links look and occupies plenty of good land.

After a couple so-so opening holes, Highland Meadows starts to get interesting from the 4th through the 7th holes. These holes run along the edge of the property and one of the holes – the long par-4 6th – plays across a ravine. The 4th is a short par-3, 131 yards from the blue tees, that plays over water to a quirky green that slopes hard from back to front. The 7th – 325 yards – is a potentially driveable par-4 with a deep bunker guarding the green.

The back nine has its own stretch of good holes too. The 12th through the 16th were fun to play. They are also towards the edge of the property and have a good amount of elevation change. The 12th is a long par-5 and the 14th is a long par-4 with a risk/reward tee shot. The 15th is a reachable par-5 depending on how many bunkers someone can carry off the tee.

I played the blue tees which are 70.4/131/6562 (par-71). I’d say the toughest part about playing Highland Meadows was trying to navigate the green complexes. The fairways and greens are pretty big. There is some water and a number of tricky angles. Nothing too crazy. But the greens, they are wild. It is tough to tell from my pictures, but the greens slope severely. Putts and chips snap hook. The 8th has a redan green. The 9th has a section of green that is a bowl. The 18th green drops off into the water. If I’m honest, the greens felt like a bit of a gimmick. Too much, maybe.

The green fee was $75 to walk. Conditions were very nice. All the turf was lush and the course presented well visually. The greens were smooth and fast. The bunkers could use some fresh sand.

I think Highland Meadows is worth checking out if you live within an hour and want to play a new place. Personally, I’m not sure how well I could handle the green complexes on a regular basis. If the greens were tamer, I know I would have enjoyed the course more.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):