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HIGHLANDER
GOLF COURSE GOLF COURSE
It feels as if you are standing on the rim of the world, some 800 feet above the massive
Columbia River, all of which can make golf rather insignificant—for a moment, anyway. But the
reality sinks in as you back away from the panorama and have to deal with the shot. There may
be more notable par 3s in the Pacific Northwest, but there is none more commanding than the
ninth at Highlander Golf Course, high in the orchards above East Wenatchee.
From the back tee, it is a 179-yard shot over a ravine. If you don't look down, the shot isn't
terribly difficult on many days. But good players have hit everything from a pitching wedge
to a 3-wood, depending on the sneaky winds that sweep through the Columbia River Valley,
sometimes even undetected by the green's flag. A person with sense keeps his shot on the
right half of the green, for the world seems to tilt left on this hole, the slope of the green heading
a pulled tee shot toward a bunker if you're lucky, or to the Columbia River if you aren't. Play too
safe right and you're saddled with a chip over a hump to a location that might be in a different
ZIP code.
Highlander is an evolving golf course; the front nine has added trees and water features while
losing gnarly pot bunkers and inescapable fescue grasses bordering the fairways. The back
nine is due some of the same transformations, plus some hole relocations that will come with
the building of homes along the edge of the course. All on the rim of the world.
Photograph by John R. Johnson, golfphotos.com
PAR 3 179 YARDS
East Wenatchee, WA
509.884.4653
www.highlandergc.com
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