Every time the Club conducts a member survey, like the one recently completed, I look forward to seeing the results; particularly the comments about the golf course and practice facility. This gives me insight into how members view the golf course from their own perspective and gives me and my team ideas on how we can improve or make better use of our resources. That is our goal everyday and every year. We want to keep improving and making the condition of the course better year after year.
Overall, the 2026 member survey concerning the golf course, was extremely positive. In fact, there was no one aspect of there golf course itself, that scored below a 97%. However, that doesn't mean there weren't helpful observations. There were certainly themes and I am happy to say that most of the constructive criticism was directed at issues that we are investing in upgrading this winter. Let me share with you some specifics!
1. The most brought up topic in the comment section was the four tees. The wear and tear is an issue because of their small size. Other members commented that they can be too hard and difficult to put a tee in the ground but when we get a lot of rain, they are too wet and drain poorly. All of these observations are correct. Let me take a minute and explain why this is and how it will be corrected for 2027.
When the four tees were constructed in 2022/2023, the Green Committee (including myself) knew the tees would get some use but we didn't exactly know how much use. Little did we know at the time, they would become as popular as they are. Rather than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to build USGA spec sand based tees right away, we elected to build all of the tees, using the 'push-up' construction method, which is far less expensive. This is where topsoil is either hauled in or 'pushed up' in a certain area to create a putting green or tee. This was the main construction method going back to the late 1800's in America. Oakmont CC for example, still plays on their original push-up greens. However, after a century or more of aeration and topdressing, that heavy clay soil root zone becomes diluted with sand. So the tees start very firm, especially when dry, but loosen up over time once we are able to incorporate sand for a few years. Working with our architect, Ron Forse, we were able to construct all of these forward tees for less than $50,000. As the golf course continues to push record numbers of rounds, it's obvious the tees need to be much bigger. I'm happy to say, that starting in December, all of the forward (4) tees will be enlarged, squared off and built with a sand base. No longer will these tees have extreme wear issues, nor will they suffer from poor drainage.
2. The next topic also involved tees but this had to do with several existing tees not being level. It too, is a very valid comment.
For the most part, all of the tees on the golf course were built between the years 1997 to 2004. When the tees were constructed, they were laser leveled and sodded. However, over the past 25 to 30 years since then, there has been settling in areas. On top of that, many years of aeration and topdressing also can cause tee surfaces to become unlevel. No matter how hard we try, it's impossible to get the same amount of sand over 100% of the tee surface. This leads to some areas of each tee gradually becoming higher than others. Divots on par three tees is probably the biggest challenge to keeping tees level. Golfers tend to tee off from the center of the tee. Of course, the agronomy team comes behind, filling those divots with sand. 20 to 30 years of this causes tee boxes to become crowned- almost like a small scale football field. The bottom line is, the life of a tee box is no more than 15 years before the turf needs to be stripped and the surface re-leveled. Stretching the life of a tee out to 30 years is not practical and something we need to account for in the future. But again, I happy to report that this winter, we'll be rebuilding the worst of the unlevel tees on the golf course! The tees on #3, #10, #12, #13 in addition to others, will be rebuilt and re-leveled. Whatever we don't finish this winter, will be the priority for the following off-season. In 2027, the number of complaints regarding unlevel tees, will diminish.
3. The next comment that was mentioned a couple times, was directed at the practice facility and specifically, the practice tee. Members commented that there is too much wear and tear, too early in the season. Others commented that they're always forced to hit off mats. There was also a comment that the tee is too soft and needs to be firmer.
There is no question the practice tee gets a lot of use. Ever since the 2018 Beau Welling renovation of the facility, the use of it just keeps growing every year. The fact of the matter is, we are short on land. Our practice tee is less than 1/2 acre (21,000ft2). For a golf course that plays the number of rounds we do in the period of time we do them, should have a practice tee that is at a minimum of one acre in size. Unfortunately, until we can acquire more land, which is highly unlikely knowing our neighbors around the practice facility, we are limited with any expansion. Building another tee or even stand-alone short game area at the back of the range, isn't realistic for one main reason: safety. No golf course architect would take a project like that on without 400 yards of separation between the front and back practice tees. There is just too much liability of someone getting hurt. The Green Committee has taken a major interest in the practice facility and help protect the resources we have. Last year, their recommendation was to go to artificial mats on Mondays and then expanded that to include Sundays as well. Until we have a larger practice tee, we have to be judicious with what we have.
4. Cart Path access to the practice facility was another comment I counted approximately three times.
The Club first started studying access to the practice facility back in 2002. At that time, we even had an architect draw a cart path that connected Happoldt Drive to Arnold Road. The NCDOT was willing to allow the club to use the right-of-way under two conditions. First, anyone (including nonmembers), would be allowed to use the path as a sidewalk and second, we needed 100% support and buy-in from residents along Dillard Road. The second stipulation is where things fell apart. At least two residents (out of 5 total) were not going to support the project. The Club looked into other ways to access the practice facility to no avail. One such idea involved building a cart bridge over the wetland area of Lake Sequoyah, connecting Cobb Road, to Arnold Road. Just this past summer, I spoke to a representative with the NCDOT and brought the subject back up. The question was, if we still agreed to those two stipulations laid out in 2002, would the DOT allow us to use the right-of-way. Unfortunately, the NCDOT will no longer allow cart paths in the right-of-way. This essentially put an end to ever gaining access to the practice facility. Along Dillard Road, anyway.
5. There was one comment stating that our agronomy team should not be permitted work around golfers.
I can understand how some golfers can find this distracting. Your agronomy team does have certain policies in place that we adhere to, to minimize the amount of disruption we cause. The most obvious one is that we always work in reverse during the afternoon. This ensures each worker only sees any one foursome, only one time. Several years ago, I suggested a program that I've heard other Clubs use. The proposal was to block off tee times everyday from 12 noon to 1pm. This would effectively give us a 1-hour gap to work in, with no play. The policy would go on to say that my team would never work outside of that gap. Of course, the Green Committee didn't agree because the 12 Noon-1PM tee times are desirable. It's also worth noting that the amount of play that Highlands CC receives, is breaking records, almost annually over the last six years. There are simply no gaps on the golf course to work. Tee times are stacked solid from 8AM until 4PM or later some days. Rest assured, the agronomy team doesn't want to work around golf either. It's incredibly inefficient and we find ourselves with mowers turned off or idled down for a majority of the afternoon. I once considered mowing in the evening. However, this creates a major overtime issue. With 100% of my team living in Clayton or Franklin (~40 minute drive), no one is going to arrive to work at 5:30AM to mow fairways then clock out and go home, only to return 5 hours later to mow rough. It becomes a labor issue and would require hiring 4 additional staff members to make that idea work. All this said, I'm always open to new ideas. If there is something that seems to work at one of your other Clubs, I would be really interested to hear about it!
To conclude, the winter of 2026/2027 is going to be a fun winter with lots of action on the golf course. When you return next April or May, I can assure you that you will feel the golf course is better than it was the year before. After all, that's our goal!