Trips to Cape Cod are truly an experience.
Beaches, the ocean and, of course, lobster rolls are all part of the unique tastes of the peninsula off the Massachusetts coast. But pull back the layers of the Cape Cod onion, delve deeper into its core and there is the stem of the edible bulb. It’s where you will find Highland Links.
A true Cape Cod gem, the course was built in 1892. The Links has the look and feel of a proper links course, but on a different continent.
Renowned author Alistair Cooke described the oldest links on the Cape as “the perfect example of British or Scottish links in the United States.”
Nine holes that play to par 35, the course was initially designed and constructed using oxen to move dirt, and created generally devoid of trees. This allows mother nature to dictate how the course plays, with the humps and bumps of the fairways complementing the wind off the ocean.
The guiding light of Highland Links is the Highland Lighthouse, which was initially commissioned by George Washington in 1797.
The beacon off the outer Cape Cod coast originally started as a 45-foot-tall wooden tower, but the present-day lighthouse is now 66 feet tall and is made of brick. The lighthouse provides the feel of the ocean — as if the smell and breezes were lost on you.
Beyond the views of the Cape, lighthouse and ocean, the course is interesting. Fairways are difficult to hit, while large, undulating greens are hard to read.
If you find a lie that isn’t uphill, downhill or sidehill, then you must be in the pro shop, because the course is a challenging walk. The hilly course plays 5,331 yards from the back tees.
Trips to the Cape are great, but a detour to Highland Links in North Truro is worth the time.