Heather Hills Golf Course Review
Heather Hills Golf Course
Romeo, Michigan
Grade: C
Teachers’ Comments: Flat lies are in short supply.
Heather Hills is a hilly parklands style course located in northwest Macomb County. In this back-and-forth layout, there is scarcely a flat lie to be found. The constant play of balls below and above your feet makes Heather Hills far more challenging than a glance at the scorecard suggests.
Heather Hills is routed across two hills which face each other across a valley with a creek. The clubhouse sits atop the largest of the hills, and serves as the launch point for the first and tenth holes, as well as the site of the ninth green. A total of ten of the holes play up and down, or perpendicular to the slopes of this hill.
The creek runs through seven of the holes. Six holes have ponds that may come into play.
The small hill on the far side of the creek gives the remaining holes their character.
For all of the elevation changes, a majority of the holes at Heather Hills are basic straight shots from tee to green. Fairways are encouragingly wide, but the overall layout is tight. Stands of trees of varying density separate these holes. Some are old growth. Others are relatively newly planted.
Strangely, there are no bunkers.
From the tips, Heather Hills tops out at 6, 424 yards and plays to a 70.9/124. The middle tees are at 6, 101 and 69.2/118. The forward tees are come in at 5, 163 and play at 69.3/118.
My favorite hole was the 439 yard par 4 first (pictured at the top of the page). A dogleg right, the tee shot plunges sharply downward and must thread the needle between trees and a pond on the inside corner, and a slope on the outside. The second shot must traverse the creek, and rise upward to the green, which is set on the slope of the facing hill. My tee shot went too far left and got hung up on the slope. That forced me to pitch down, rather than attack the green. From there, it was a wedge in and two putts. I felt good about taking my medicine and getting out with a bogey.
Conditions on the day I played were so-so. The fairways were not in great shape, and in some places it was hard to tell where they ended and the rough began. Parts were bare. Tee boxes were beat up. The greens were decent, though.
I wouldn’t recommend that anyone go out of their way to play Heather Hills, but if you are a local, the course offers an interesting test. The staff was all very friendly, and although the parking lot was nearly full, pace of play was fine.
The Heather Hills Golf Course Review was first published February 18, 2020 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2019.
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A photo tour of Heather Hills follows:
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