High marks for Highland National: The Metropolitan’s tour of public golf courses continues...
By Torleif Sorenson
When the City of St. Paul reopened Highland National Golf Course in 2005, the “Snoopy”-shaped bunker on the 15th hole became a notable feature, but the course—and its staff—offer so much more than just a tribute in sand to “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul playing and caddying on the original Highland Park course.
A First Tee facility, and a place for women
Brian Simpson, Franco Zerna and Angie Ause are teaching professionals deeply involved in Highland National’s First Tee programs. The First Tee initiative began nationally in the late 1990s with the help of the PGA of America, PGA TOUR, LPGA, US Golf Association, Tiger Woods Foundation and Augusta National Golf Club, amongst others.
The First Tee of Saint Paul is a registered 501(C)(3) non-profit organization, and offers children—including those from lower-income families—the chance to learn the game and the strong character and values that are part of golf. Simpson was hired in 2005 to start up the program, which now includes more than 1000 kids. Highland National head professional John Shimpach sums up their effectiveness by saying, “They do a great job with the kids.”
Ause is an LPGA-certified instructor who teaches girls-only classes (amongst others), and is also popular among women who come to Highland National to take up the game, including local members of the Executive Women’s Golf Association.
Starting over
The original 18-hole course opened in 1928 on a farm field and, over time, major drainage problems led to maintenance problems, which led to playability problems for golfers. Add traffic congestion from the old entrance off Hamline Ave. and safety issues surrounding the practice range, and it was understandable that the City of St. Paul decided about 10 years ago to do a complete reconstruction.
Enter Garrett Gill, a golf course architect based in River Falls, Wis. Gill is well-respected; Golf Digest magazine’s “Best New Courses” lists in 2002 and 2007 included two of Gill’s designs, The Legends, and The Meadows at Mystic Lake, both in Prior Lake, Minn. But Gill had a slew of technical and social problems to solve at what would eventually be renamed Highland National Golf Course.
Working closely with city officials and nearby residents, Gill developed a master plan that closed the entire course for two years, mitigated leakage from the three water towers on the property, and resolved the numerous drainage issues. St. Paul’s city arborist identified numerous dead-or-dying trees and they were removed during the clearing of the property. Gill also took care to reroute the course so that the course’s 1929 clubhouse would be closer to the opening tees and closing holes than in the original routing.
Exercising his design expertise, Gill then rerouted numerous holes to resolve directional problems and safety issues caused by mismatched holes, while building two practice greens and a larger (and nicer!) practice range, safely surrounded with tall fencing. He also had the greens seeded with a hybrid “L93” bent grass, which allows the course superintendent to have the greens rolling as fast as 12 on the Stimpmeter when hosting an important tournament or event. (Typically, the greens “Stimp” at about 9 or 10, making them manageable for most higher-handicap players.)
While Gill allows that Highland’s many mature trees suggest a “parkland” style, he added links-style mounding and shaping on what used to be flat farmland, so he leaves the question about course style labels to others.
In the end, Gill says two questions were important to ask: first, did they make Highland National a better course to play, and would loyal golfers who were displaced from the course during reconstruction return and enjoy the newer course? The answer to both turned out to be a resounding “yes,” and Gill describes the City of St. Paul as being “a wonderful partner” on the project.
A tour of the course
Mike Williams, a member of the Cretin-Derham Hall golf team says, “I can shoot a low score here, but I still have to watch my step because there are some holes where you can lose a lot of strokes if you aren’t careful.”
Ben Brown, an assistant golf professional at Victory Links in Blaine, agrees: “I don’t think Highland is too hard for higher-handicap players, although it’s a little longer than other places… there’s enough room where you can spray your driver and still not make a mess. It’s nice that this course has a little length to it, but on a windy day, it can be brutal at times.”
Brown gives Highland National high marks, start to finish: “Highland having GPS in their carts is a nice surprise. It helps by giving you the distance to the front of the fairway bunkers. On a par 5 when I’m playing into the wind, if I have to lay up, I can see what club not to hit.”
Shimpach appreciates holes 7 through 9, and Brown agrees: “8 is a really good downhill hole with a bunker guarding the wide green, so you can miss it left, but if you miss it long, you’re ‘in jail.’ A hole doesn’t have to be long in order to be challenging –the 17th at the TPC at Sawgrass is a good example. The green on Number 8 is shallow and downhill, so when it plays downwind, you need to hit it high with a lot of spin to hold the green.”
The second nine at Highland gets tough straight away. Brown explains, “When 10 plays into the wind, it’s not a hard fairway to hit, but you have to have a strategically-placed drive and approach if you want to avoid the water and make birdie. 11 is good because the trees on the right side of the fairway are just beyond the bunker, and that makes you strategize your second shot, too. You can miss it one way, but you can also hit a perfect drive and still have to shape your approach.” And with water, trees and sand guarding the right side of the green, “…12 is a real risk-reward hole too, even downwind.”
After securing permission from the Schulz family, Gill modeled the 15th holes fairway bunker on Snoopy from the “Peanuts” comic strip. As Shimpach points out, Snoopy’s nose narrows the fairway and can collect wayward tee shots. Gill cites the “Snoopy hole” as an enjoyable feature of the redesign with thanks to the Schulz family: “That was pretty special.”
But the last three holes at Highland National are no cakewalk. Brown explains, “I like how the course finishes, because you’ve got Snoopy on 15, and 16 is a nice par 3 with sand in back. 17 is a really good risk-reward water hole because it’s short enough where, regardless of the wind, you can get it down to where you just have a little pitch shot. But the further you hit it, the tighter the fairway is. It’s a good hole that can change the tide of your round—good or bad. 18 is nice but quirky, because it looks kind of wide open from the tee, but the green slopes a lot, and it makes your approach shot somewhat blind, but not unfairly.”
Beginner or experienced, man or woman, girl or boy and financially comfortable or strapped, Highland National Golf Course is a safe, welcoming, scenic and challenging place to take up the game and hone your skills.
HIGHLAND NATIONAL GC:
1403 Montreal Ave
651-695-3774
www.GolfStPaul.org
The First Tee of Saint Paul:
www.TheFirstTeeStPaul.org
Executive Women’s Golf Association,
Minnesota Metro Chapter:
www.mnewg.org