The Highlands of Elgin

#8 Best Municipal Golf Course in the United States (Golfweek Magazine)

#2 Best Golf Course You Can Play in the State of Illinois (Golfweek Magazine)

The Highlands of Elgin, a municipal golf course operated by the city of Elgin, Illinois, was designed and developed over a ten-year period. Art Schaupeter and Keith Foster co-designed the first nine holes, which were opened in 2003. Art was subsequently hired in 2006 to design the second nine holes which were opened for play in 2010. The second nine holes are laid out on the site of a closed limestone quarry. A sixteen-acre lake in the bottom of the old quarry is the centerpiece around which the golf holes are located. Art routed four very dramatic and distinctly individual holes around the quarry lake to create a unique golfing experience in the Chicagoland area. due to the depth of the original quarry pit, the resulting lake is connected to subsurface water can possibly fluctuate in depth/elevation by 20-30 feet. As such, Art designed the golf holes well above the normal lake level, giving these holes the same type of dramatic cliff-top setting that is present with the famous Pacific coast courses of California like Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. Heroic risk/reward options are designed into these holes as well as the other holes on the course, providing golfers with a lot of interest, adventure and fun throughout their round.