Six hundred acres of Appalachian plateau.
Unchanged since the founding.
Unhurried by design.
ESTABLISHED 1887
MEMBERSHIP 240 FAMILIES
The course was carved from the plateau by hand. In 1887, workers with mules and scrapers shaped the fairways from native fescue and bentgrass. The 14th hole has remained unchanged since 1923. We see no reason to alter it.
Six hundred acres. No housing. No development. The land is held in perpetual trust, protected from the encroachment that has claimed every other course of its era.
"The Highlands does not occupy the land. It belongs to it."
— Robert Trent Jones, 1962
The Club was founded by twelve families. Their names remain inscribed in the oak paneling of the main hall: Carnegie. Mellon. Frick. Westinghouse. The industrialists who shaped American manufacturing sought a place removed from the world they were building.
In 1923, Donald Ross redesigned the course. He walked the property for three days before marking a single flag. His routing follows the natural contours of the plateau. The greens are small, sloped, defended by bunkers that have never been rebuilt.
The membership has remained at 240 families since 1961. There is no waiting list. There is no application in the conventional sense.
The members are industrialists, statesmen, and artists who value what cannot be purchased: silence, privacy, continuity. They are united not by profession but by a shared understanding that some things should remain unchanged.
The Club does not publish a directory. Names are not disclosed. What happens at Highlands remains at Highlands—not through enforced secrecy, but through mutual understanding among those who require no enforcement.
Membership is extended by the Board, following introduction by an existing member. If you have been directed here by a member, you may submit a letter of correspondence.
The Board of Governors
The Highlands Club
Appalachian Plateau
The Board reviews correspondence quarterly. You will receive a response by post.