Highbridge Gold is the confluence of everything that makes this venue the legendary, infamous delight that's captivated golfers across the Upper Midwest and the nation. The host venue for Nate Doss' 2007 Pro Worlds victory, Highbridge features five primary courses on-site, plus a bonus campground course used primarily for glow rounds. The five courses on the hill are the main draw, with each one unique enough to showcase a different flavor of the richly diverse land. Gold is a bit of everything combined into one long, difficult, championship routing. The design, like the rest of the courses on site, is a Chuck Kennedy masterwork, interweaving placement-focused technical holes (Hole 14, for example) with long distance grinders (the legendary Hole 8, a 1426 foot par 6). However, the true character of Gold lies in its many holes that combine the two elements. Hole 3 is a brutally long hole that gently constricts the fairway with every shot before completely stovepiping it into a tightly wooded approach that could be a brilliant standalone hole in its own right. Hole 11 demands a choice of layup or crush off the tee to position around a small pond and set up for a challenging approach to a sloping, protected pocket green. Even relatively open holes like 18 provide a lot of fun and, in this particular case, one of my favorite greens in all of disc golf - a small rectangle protected by a front-facing rock wall that forces placement and power control to make your approach sit up where it needs to be for a clean putt. Fun to play and extremely photogenic as you look back down the fairway.

All of the courses at Highbridge are beautiful, and even the least scenic points on the property blow away most other routings by a country mile. Gold is probably the least pretty course here, but that doesn't stop some great drives (Holes 8 & 12) and approaches (Holes 2 & 18) from reminding you that you're in the middle of the gorgeous Wisconsin Highland. Also, I hold the unpopular opinion that the half-completed structures and failed Jokinen projects that line the fairways of Gold give a sort of spooky charm. Look for my current favorites -- the abandoned car and cabin on Hole 11!

There's two sets of concrete tees on every hole, with the golds dramatically more maintained than the whites. The course uses DISCatchers in good repair.

Assuming you can find a golf cart that works, Gold is a ridable course. I prefer to walk, but riding would probably save a lot of strength and time.

When you put aside all the drama and nonsense surrounding Highbridge, which are a con unto themselves for most (see other thoughts), there's really only one complaint that stands head and shoulders above the rest - Highbridge's inferior maintenance. It's a roll of the dice if the grass will be mowed on any given day, and tree trimming & rough control appear nonexistent. To make matters worse, Highbridge is approaching a relatively advanced age (14 years for most of the complex) where decisions should be made regarding tree removal, which will almost certainly never happen. When the courses are maintained, the level of maintenance is usually inversely correlated to its difficulty. You may come across an open fairway that's been mowed impeccably, only to play to a soggy green with waist-high grass. In all fairness to John, taking care of five courses with limited help is a rather difficult task, but that doesn't change the fact that unfinished mowing and trimming is a gigantic headache for us players. Depending on the status of the maintenance when you play, a course's rating could fluctuate by as many as two or more discs. Timing your visit to coincide with the intermittent mowing is just par for the course here. The Highbridge Hills - Wisconsin forum thread on this site is extremely helpful for providing detailed course condition updates.

For Gold in particular, there have been a couple of design compromises that neuter some special holes. Hole 12's green and the entirety of Hole 13 have been relocated out of a swampy area on the right hand treeline into the drier and easier to maintain open pasture. I assume these original locations would be salvageable with a little maintenance TLC, so it sucks to see them changed just because they're a pain to mow/trim. As a result, I've dropped my rating one half-disc.

Gold is currently the hardest course to play blind. First-timers will almost certainly want a map and some hole distances, as the newer tee signs here are the weakest at the complex.

With more twists and turns than a telenovela, the saga of Highbridge Hills has captivated golfers in the Upper Midwest for years. Regardless of where you fall between the two extremes of "John is a con artist" and "John is a harmless dolt whose reach exceeds his grasp", it's hard to visit here and not be charmed by the ramshackle enthusiasm of it all. Sure, it'd be great if a competent management team took over the complex, maintained it to perfection, and charged $20/day in greens fees to play what is probably the greatest collection of courses at a single site in the entire world. But where's the fun in that? Up here, disc golf still feels firmly tied to its DIY roots, as one man tries to hold it all together with chewing gum and string. Even as people (including myself) complain about the neglect of these world-class courses, it's important to remember that this version of Highbridge holds value as well. If you're looking for a true frolf adventure, Highbridge is the best place to find one. For now, it's best to enjoy what we have and hope for better days down the road.

PROTIP: Take a moment to rest on the shaded tee at the palate-cleansing intermezzo of Hole 7. The early woods holes can be brutal, and you'll want all your strength for the Hole 8 monster ahead.

Disclaimer: This is a review of the course before the idiotic music festival.

Gold is the long, more open 18 at Highbridge Sports Complex.

Concrete tees on every hole. Most have multiple tees, although the shorts tended to be overgrown and not well kept. This is Gold...play the longs, dummy.

Chainstar baskets, mounted well enough. Like everything at Highbridge, they're showing their age, but they still perform. Many holes have multiple pin positions listed, but I doubt the pins actually get moved. One thing the do really well on this course is pin placement, though. Lots of tucked baskets, hillside baskets, and more. You really have to think about where you place your drives to be able to get at some of them.

Gold has distance. Lots of it. Sure, there's a few deuce opportunities (although they require decent shots), but the main attraction of Gold is long placement golf. How many places have a 1400+ foot hole? Not many. You get plenty of opportunities to blast drives, but they need to be accurate in most cases in order to get good lines for a second shot.

The design here is really good for how open it feels. One of the members of our group commented on how there were hardly any NAGS (not a golf shot) on the entire course (at least at our skill level). There's not a lot of tweener holes, which is nice. Also, while it feels open in some areas, even then the obstacles force you to work a certain line.

Plenty of tight tunnels here as well, especially at the beginning. By the time you get to hole 8 (the bomber), you're happy to be out of the woods. The first set of holes has a few that are deuce opps, but it's also littered with long, winding, tight fairways. Control is the name of the game there.

The tee signs were the old laminated paper signs, and they're rough. Navigation isn't really an issue, but still.

It's Highbridge. You're looking at 50/50 that it will be mowed and in good shape. Gold does seem to be John's baby, though, so it gets more attention than some of the other courses.

It's hard to get past the fact that Gold feels like the preamble to a horror flick in several places. Multiple unfinished cabins, a small shack that we were sure was used for some sort of animal torture, and just general malaise all over the course.

Oh, and there's a bear den in between holes 8 and 11/12. My buddy and I got chased (chased meaning we cried like little girls when the bear was 100 yards away) up hole 8's fairway the first time we were up there.

Gold is an asskicker. A wonderful, beautiful asskicker. In pristine condition, it's closer to a 5.0 than a 4.5...it's just hardly ever in pristine condition. Big shots, tunnel shots, tough birds, great pin placements...it's all here. Not to mention some great scenery. The fact that it's on a property with so many other great courses helps the cause, for sure.

It's a long round. Your arm will be tired. And then you'll want to play it again. A must play.

This is a very long, challenging course. It starts out more wooded at the beginning then opens up on the second half. There are large, level and grippy concrete tee pads on every hole. Most holes have two sets of tees however not all short tees are concrete. There's a good mix of left, right and straight shots and the distances are nuts here. The shortest hole is #2 at 260 feet and the longest is a monstrous 1426 feet on hole #8. The baskets are disccatchers. They are all in excellent shape and catch well. There are garbage cans and nice homemade benches on nearly every hole. The navigation here isn't a problem with there being next tee signs where they are needed. They provide scorecards with a solid map on the back of it in the pro shop as well. If it's your first time it wouldn't hurt to take a map for any of the courses you want to play. The signs are just like on all the other courses on site. They provide a basic hole map, hole #, pars and the different pin locations and distances for each. There's not as much elevation variation here as there is on Granite Ridge, however that doesn't mean it's completely flat either. There's enough to keep it interesting. The wind is the main factor on most holes on the Gold. The rough can be pretty brutal in a number of areas so staying on the fairway is key. errant shots will cost you here as much as any of the other courses. You can rent golf carts for this course as well as Granite Ridge too which is pretty sweet. The course starts north of the pro shop near woodland greens and granite ridge. You will need to use all your different shots when playing the Gold. Great mix of left, right and straight shots. The views are fantastic on this and all the other courses. It's by far the most peaceful place I've ever seen to disc golf at. It boggles my mind how anybody could not enjoy playing here.

Just like the other courses here or anywhere in northern Wisconsin the bugs can get bad. Again not really a con since there's nothing they can do about it. Just be sure to bring plenty of bug spray. Also liquids because these courses will take their toll on you. Other than that nothing I can think of.

As I've said in all my other Highbridge reviews, this is a must play for any serious disc golfers out there. You will not be disappointed with your trip to Highbridge. I rated this a 4.5 because I haven't played every course out there so I can't say it's the best of the best. That's why I don't give out 5's. But any of these courses up here are about as close as you can get.

-Geat mix of holes on this course. some with elevation challenges, some with tree challenges, some with water challenges, some with wind challenges and most with distance challenges.
-You can take a cart on this course....who doesnt love that?
-Well maintained.
-great signage
-great surrounding landscape, making the course visually appealing.
-All around a solid course meant for the advanced- pro disc golfer.

-Impossible for an experienced (not pro) thrower to walk off the course after playing the longs and feel good about themselves. Just too long on most holes.
-wind on the long holes makes them more frustrating than they already can be for someone without a cannon for a throw.
-Did i mention this course is a beast, it just keeps coming at you with distance?
-Some of the roughs can be very rough and buggy.

This course is NOT for a newbie to the game. I have played many years and this course kicks my butt. There are a few holes that give you an ace look, which is a nice change of pace on this course, but like I said only a "few". All said and done i will say this course is absolutely a great course and makes me jealous of those that do have the arm to put up a solid score. I, and i highly doubt im alone on this, am an experienced thrower who played this and walked away feeling like less of a man. From a pro thrower standpoint, this course has got to be a 5. The course and how it satisfies the range of discers out there really only caters to the big throwers or those who prefer long hole after long hole. I recommend those that don't have a bazooka for an arm to throw from the shorts. We had much more fun when we felt like we made progress each throw on this course. Will not rate it a 5 strictly because this course does not offer something for all disc golfers. Beginners will definitely get very frustrated on this course. All said and done, however, it is a great course and deserves the rating it has.

[The Complex]- There are presently 5 complete 18-hole courses, with 2 more still being constructed. I like the fact that the courses are designed to be at varying levels of difficulty (hardest-> Gold-Granite-Blueberry-Woodland-Chestnut <-easiest) so if you come and play them all you will have a well-rounded experience of both challenging ¬skill-testers and more relaxing, fun rounds. Each course has different colored baskets that correspond to the course's name. The courses are set on an amazing piece of land that is huge and contains many natural features that are ideal for disc golf (open, woods, elevation, and ponds). The land is dedicated purely to disc golf and is so isolated that only disc golfers will be here, and chances are you will have these courses all to yourself. Huge props need to be given to the course designer for placing all the courses where they aren't on top of each other, each has its own character, and individual hole design is very creative and well-done. John, the owner, is very nice and loves to have people come and play. He works extremely hard on the courses and on the facility as a whole.

[The Course]- The Gold course is definitely a Gold Level course. The baskets for this one are the standard yellow band Discatchers. It consists of 18 challenging holes, a lot of it set on land that was a ball golf course. The biggest aspect that makes it harder is its length. There are 2 sets of tees (white-shorter, gold-super long), with the exception of only one tee on a few of the shorter holes. The white tees would still make it the hardest course at Highbridge, and the Gold tees are designed for those blessed with the really big arms. It is more wide open than Blueberry and Granite and the rough was not as thick, but there are still many spots where accuracy is necessary. This course is also more affected by wind as it is on the side of the ridge that faces the lake and it is more exposed to the elements due to being more open.

Some things I personally really liked about Gold: 1) there is a superb mix of alternating between open and wooded holes; 2) not being a long thrower I enjoyed that there were several shorter holes mixed in at just the right time providing for a great contrast from hole to hole; 3) there were a few pond water hazards as well as the unique island green of #16 surrounded by a moat; 4) it is not boring wide open long, but legit par 4/5 style where you have to strategically play your way down each fairway; 5) the views of the scenery are the best on the Gold course; and 6) though designed for gold level players it can still be enjoyable by intermediate players.

[The Course]- The only minor con (for me) was the day I played the wind was insanely gusty making it even harder (probably was the strongest wind I have ever played in) to the point that it took away from the total enjoyment just a bit. A worker said the wind often picks up quite a bit on summer afternoons.

Basically the only thing keeping this course from being a 5.0 for me is the lack of attention to amenities and lack of completion of the complex as a whole.

[The Complex]- Can be summed up in two words- trashy and incomplete. The land is beautiful but is littered with junk and trash and numerous unfinished projects. And then add on top the most important thing of trying to maintain 5 courses while building 2 more, but nature is easily overtaking things. John is fighting a losing battle with an unpaid staff of 2 that can't complete the things that are already here while simultaneously trying to build more stuff. Things appeared to be breaking faster than they could be fixed. The campground was trashy and smelled of raw sewage in several spots. The Honka House has a lot of potential but the pics of the outside don't tell the whole story- inside it is missing basics like drywall, outlet covers, lights, etc. and seems to be used as much for storage of junk as it is for housing guests.

[The Course]- The Gold course is designed to test the very best, and it definitely does. I think it is the most complete of all the courses at Highbridge. This is one course where you can rent a golf cart, but it is not really necessary. And John told us later that there is a bear den on one of the holes. (We joked later that it would have been nice to know that before hand and not afterwards!!!)

[The Complex]- If you like lots of holes and very rustic lodging then you will love it here. If you have high expectations of well-manicured courses and hotel-like lodging then prepare to be disappointed. John's mission is noble as he wants people of all ages to enjoy the outdoors and has plans to have 7 courses, as well as numerous other activities, but he does not seem concerned with creating a first-class disc golf facility. He dreams big, but appears to have bitten off more than he can chew. Highbridge needs manpower, but does not have the advantage of disc-golf loving locals or park workers that most other courses have. Other private courses don't either, but are usually only 1 course, not 7, and much easier to maintain!

This is another phenomenal course on the Highbridge property, a truly special place to play disc golf. Gold is the toughest complete course, and will challenge even the best players and make any player use every shot in their bag. There is lots of great elevation, and it is used extremely well to add challenge and interest, with some awesome downhill bombs and some tough uphill holes. There is a good mix of open and wooded terrain that keeps you on your toes and mixes it up enough that the course never gets repetitive.

This course makes you use just about every disc and every shot you carry, with left and right turning holes in good balance and turns that happen at all different points along fairways to make you think about your shot and do something different on just about every hole.

There are two sets of concrete tees on every hole, the extremely tough gold tees that will humble even seasoned pros, and the white tees that are tough for the rest of us and often totally change up the shot on the hole for some extra variety. I only got to play the golds, but I tried to take a look from every white tee, and it sure looks like they're worth a round too. There are decent signs on the gold tees with distance and layout for both pin positions on all the holes. The discatchers are in good shape and catch well.

I would like to have a little better signage here. If you want to play the white tees, you'll still have to go to all the gold tees to see the tee signs, and there isn't any distance marked for the white tees on the signs (though the scorecard remedies this). The signs also have no way of showing which pin position is in use, which means some long walks if you want to know before you throw.

There is some long grass rough in play on this course, which is never my favorite, it only wastes time and plastic without really adding strokes for errant shots.

This is a tough course that really isn't for beginners, even from the short tees. More experienced players will find themselves tested with a great mix of length, elevation, and strategically used trees and woods. This is a must play while you're at Highbridge, and certainly is a big part of what makes this place special.

This is a very long and challenging course that's well designed for distance players. It has a high par with many 4s and 5s, and it's even got a 1300+ foot hole that's a par 6. If you like to throw for distance, this is a great course. It has a good mix of hills and doglegs, but none of the fairways are narrow or demand very sharp turns. Technical players will probably still like it quite a bit but might prefer other Highbridge courses.

Most of the fairways on this one are pretty wide open with few trees, and the majority of baskets are way too far to hit from the tee box. That means that your accuracy is not challenged a whole lot. There are a couple water hazards to avoid, but the areas of long grass or dirt are obviously not anywhere near as deterring as they would be in ball golf. Trudging through the long grass does get tedious, especially if it's a wet day. There are also worse bugs on this course than the other Highbridge layouts due to many ponds and a swamp in the area of fairway13.

This course is a lot of walking and not much demand for accuracy aside from maybe holes 14 and 15, but it sure makes for a good chance to let your distance driver discs rip without much risk of losing them or going way over par, as you would on a more technical course. It's a good course to play as a scramble with teams of two.

This is a good distance course to challenge DG players. Bring your sunscreen on a hot day or your swimsuit and sandals on a wet day. You will be looking for discs in the long grass, but the fairways are very wide. Unless you are very innacurate, you probably won't lose any discs into water or woods.

Gold has it all - elevation, woods, water, open, long, short, insanely long, etc, etc, etc. There are also some short tees to help you enjoy this course if you are a beginner. Concrete tees, professional design, remote location, scenic beauty, pay to play keeps the dirtbags out. Did I already say scenic beauty? Memories abound on this amazing design - from insanely long 700' wooded holes, 1300' downhill former golf holes, great use of long and drastic elevation/ridges of the HHSC hill, and some awesome gimmicky holes like the island green surrounded by water, elevated tees and greens - Gold truly is a phenominal course even if it beats you down again and again and again.

Not many. If anything, the super long hole kinda lacks character and any real challenge, it is wide open, downhill and just drive after drive after drive. More of the greens could be a bit more risky. Because the distance is so long hear, many pins are not visible, signage could better depict flight routes in relation to natural features.

Gold truly is an excellent course. Championship caliber and PDGA gold design for sure. It is a completely different experience from Blueberry (which is still the absolute best at Highbridge in my mind), but in a good way. All the courses at Highbridge are WONDERFUL compliments to one another, and you must play them all - MORE THAN ONCE!!

There is a lot to be said about Gold. First as you hear all the time, you get some amazing distance. I'm not just talking about the 1300' hole, but 700'+ corridors through some wooded holes, and long wide open bombers that play across hills, uphill, and downhill. There are still more wooded holes here than on Granite, and the design is once again superb. Gold takes all the courses up a notch by mixing extreme elements of everything! What I mean is that you'll start out wide open on a 600' hole. halfway down the fairway you'll have to turn into the woods and thread the needle down a 300' corridor. Beside that, you'll realize that there is OB long grass or some pond in a blind location hidden off that neatly elevated tee you just flung from. This course is truly excellent and throwing well here really makes you feel like you've accomplished something. I threw 68 here and felt AWESOME during one round.

As discussed in other reviews (and see the pictures), there are quite a few signature holes that make great use of the old ball golf features like island greens and elevated tee boxes.

This course plays more open than blueberry (con) and will favor a big arm, but you still need accuracy (pro). I don't penalize the openness here as much as granite, because it is not as unbalanced on Gold. Same ole complaints about tee signs not being as good as they should for a disc golf complex, and not showing the pin position of the day.

Once again, you'll love that you made the trek out to play this course. After your warmup at Blueberry, come hit Gold and be prepared to bring it all. You'll love the land, course, and your whole experience. Once again, stay here all weekend and play every course more than once!

[Side note: you'll rarely hear me talk about how long a course took to play, how long it was, or how hilly it was. I actually seek out these grueling and extreme courses. I LIKE to get a workout while discin.]
UPDATE: In an attempt to quantitatively analyze my ratings and reviews I have come up with this spreadsheet. Highbridge Gold fairs better than I had initially rated it. I am bumping up from a 4.5 to a 5 as it is one of the Top 5 courses I have played.
http://spreadsheets.google.co...bVE&hl=en

This is a 5-disc course!! Not doubt about it, despite great tee signs, garbage cans, and other nice amenities, the design, terrain, topography, and setting is amazing. I am bumping my rating down to 4.5, simply to see other courses in the Top 10 on the front page. I think's it's only right to showcase more courses on the front page to new disc golfers visiting this great website. That's why I keep lobbying for a Top 25 to be displayed on the homepage.

Very challenging course, but very fair. Lots of long holes, great mix of par 4s, 5s, and even a par 6. Beautiful vistas, and some interesting hole layouts.

The site has at least 4 other courses on it, so visiting this course ensures plenty of golf. It took 2 of us 4 hours to play the course, both because we didn't know the course and because of the yardage. This one will wear your legs out.

The baskets are color coded, signs were great, the course was in great shape. There's an island green on #16, which is a rarity. Overall, this is the single best course in terms of fair challenge and feeling like I was at a championship course that I've ever played. I enjoyed it the most of the courses at the Highbridge Hills location.

There were also decent scorecards on site.

Only a few complaints. First, there wasn't much water. The course is located all over a hill, so there isn't much opportunity for natural ponds. There's a few man-made small pools which provide hazards, but that's about it.

Second, there was some trash strewn about. For something of this quality, I had hoped to see more trash cans, and/or someone taking care of the course. It is a shame, because the course is really stellar otherwise.

Finally, it was occasionally hard to know where you needed to go next. The course (when we played it) was still fairly new, paths weren't very worn, and even with a scorecard it took some time to figure out where the next hole was. In short, if you've never played it before, this course is going to take most the afternoon to play.

A friend and I wanted to finally play a "real" championship course, rather than the local courses that we had been playing. We took a DG trip to Highbridge Hills for a weekend, and boy did we get some exercise. This course was the "best" of the trip, for views, challenge, and overall feeling like we were playing something special. I can imagine better courses (more water, even more interesting holes), but this is certainly the top of the ones I've experienced.

We played 2 courses on Saturday and 2 on Sunday, and were dead tired on both days. Not only are the courses long (this one was +10000ft), but it is all up and down a low mountain, so you're really hiking. Don't come here expecting to get in 3 rounds of golf unless you're in shape and know the course.

We also found ourselves having to scout ahead on many holes. The holes are rarely straight, and there's a lot of trees. So you usually can't see the basket. Even with good signs, it still isn't enough to know what you're really trying to shoot for. So we spent even more time walking the hole, then walking back and playing. There wasn't anyone else in the entire area the day we played, not a single other person on the course, so we could afford to do this.

Was a very memorable trip, and if you're in the area, make sure to play this course. It is $10 to play all day at the site. While I appreciate DG being free in most parks, I have no problem paying for a park with this many courses of this caliber inside a beautiful region. It was worth flying 1000 miles just to play here for 2 full days.