The Highlands Golf Course

The Highlands Golf Course in Bella Vista, Arkansas, represents a collaborative design effort by Ed Ault, Tom Clark, and Bill Love. Bella Vista, located in the northwest corner of Arkansas near the Missouri border, developed as a planned retirement and resort community beginning in the 1960s, and The Highlands emerged as part of this broader recreational infrastructure. The course sits within the Ozark Mountain foothills, where the rolling terrain and native hardwood forests provide natural elevation changes and wooded corridors that define the playing experience. The routing takes advantage of the property's topography, with holes moving through mature tree-lined fairways and incorporating the region's characteristic rock outcroppings and elevation shifts. The design reflects the practical, playable style typical of courses built to serve residential communities, balancing challenge for regular members with accessibility for a range of skill levels. Water features appear on several holes, and the green complexes vary in their demands for approach shot precision. Bella Vista's collection of golf courses has long served both residents and visitors to northwest Arkansas, a region that has grown considerably in recent decades. The Highlands functions as part of this network, offering a wooded, hilly contrast to flatter layouts elsewhere in the state. The course maintains its place within a community known for outdoor recreation, where golf integrates with the area's lakes, trails, and natural amenities.