Cranberry Highlands Golf Course

My first thought upon arriving was "This is a public municipal course?!?" It looks like a well-kept private country club. The course is clearly well managed in every aspect, and the aesthetic of every hole was immaculate.

Tee boxes, fairways, and greens were superb. If you like par-3s, this course has a great variety of them. The front nine in particular has a great array of holes, especially #2 and #3. Everything about the course was spectacular, especially considering it is run by the township!

Staff was friendly and amenities were nice. A few directory signs on and off the course would be helpful. There are few twists and turns between holes on the back nine that are a bit confusing the first time you play. Aside from that very minor detail, this course was fantastic.

Staff was very friendly throughout the day including the starter. On a very rainy day, course moved slow and it had been recently punched which is why conditions are average. Everything else was very nice - tee boxes were prim and proper, bunkers in good shape, etc.

The course layout leaves a lot to be desired. The Highlands are supposed to feel linksy and the thick stuff on the outside is essentially a hazard, but a lot of the holes, you are playing the same clubs. A lot of clubs I was playing Driver and then a mid-iron or wedge into.

I've played all of the top public courses in the Pittsburgh area so far and this would definitely be in the Top 4 for sure. Would love to play it on a drier day to see if it has the true links feel on the holes that seem to play like it (4-9, 10-11, 16-18).

If you are in Pittsburgh area and looking for a golf course that is always in good shape, come here.

Excellent challenging but fair course owned and operated by the Township. Equivalent to playing many of the private courses around the area

My only reservation or should I say recommendation would be to call ahead to determine if you’re restricted to the cart paths. Management is very protective of the grounds and actually this can be viewed as a plus.

This course has been rated one of the best muni courses in Pennsylvania and I found out why. As a links course it is open, however being in Pennsylvania the beauty of the surrounding walls of trees keeps the course feeling cozy. I noticed numerous birdhouses and even a stand of beehives while playing the course. I discovered it has been certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Nice! The course was well-manicured and I felt every level of golfer could enjoy playing this course. No blind spots, which I particularly appreciated. If you are in the area, play this course. It is a gem. A shout out to the starter who was delightful. Not at all condescending of women golfers, as I have found in other courses.

Cranberry Highlands is suppose to be one of the top 5 courses in the Pittsburgh area but it certainly did not live up to that expectation today. Today was by far the nicest we have had yet in if you’ve ever been to the area, these days are hard to come by. Prior to today, there had been dry conditions for 3 days consecutively. $69 green and cart fee. Cart path only, how? This made for an extremely long round unfortunately. Me and the guys wanted to come out early with, 9:31 tee time and didn’t finished until 2:30ish. All of us are right around 4-8 handicaps so decent golfers. Way too long of a day with an almost completely dry course. Why cart path only...? To top it off, the course conditions weren’t even close to what they've been every year leading up to this one.Greens were rolling as slow as an 8 and bumpy. Fairways were just a shade off of being “the first cut.” Par 3 tee boxes, “first cut rough.” If you hit your ball in the bunker, forget about it. This course right now it’s not worth the value by any means and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone at this very moment. My expectations are obviously very high for this course but it’s because I’ve seen this course at it’s full potential year in and year out. Cranberry Highlands upset me today. I don’t ever leave reviews about course. NOT WORTH THE VALUE

Played this course towards end of August for the first time. Everyone was nice, no one was pushy. You saw all kinds of workers doing work all day, which is refreshing. Greens, fairways, and bunkers were all in perfect shape. GPS with auto brakes on the carts was a little dumb, but they want to take care of their beautiful course. If you're not a Cranberry Township resident, don't complain about the rate, because anywhere but where we live, this course would be $125-$150. I will play again!

Went to the unknown, having never golfed in the Pittsburgh area. A lot of the reviews on this site lament the staffs courteousness or lack of. However, my wife and I found the staff to be delightful and helpful. Pace of play was awfully slow in my eyes (5 hour plus round). Club house was shut down before we finished the round due to a wedding, so it was difficult to get back in and get a drink or a souvenir of our visit.

It is well maintained but it is uneven in the respect to the length of the holes. Lots of short par 4’s and some very long par 5’s(#18 570 yds uphill into the wind from the standard men’s tees). If they would lengthen some of the par 4’s and shorten some par 5’s it would be a great public course. Rangers could use some lessons on manners too.

Cranberry highlands is a well manicured and challenging municipal course.

We played on a Saturday morning on the back Cranberry tees as the regular tees play a lot shorter at around 6000 yards. The driving range is on top of the hill so only irons can be used there for practice.

The course was in real nice shape but the consensus among the foursome was that the 66.00 was a little pricey. There is however a senior citizen discount available during the week.

The cart girl came around a few times but we never did see a ranger on the course. Play can be slower because of the heavy fescue surrounding much of the course but the local rule is that you play it like a lateral hazard.

Accuracy from the tee and distance control are at a premium at CH. Misses around the green are penalized with unpredictable rough or oddly shaped bunkers. Sitting atop a plateau the wind swirls and is a significant factor in the early part of the playing season. The setting is beautiful, the design satisfying and the conditions are equal to the very best public courses in Western PA.

The pro shop staff and the starters that work at this course are unfriendly and rude. They only know how to say no, and go out of their way to impose their "authority" on everyone who plays there. Especially the large starter who I have seen on several occasions treat the golfers badly and go out of his way to cause problems. I live in the township and like playing the course but I dread paying and getting off the first tee with the people who work there. They also follow you around the course on just about every hole. Every year I hope the owners hire people other than old retired men who have the worst dispositions. They work at a golf course, you would think at lease they would be in a good mood. I have given up on this place.

Cranberry Highlands is a very nice track, not to tough but it has the right amount of challenges. If you are a better player go to the tips, it's not a much of a challenge from the middle tees. Greens were not fast, would like to see them a bit speedier but they are about a 9 on the stimp.

Played Oakmont on Saturday and an early 18 here before heading back to Cleveland on Sunday afternoon. Was expecting to be underwhelmed after Oakmont but I was impressed by every facet of this course.

The other reviewers had poor experiences and rated with low stars. Please do not judge this course by the disgruntled few who chose not to praise in public and criticize in private. We've all had bad days influenced by factors outside of our control including pace of play.

Solid course and great value.

I play 60-70 rounds per year on golf courses all over the country, and can count on one hand the numbers of times I have had a bad experience with a golf club. Two of those occurrences (out of only three rounds) have been at this course. I will not be back, but:

Play here if you like the following:
1. Rigid tee time rules that treat discounting at 4:30 PM as if it's an attempt at robbery. 2. Three marshals that, while they track carts via GPS, will drive out in the fairway and accuse the wrong foursome of holding up play (while you have been waiting to hit each shot for the group in front of you), while the group in front of you has two open holes in front of them. 3. No ability to play 18 holes with 4-1/2 hours of light left, because the employees would like to get home and enjoy the evening with their families.
I could go on, but you probably get the picture by now.

Very nice. Pretty expensive for a public course but you get what you pay for. Great greens, well kept, and pretty scenic. Fairways were a little scuffed up for this early in May. Always a favorite to play!