In the cool of the ridges surrounding the Taal volcano, the Highlands course offers some of the most unusual golf in the Philippines. The front nine begins with a couple of holes that wind along a sinew of a ridge, Taal volcano on one side, and an abyss beyond on the other. The next two holes drop nearly 400 feet in two shots, the first a blind tee shot off the dogleg left par 4 third and the next, a troublesome clubbing exercise on the par 5 fourth. The remainder of the nine is fairly straight-forward, but by no means easy, almost all fairways lead to trouble on the sides. Once the front nine has been negotiated, prepare yourself for the ride back to the clubhouse, in the gondola of a cable car that was imported from Switzerland. What goes up must come down. The second nine is more of the same and features two tough back-to-back par 5's and some tactical decisions. Soft spikes required.
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