The Highlands

Par 68 layouts often get dismissed as "not a real round," but The Highlands in Stirling, Ontario earns its place on any serious short-course enthusiast's list. A par 68 typically leans heavily on par 3s and short par 4s, demanding precision and shot-shaping over raw distance — the kind of test where a single misread green can undo an otherwise clean card.

Stirling sits in Hastings County, in the rolling farmland and mixed hardwood country east of Belleville and the Bay of Quinte region. It's a part of rural Ontario that doesn't announce itself loudly, but rewards those who slow down — small-town life surrounded by gentle hills, mature trees, and the honest landscapes of eastern Ontario's interior. Golf in this corridor tends to be accessible and unpretentious, rooted in the community rather than the resort trade.

For golfers based in the Belleville–Trenton corridor or passing through on Highway 62, The Highlands represents exactly the kind of neighbourhood course that keeps the game affordable and welcoming — a place to play quickly, play often, and not overthink it.