Beating the Heat With Night Golf at Highland Greens

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Night golf at Highland Greens

For the past week, it's been a sauna around here.

The National Weather Service issued heat warnings,  then Excessive Heat Warnings. Cooling centers have been set up in most cities and towns.

ER Physicians... who've been seeing twice their usual number of patients due to heat-related ills... are suggesting that everyone "try to avoid exercise or any exertion outdoors during the daytime hours".  So much for golf, right?  Well, not necessarily it turns out.

If you happen to live in southwestern Connecticut you can actually play golf at night on a challenging, well kept nine hole par three.

Highland Greens is located in Prospect, CT,  just 15 minutes from Waterbury and a half hour from both Danbury and New Haven.  The area has a colorful history that dates back to the revolutionary war, and the course... which was built in the early 60's... features deep green side bunkers and a man-made pond on the 7th hole requiring up to a 145-yard carry over water.

I couple of days ago I headed up there with Jordan and my twin sister, Cat. We teed off at 8:00pm.  Though the temperature had reached almost 100* that day, the evening was pleasantly cool, and the illumination is so well done that the darkness was never a hindrance. Highland Greens is a woodland course and the layout meanders through dark forests that continually pulse with the eclectic sounds of nocturnal animals and insects. Playing at night was a unique experience... slightly eerie, but awesome... and I definitely want to do it again.  I'm also curious to play there during the day, and will certainly do so... once the heat breaks.

I only had my Motorola Atrix with me that night but managed to get a couple of short clips that capture a bit of the Night-Golf-in-the-Middle-of-the-Woods vibe.