About Flagstaff's Forest Highlands

Forest Highlands is Flagstaff's most established gated golf community. With pine forests, temperate summers and the San Francisco Peaks creating almost magical backdrops to two top rated golf courses designed by Tom Weiskopf - The Canyon Course and the Meadow Course - Forest Highlands stands apart as possibly the most beautiful golf community in Arizona.

Homes in Forest Highlands range from cottages to sprawling customs on acreage. The first time homebuyer in Forest Highlands pays a one-time capital contribution fee (currently $37,000). HOA fees include memebership to both courses, access to two clubhouses, two swimming pools, tennis courts, and diverse and extensive activities programs for children of all ages.

Adults in Forest Highlands have it all: two golf courses - The Canyon Course being consistently rated in the top 5 of Arizona - a rich tapestry of social groups, golf tournaments, tennis tournaments, hiking clubs, happy hours, book and gourmet cooking clubs, themed dinners, charities and let's not forget parties.

Forest Highlands is also financially healthy, standing out as the Flagstaff's sole golf community to avoid bankruptcy and maintain positive balances throughout our economic downturns.

To find out more about homes in Forest Highlands, contact Eileen, Flagstaff's premiere Golf Property Real Estate agent!

realestateflagstaff@gmail.com or (928) 607-9610

With all the stories of the massive fires we’ve encountered in Arizona this year, it certainly has brought the profession of fireman to everyone’s attention. Fighting a forest fire ranks right up there with one of the toughest jobs, and certainly shows that a fireman has to be extremely skilled to be able to perform at that level.

However, not every day in the life of a fireman is filled with putting out fires. They are called upon frequently to respond to calls from homeowners for much smaller items.

In the community of Forest Highlands in Flagstaff, Arizona, the Fire Department is located on property near the mail room and main road into the golfing community.

I’m embarrassed to say that a fire truck and crew was called to my home a year ago when “someone” changed the setting on the toaster oven. The smoke from burning toast immediately surrounded the smoke detector connected to our alarm system, and the call went out. Even though I tried to cancel the call, they are required to respond anyway. So, I met a nice gentleman, completely dressed for the occasion, and had to explain what happened. Whoops!

This past week, I was on our deck and smelled a very strong gas odor. Since our home is electric and does not have natural gas, I called our Security Department for guidance. They came over, but also asked the Fire Department to respond.

This trip I met the whole Forest Highlands fire crew. They arrived with gas detector devices and checked out the entire back area of our house. The culprit was finally found – a defective valve on the propane tank connected to our BBQ. Needless to say, this time I absolutely required their assistance as they were able to shut the valve off and stop the flow of a flammable gas.

This trip out from the firehouse might not have been as exciting for the fireman as a real fire, but from my perspective, they provided a huge service and took care of a very dangerous situation.

We consider the firemen to be an integral part of our community and we all look forward to the annual 4th of July parade, led by a fire truck with sirens and red lights. The fire truck parade is a great tradition at Forest Highlands.

In talking with the group, I was told that anyone who gets their picture in the media has to buy ice cream for the crew. To be fair to all of them, I tried to get a picture of all of them. So here they are…

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

I took this photo around 11 o’clock in the morning from the driving range at Forest Highlands in Flagstaff, Arizona on June 20, 2010. I was walking over to hit golf balls when I saw a very small plume of smoke. By the time I got my camera, it had grown to the white mushroom cloud depicted in this photo.

Eventually named the Schultz fire, it would ultimately burn over 15,000 acres in the Coconino National Forest. 748 homes were evacuated, plus fire officials closed an animal shelter, Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument to the public. At one time over 800 firefighters from Arizona and neighboring states were fighting the quick-spreading fire. The entire town of Flagstaff was filled with smoke for days on end due to the fire and the “backfires” used by the firefighters to stop the spread of the flames.

It took over nine days for the official announcement that the fire was under control and everyone was allowed back into their homes. It has since been determined that the fire was started by a careless camper who didn’t follow the rules of camping and fire prevention and left a still-smoldering fire.

All events have consequences. The Schultz fire burned almost the entire east facing slope of the San Francisco Peaks. And when the seasonal rains came, the run-off carved deep ravines into the hillside and dumped millions of gallons of water filled with mud and ash into populated neighborhoods that were located miles from the actual fire.

On the East side of Highway 89, the city and Forest Service worked together to build berms and have completed a mile long canal to divert run-off water from the bare hillsides. It’s anticipated that the berms and canal will alleviate any serious flooding in the future.

The west side of Highway 89 is a different story as the run-off this past year has been so strong that it has created deep ravines that will carry any floodwaters this coming rainy season at high speeds. The Forest Service has air-dropped mulch and grass seeds in an effort to regain the ability to absorb heavy rains. Just in case, though, evacuation plans are in place and residents are preparing as well as they can to make sure their homes are safe.

It’s amazing and sad to realize how much havoc one careless action can wreak on hundreds of innocent residents in this beautiful little town in Northern Arizona.

Drew Annan, Forest Highlands' golf course supervisor for many years, just sent out his annual report to the members on what members could expect for Opening Day on April 29th, 2011. We typically have very rough playing areas for a time as the courses take a real beating during the winter months, especially the Canyon Course.

Forest Highlands' Canyon Course is aptly named due to the huge canyon that runs through the middle of the course with holes 9, 18 and 17 nestled within. I’ve been to Forest Highlands during the winter when the creek and water hazards are frozen solid and piles of snow abound. When the warmer weather comes and the snow starts melting, there is always a transition time to get the fairways back into great shape.

A large project this year was improving the quality of the grass on the Canyon Driving Range. The sod was removed, the ground was leveled, and all new sod was put in place. It should be ready for activity by the second or third week in May.

Golfers will be excited to use the new practice area at Forest Highlands' Meadow Course that was started last summer. Additional soil was brought in to increase the practice tee surface by 7,000 square feet – bringing it to a total of 27,500 square feet of practice tee area.

In addition, two 5,000 square foot greens were built out. The lower green is for putting only and the upper green is for chipping and bunker practice. These greens will be open to members in mid-May and golfers will most likely experience slower ball speeds as they navigate the typical new green.

Drew also reports that our local osprey has nested in the tree overlooking the sixth and seventh fairways of the Meadow course. The osprey are always a treat to watch as they sit in the aerie looking down on us residents. He’s also found a nest of twelve mallard eggs on Hole 14 – a sure sign that Spring is here.

During the winter months, large fences are placed around the greens on the courses to discourage the elk and deer from walking over them and causing massive damage to the surface. The course maintenance crews removed the fences and have finished aerating the greens. It should only take a couple of weeks for them to smooth out. Members playing this opening weekend of the 29th of April will experience slower and somewhat bumpy conditions.

On another important front, Drew was able to secure Brook Trout and Brown Trout for the lakes on the Meadow course. Expect to see the fly fisherman out at dusk – a beautiful sight. Also, catfish are again the rule at the Sports Park pond for the young, aspiring fishermen.

It looks like Summer 2011 at Forest Highlands in Flagstaff is going to be a great season and we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Drew Annan and his experienced crew that work so hard throughout the year to insure we get to enjoy the beautiful courses during the summer months.

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

Over the last two years at the Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, what started as impromptu Friday night golf event called the “Friday Night Skins Game” really increased in popularity. The setup of this game is teams of two players who play seven holes in an alternate shot format. It’s not unusual to see ten or twenty golfers (both men and women) on one of the putting surfaces of the Canyon golf course as they compete in this exciting and fun elimination game.

Friday night at Forest Highlands is also the weekly Happy Hour at the Canyon Clubhouse that has become so popular with families at Forest Highlands. On top of enjoying food and beverage specials and socializing with the other club members, one of the highlights of this event is to wait and see who the victors are from the “Skins Game.” For the most part, the only disinterested parties are the under-10 year old crowd, who are typically too busy playing and tumbling on the grassy areas of the Canyon driving range in front of the clubhouse while their parents enjoy the Happy Hour on the porch.

Since the “Skins Game” has become so popular, the Forest Highlands golf professionals decided to devise a new game for the members. It is going to be called the “Gross Shootout” and it will take place on the Meadow golf course on select Saturdays. I am looking forward to learning more about and watching this event. It, too, should be a lot of fun.

Click for more information about Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale.