CRANBERRY TWP — A country club course at public course prices.

That was the idea when Cranberry Township constructed the Cranberry Highlands Golf Course a decade ago.

“And that’s exactly what it is,” course superintendent Dave Barber said. “This is an upper scale public course, a country club-caliber course open to the public at public pricing.”

Barber is the only superintendent Cranberry Highlands has ever known. He has been here all 10 years, coming over from the Pittsburgh Field Club.

“We have a family-oriented golf course,” he said. “There are no trees in the fairways and the fairways are about 130 yards wide.

“Nothing is tucked away. Nothing is hidden. Everything is right in front of you as you play.”

In 2009, Cranberry Highlands was selected as the best municipal golf course in Pennsylvania by Golf Digest.

No holes have been radically changed since the facility opened. Barber said some tweaking has been done with a couple of bunkers added, but little else.

The course opened as an 18-hole facility in August of 2002. It became Audubon certified in 2009 and will be recertified this year.

Barber said there are only 200 golf courses worldwide that are Audubon certified.

“It’s a wildlife and water management program, something we’re very proud of,” Barber said. “The aesthetics of this course are something we value and work very hard to preserve.”

Part of those aesthetics include squaring off the tee boxes, a project currently being done on the course.

“Squared tee boxes help line the golfer’s shot up more effectively,” Barber said.

The course can play long, short, or any combination as Cranberry Highlands offers four sets of tees — white, blue, black and cranberry. The cranberry tee is the farthest from the hole.

The par-70 course sits on 186 acres. It plays 6,513 yards from the cranberry tees and 4,720 yards from the white tees.

The 18 holes include three par-5’s longer than 500 yards and a par-3 that measures only 107 yards.

“The township had a vision when it built this course,” Barber said. “I’ve always loved golf courses and this one is unique in its beauty and versatility.

“It’s tough to manage ... We put a lot of work into it, but it’s well worth it.”

Tee times are strongly encouraged. A special price of $40 for 18 holes — with a cart — is available before 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

Golfers can play 18 holes with a cart for $44 after 2 p.m. on those days. The price before 2 p.m. is $50.

Cranberry Highlands’ PGA club pro, Jody Barrett, is available for private golf lessons or a multiple lesson package. Barrett is also a trained and certified club fitter, skilled at finding the proper clubs for an individual.

Junior golf clinics are available at the course throughout the summer.

Besides golf, the facility offers a nature trail, driving range, practice sand bunkers and putting greens, a golf shop, banquet room that seats 150 and an outdoor pavilion that seats 100.

“We host just about every type of gathering here,” Barber said. “We probably had 30 weddings here last year. There’s been graduation parties, birthday parties, baby showers, you name it.”

While no leagues play at the course, Cranberry Highlands hosts up to 40 golf outings a year. Craig Walker schedules those events.

Call 724-776-7372 for more information about the facility.