CRANBERRY TWP — Cranberry Highlands owns a strong reputation in the golf community.

That hasn’t stopped the course from finding ways to improve.

“That’s what Cranberry Highlands is all about — trying to give golfers a great place to play,” said supervisor of golf operations Craig Walker. “The facility is here for the public to enjoy. It’s always available to the public, unless we have golf outings.

“I think it’s as good as any local club, bar none.”

The par-70 links course offers 18 scenic holes. It plays 6,513 yards from the championship tees; 4,769 yards from the front tees.

“It’s close and it’s one of the best courses around,” said Bruce Bailey, a Cranberry Township resident. “It’s a nice course. It’s challenging and it’s beautiful.”

Golfers rarely need to worry about trees affecting their play, but fescue — a tall grass outside the rough — can be even more punishing.

“You can’t even hit out of that,” said Bailey. “It’s tough, you go in there and you’re done.”

John Glomb, a golfer from Mars, appreciates the links style.

“It’s a links course, which is a little bit different from most courses around,” said Glomb. “That’s what makes this course a little bit more fun to play. You have to fight the wind and the fescue.

“It’s in good shape and in good condition,” he added. “It’s a good course.”

Walker and the rest of the staff strive to give golfers the benefits of a private club in a public setting.

“The conditions will rival any country club,” said Walker. “We have fantastic fairways, we have a fresh cut of rough and then we have the tall fescue. There’s 91 bunkers on the course and great green complexes, but it’s fair.

“If they want a country club experience, they can come here and get it.”

Navigating the 186-acre course is simple, thanks to the recent addition of golf carts with built-in GPS.

“We took some big steps this year,” said Walker. “The new carts with the GPS system are brand new.”

Aside from directing golfers around the course, the GPS tells how far away the green is, along with hazards in case laying up is the smart play.

“There’s a messaging system on there,” said Walker. “If you need to contact the pro shop, you can hit a button and it will message back. You can order food through it.”

The GPS also makes maintaining the course a bit easier. The system prevents the cart from going into forbidden areas.

“It lets you take the cart into certain areas, it doesn’t let you take the cart into other areas,” said Walker. “That’s how we protect the golf course to give them a great product that they deserve.”

Cranberry Highlands will host the Butler Eagle County Amateur on Aug. 11 and the GPS system also gives the ability to show a live leaderboard, although it has not been confirmed if it will be used during the tournament.

“We can do an electronic scorecard feature, so if they’re posting scores as you’re playing in an outing, you can hit live leaderboard on the cart,” Walker explained. “It’s pretty neat. We can even project those on the screens that are in our banquet rooms.”

Walker said Cranberry Highlands anticipates giving the Butler Eagle County Amateur competitors a good challenge and hopes familiar faces at the course will come out to play.

Cranberry Highlands also hosts weddings, receptions, award banquets, business meetings, trade shows and parties.

“The space itself can be used any way, shape or form,” Walker said.