Peter and Anne Marie Scheuermann struck out for Virginia from their home in Stowe, Vermont in 1997 to turn a beautiful piece of farmland off Rt. 29 North of Charlottesville into a golf center. As a retired architect, Peter was able design and oversee the construction of the golf park himself. Anne Marie soon joined him. All six of their children had a hand in developing Highlands Golf Park offering Virginia's first 18-hole putting course and 44 stations where folks could learn the game of golf from instructors or simply work on their game on their own.

Golf was woven through the history of Ann Marie's family. Of Scottish heritage, Anne Marie’s father, Les Mercer (1905-1960), was a sensational golf-teaching pro who devoted his life to making the game of golf available to young and old alike, whether novice or advanced. Mr. Mercer served on the Board of the USGA, and was an active member of both the USGA Public Links Committee and the USGA Junior Golf committee. Anne Marie and Peter dedicated their new golf park to Leslie’s memory and named it Highlands Golf Park to honor his Scottish Heritage.

Anne Marie could not have possibly known where golf would take her when she first started swinging a club as a 4-year old in St. Albans, Vermont. Highlands Golf Park became a reality for Anne Marie and Peter at a stage in life when most people begin to think about retirement. More than that, however, it has been about family memorializing Anne Marie’s father while keeping her immediate family connected in a special way.

Anne Marie’s athletic past made her the ideal co-owner of Highlands Golf Park. In her earlier years, she won the Vermont high school championship while playing for St. Mary's of St. Albans, and went on to play college golf at the University of Vermont. After taking some time to start her family, she returned to game to coach the Stowe High School Golf Team, and became a golf professional – teaching for nearly forty years.

When the Highlands Golf Park was completed, Anne Marie became the Director of Golf and Peter served as Range Superintendent. Their children all contributed to the Park with each of their individual skills. Lawyer Eric helped with the legal side, Kurt used his creative writing ability to produce advertising material, Kristen and Heidi used their golf and overall athletic skills to provide input on the golf side of the business, and Rebecca used her artistic talents to contribute to the business.

Gretchen ended up being the most involved in this family enterprise. Her athletic background – recipient of the Honda-Broderick Award as the top collegiate field hockey player in the nation in 1995, and named one of Northwestern University’s top 50 athletes of the century – led her to the game of golf. Falling in love with the game herself, Gretchen became a LPGA Class A Teaching Professional is is the Director of Golf at Highlands Golf Park.