Harbor Shores Golf Club
Golf is at its greatest when it’s doing a wealth of good.
On the shores of Lake Michigan, Harbor Shores Golf Club is one of the most ambitious turnaround stories in 21st-century golf development. It’s a place where forgotten factories and industrial waste areas have been thoroughly, remarkably transformed into a revitalized golf resort and residential development. Today it’s a sanctuary hospitable for wildlife alike.
Now approaching 15 years since its grand opening in 2010, memories of the property’s past life as an industrial brownfield continue to fade into a distant past. From the Harbor Shores development’s inception in the early 2000s to its completion, over $500 million was spent on the revitalization, which included extracting 140,000 tons of material waste and demolishing 3 million square feet of defunct buildings.
The ambitious makeover helped revitalize a Benton Harbor community devastated by the industrial job losses. To visitors not familiar with the backstory, Harbor Shores is simply a delightful Michigan golf destination with a championship-caliber Jack Nicklaus design.
A unique route
A winding course routing traverses throughout the resort development, making use of numerous micro-environments. The early holes roll through inland, forested terrain before exiting into more open dunes along Lake Michigan. This stretch includes the long, par-4 7th hole, considered by many the most dramatic and difficult on the course. From an elevated tee, it plays over wetlands towards Lake Michigan. From the fairway below, golfers play up towards an elevated green perched beside duneslands.
Back-to-back par 5s on Nos. 9 and 10 roll into the start of the back side which heads back into woodlands before the course’s finishing stretch borders the Paw Paw River, Ox Creek, and wetlands. The 18th features the Paw Paw River along the right hand side from tee to green.
The par-71 course stretching to 6,852 yards opened at a stage of Jack’s design career in which he produced some of his boldest greens designed to foil the game’s very best players (other courses built in the era include former WGC Match Play host Dove Mountain Golf Club in Arizona). It’s Harbor Shores’ par-5 10th green, easily among the largest and most contoured here, that produced one of Jack’s greatest post-career highlights: in front of a huge gallery at the grand opening of the course, he improbably knocked home a 102-foot, uphill, winding and bending putt, much to the chagrin of playing partner Johnny Miller who thought it was impossible. It’s a highlight that gets replayed across social media as much as any shot Nicklaus hit in competition during his hall-of-fame career. You’ll have plenty of chances to make your own winding bombs over 18 holes here.
Harbor Shores anchors the southwest Michigan destination golf scene and is just a 90-minute drive from Chicago and about three hours from Detroit and Indianapolis. Thanks to its convenient location, pro-caliber design, and all the additional amenities on hand, it’s quickly become a popular tournament venue in Michigan. Most notably it has hosted the KitchenAid PGA Senior Championship six times since 2012 and most recently in 2024 (won by Richard Bland). It’s also ranked among the best courses in the state by many publications, including Golf Digest’s 2023 Best in Michigan rankings, and also featured in the Top 10 Courses in the U.S. according to community reviews on GolfPass in 2022.
Stay and play at Harbor Shores
Harbor Shores features luxurious accommodations, and guests can stay and play at the AAA Four-Diamond Inn at Harbor Shores. The Inn features 92 luxurious rooms including 14 suites with private balconies. For groups of 4 to 8 golfers all looking to stay under one roof, the new Champions Villa is a perfect space as it is conveniently located along the first fairway right next to the clubhouse. This 2,000-square-foot, 4-bedroom/4-bath unit exemplifies golf luxury and is equipped with a full kitchen and open living space.
The resort features dining concepts both at the golf clubhouse and on the harbor, a spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and a deep-water marina. There is also a public riverwalk that connects 12 miles of recreational trails to explore beyond the resort area.
Be sure to take an afternoon and visit the local beaches, enjoy some great food in the revitalized downtown area, and explore Makers Trail that features some of Michigan’s finest breweries, wineries and distilleries.
Overall, Harbor Shores is a memorable golf experience in southwestern Michigan that is certainly worth a look if your group is looking to get away on your next golf trip to the Midwest.
Harbor Shores Golf Club