Harbor Shores

Jack Nicklaus designed Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 2010 on a piece of southwestern Michigan brownfield land that had been used for industrial manufacturing through most of the twentieth century. The site had to be remediated before the course could be routed — soil cleaned, water tables restored, native dunes regraded. The result is one of the few championship-quality American golf courses built on a reclamation site, and it has hosted the Senior PGA Championship six times since 2012, where major-tour-aged players like Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, and Tim Petrovic have won.

The scorecard reads 6,734 yards from the back markers, par 71, with a slope of 146 and a course rating of 73.5. The slope is high for the yardage — Nicklaus built the course with deliberate strategic exposure rather than back-tee length, and the resulting penalty for an off-target tee shot is severe. The five par-3s sit between 137 and 201 yards. The 201-yard second is the longest one-shotter and plays into prevailing west wind off Lake Michigan; the 137-yard tenth is the shortest and plays to a green that Nicklaus elevated on the property's highest point.

The number-one handicap is the 420-yard sixth — a par-4 played from an elevated tee down to a fairway that pinches between two dunes Nicklaus restored from the original brownfield contours. The 438-yard second-hardest and the 430-yard third-hardest are both long par-4s on the front nine. The four par-5s — 530, 537, 560, and 566 yards — are the routing's scoring chances, with the 566-yard fourteenth reachable in two for the longer hitter.

The Lake Michigan climate moderates the playing window into late April through October, with the lake effect cooling the property by three to five degrees through summer compared to inland Michigan. September and early October deliver the firmest fairway conditions of the year. The course is public-access daily-fee with private club privileges for Harbor Shores Resort guests. Walking is allowed; carts are available.