The Golf Club at Harbor Shores

I was very excited to get a tee time to play at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores this past Sunday.  It is a new, Jack Nicklaus designed course, located in Benton Harbor, MI.  I teed off at 3:48 PM for the twilight rate of $85(!).    Rack rate is $150.

http://harborshoreslife.com/golf/course

This course opened in 2009, and unfortunately it is still growing into itself.  The practice tee quickly dissolved into sand after just a few swings.   On the course, the fairway grass just isn't rooted very solidly on many holes, which made playing any iron shot, especially the short irons, an adventure regardless of how good your swing was.  Chunk, chunk, chunk.  Oh, and if you had a lie on wet ground?  Forget it.

Putting was very challenging -  all the greens had undulations that made your approach shot key.  The problem is that many times you can't tell where to play the ball from the fairway - even on a 100 yd shot.

While a few holes were pretty fun - all the par 3's and the par 5 9th, three holes were contrived and frustrating.  #6 featured a blind, forced carry over marshland that you can't help but underestimate, #7 features a drive over water to a fairway that narrows and rises to a green the size of a postage stamp.  It looks cool, but given the lack of places to miss, it isn't fun.  #10 had the worst green I have ever seen, a two tiered monster that rose 10 feet from bottom to top - with many undulations that made any putt a double breaker.

If you found a sand trap, and your ball wasn't in a footprint, the quality of the sand (cane sugar!) made playing from the traps a joy.  I was able to save par three times from a greenside bunker.

Sadly, the pace of play was very slow, and our group finished in the dark.  I shot an 81 and left the course fairly disappointed with the experience.

The sand traps weren't raked, the greens were littered with unrepaired ballmarks, and the option to play from the back tees was not given.  I saw a few rangers on the course, but they didn't seem concerned with maintaining an appropriate pace of play.  To charge so much money to play a course so poorly maintained and supervised is a crime. 

Bluntly, this is a $50 golf course - maybe.  If you're looking for a fun round of golf on a well-conditioned course, try Hawkshead Links up in South Haven.