BENTON HARBOR, MI – The Jack Nicklaus Signature design course at Harbor Shores Resort has been named the 2024 Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Association (MGCA).
“I think this is one of the biggest honors a golf facility can receive in the state of Michigan,” said Josh Doxtator, PGA General Manager at the resort. “Harbor Shores has been the catalyst for the community and honors like this continue to prove that point and tell our story.”
Jada Paisley, executive director of the MGCA, said the association is thrilled to announce Harbor Shores as the course of the year. The award honors a member course that meets four criteria: Unique characteristics of the course; exceptional quality of ownership and management; outstanding contribution to its community; and significant contribution to the game.
“Harbor Shores embodies all of the characteristics of the award,” Paisley said. “The golf course, through its development on reclaimed land, involvement with the PGA Tour Champions, the onsite First Tee program and more has fostered a vibrant community hub where people can come together for golfing, socializing and events while supporting charitable causes that benefit the broader community.”
Harbor Shores has served as home to the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship every other year starting in 2012 and running through its final year this past May, and in August it hosted the 2024 Michigan PGA Professional Championship.
Doxtator said the resort is more than just a host of championships. “Harbor Shores has been committed to the community since 2010 and before when the vision first started, and it has been served with a great golf course, the revitalized part of the community, been a big part of Whirlpool’s charitable efforts, created a First Tee program that serves so many kids on-site, and more,” he said.
The award-winning Nicklaus course is part of a beach, golf and residential waterfront community, and the design features golf holes on four diverse terrains – parkland, sand dunes on the lake, woodlands and wetlands along the Paw Paw River and Ox Creek.
The development of Harbor Shores, which opened in 2010, made national news by reclaiming abandoned industrial and polluted land as part of a non-profit effort. It helped to revitalize the area and provide economic growth and continuing development. Harbor Shores is a not-for-profit facility, and a portion of fees collected help maintain the area’s trail systems and beach at adjacent Jean Klock Park.
The course was honored in several best new course rankings in 2010 and has been honored as environmental leaders by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. In 2023 it was named to Golf Digest’s biennial list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses.
While golfers play, they are welcomed at the tees of each of the 18 holes by a sculpture/dedicated display honoring each one of the major championships won by Nicklaus. The legendary golfer and designer also boosted the marketing of the course when he answered a challenge by fellow golf legend Johnny Miller and made a 100-foot putt on the dramatically undulating No. 10 green during a grand opening round (Champions for Change event) that also included Tom Watson. Video of the putt remains popular on the internet.
Doxtator, who has been at the resort since 2019, said he believes Harbor Shores provides a premium experience when his team, including PGA Head Golf Professional Jackson Davison and Superintendent Matthew Volrath, executes the plan.
“We have built a staff that is dedicated and welcoming and always trying to make each golfer’s experience memorable,” he said. “The golf course does its part as the only Jack Nicklaus designed course with holes on the shores of Lake Michigan. We are 90 miles from Chicago. The Inn at Harbor Shores, the development of condominiums on site, being involved in the community are all part of it. It’s a place that we can talk about, but it must be experienced and then you realize it is a powerful example of the impact golf can have.”
About Harbor Shores Resort
Harbor Shores Resort, host of the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, is the premier golf, resort, and beach destination and waterfront communities in Southwest Michigan located just 90 minutes east of Chicago in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Michigan. More than 75 years ago, Benton Harbor became a booming industrial town. During World War II, global home appliance leader Whirlpool Corporation transformed its plants and factories into F.D.R.’s arsenal of democracy, manufacturing components for fighter planes. The town then evolved into a vibrant manufacturing center in the 1950s and 60s only to see it all disappear over the next two decades.
Harbor Shores and the development of the Jack Nicklaus Signature Design signaled a turning point in Benton Harbor’s history. Golf was the core component of the development on the shores of Lake Michigan and the Paw Paw River and stands as a remarkable testament to a vision made possible by $900 million in strategic investments, a collective set of projects with collaborating community leaders and organizations, all led by the Whirlpool Foundation and its benefactor Whirlpool.
The award-winning golf course winds through a variety of terrain including wetlands, riverside and hardwood forest and offers stunning views of Lake Michigan from lakeside holes. The 550-acre residential, golf, recreational and waterfront community features world-class amenities, including a marina village and river walk, town center with restaurants and shops, health and fitness center, deep water marina, the four-star Inn at Harbor Shores hotel and spa, golf villas, miles of recreational trails and rivers, and acres of parks and green space.
Visit www.harborshoresresort.com.
