Harbor Shores Named 2024 Michigan Golf Course of the Year
By Greg Johnson
The Jack Nicklaus Signature design course at Harbor Shores Resort was 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 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 Course of the Year 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. In August it hosted the 2024 Michigan PGA Professional Championship.
Doxtator said the resort is more than just a host of championships, however.
“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 that 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 building up to its opening for play 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. Nicklaus’ lead design assistant on the project was Chris Rule of Holt.
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 and the late Arnold Palmer. Video of the putt went viral globally.
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.”
