Friday, October 4, 2024
The Jack Nicklaus Signature design course at Harbor Shores Resort has been acknowledged because the 2024 Michigan Golf Course of the 12 months by the Michigan Golf Course Affiliation (MGCA). Since 2012, Harbor Shores has alternated because the host venue for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, with its last occasion happening this previous Might. Moreover, in August 2024, the resort welcomed the Michigan PGA Skilled Championship.
“I think this is one of the biggest honors a golf facility can receive in the state of Michigan,” mentioned Josh Doxtator, PGA Common Supervisor on the resort. “Harbor Shores has been the catalyst for the community and honors like this continue to prove that point and tell our story.”
“Harbor Shores embodies all of the characteristics of the award,” Paisley mentioned. “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.”
This award-winning course is a part of a waterfront neighborhood that mixes seaside, golf, and residential residing. Its design showcases 4 distinct terrains: parkland, sand dunes alongside Lake Michigan, woodlands, and wetlands alongside the Paw Paw River and Ox Creek.
Doxtator mentioned the resort is greater than only 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 mentioned.
Harbor Shores opened in 2010 and gained nationwide consideration for its transformative position in revitalizing an space as soon as dominated by deserted industrial websites. The event, a nonprofit initiative, reclaimed polluted land, spurring native financial development. As a not-for-profit facility, a portion of the charges helps the upkeep of close by path techniques and Jean Klock Park’s seaside.
The course has obtained quite a few accolades, together with a number of “Best New Course” awards in 2010. It was acknowledged by the Golf Course Superintendents Affiliation of America for its environmental stewardship and, in 2023, earned a spot on Golf Digest’s prestigious biennial listing of America’s 100 Biggest Public Programs.
Including to the course’s allure, every of the 18 tees includes a show commemorating Jack Nicklaus’s main championship victories. A memorable second in Harbor Shores’ historical past got here in the course of the grand opening Champions for Change occasion when Nicklaus sank a 100-foot putt on the dramatic No. 10 inexperienced, responding to a problem from fellow legend Johnny Miller. The putt, captured on video, stays a preferred web sensation.
Since 2019, Harbor Shores has benefited from the management of Common Supervisor Josh Doxtator, who believes the resort affords a top-tier expertise because of his devoted staff, together with PGA Head Golf Skilled Jackson Davison and Superintendent Matthew Volrath.
“We have built a staff that is dedicated and welcoming and always trying to make each golfer’s experience memorable,” he mentioned. “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.”
