Starboard at Harborside International Golf Center

How is it possible that such a prestigious course can’t pick up a dang phone to call their customers and let them know of any delays prior to their arrival????

I showed up for a 730am tee time only to be disappointed because their staff claims to have sent emails regarding the delay but can’t be bothered to call people. You charge a heck of a lot to be that dang lazy.

Harborside is an easy drive From downtown Chicago. The staff was outstanding the course was in great shape it’s a challenging layout and a great value for the price. I highly recommend the course.

Hard and expensive course, but it was in amazing shape and well taken care of.

2pm tee time, sunny beautiful day

Harborside is devolving back into its natural state of a landfill.

Nothing special about this place anymore.

12years snd 73 rounds later I can sadly say this is no longer my favorite golf coarse in Chicago.

Go to Lost Marsh if your playing the south side forget this place

Kemper ruined this once beautiful gem of a coarse, they need to stop bragging about “Golfweek’s” top 50 coarse rating that was once given to Harborside.

That was years ago before Kemper took over.

Go to Golfweek’s site, Harborside is not even in the top 100 public coarse list.

-tee boxes on par 3’s not resurfaced left in horrible condition from previous year. Same story every year!

-Greens still full of holes from aerating, this was not a recent aeration, just lack of attention getting the greens ready for the season. Dried up aged holes, no filler, crusty dry purple greens, just give it some water the grass will grow in. We’ve had a mild winter and a warm dry early spring, no excuses here!

-terrible gas golf carts, no GPS, acceptable at a sub $40 coarse maybe.

-worst cart paths in the city, more potholes than Michigan Ave

-scorched earth landscaping, good bye to all the prairie tall grass and natural plant life, hello weed covered rolling hills

-warm drinks at the halfway house, thanks for my $5 warm gatorade, and great idea selling canned drinks. My drink bounced out of the cup holder after 15 minutes of riding the worst cart paths in the state.

-All Nautical Decor removed from coarse, sad to see those go a few years ago.

This place still has great “bones” that’s the only saving grace, thanks Dick Nugent, but Kemper is letting your once beautiful coarse go down the drain while the price keeps going up.

The course is fun but is in rough shape this early in the spring.

— upon arrival there were no carts available. When we finally got a cart it was not fully charged and the gps was malfunctioning.

— greens need work, very bumpy

— like most chicago roads , the asphalt cart path is riddled with potholes. Major work is needed here.

—overall it is a very nice layout.

Nice getting a round in December. Bundle up and let er rip. The geese have been eating well it appears. Expectations were low but it was nice to get it in. Glad Harborside was open and carts were still available.

Good golf course and nice layout but have to vickes the carbath

First time playing the course and had a great time. The course offers great scenery and a good challenge. I look forward to playing again.

Harborside Starboard is a really nice course and it features some surprisingly gorgeous views of the Chicago skyline! If it's a cold day, beware of the wind though ... it whips in off the lake and the course is unprotected.

We played when they were aerating the greens, so be cognizant of that ... always good to ask in advance. But highly recommend Harborside, given how close it is to the Chicago area

Course was in good shape. Staff was nice. Scenery was great. Only downside was the course was packed, and no one was really marshalling the play flow. We teed off at 3:30pm and finished in the dark. We waited to tee off on every single hole. The group ahead of us was severely holding up play and messing around the entire round.

I'll definitely golf there again, but on packed days, they need to make sure play is flowing more smoothly than the day I played.

First time playing Harborside and I was really impressed with the conditioning of the course for late September. With it being the top Chicago public course, I was expecting beat up fairways and unfixed divots galore. Way off.

I grabbed the first available twilight tee time for a measly $42 and had nobody booked in front of me for ~40 minutes. A tactical move, as I showed up and went off 20 minutes early, and didn't really catch a group until 15. Really helped get me in before the sun went down.

As for the layout, I can see why it's a popular course. It's pretty open, but wayward drives could be punished. Green complexes were ok. Variety of holes could've been better, but it's understandable when it's essentially and out-back course for each nine. 3/4 par 5's play S-N, which isn't ideal. Oddly enough, and as hypocritical as this is, the par 3's were my favorite because of the wind. No wind = similar yardages, pretty simple. With wind = 3 different shots.

Overall, I'd return

Fun course that rewards you for the proper shot versus grip-n-rip. The wind forces you to club up or down on almost every approach shot.

Even in the fall, the fairways and greens are well maintained.

This was my second time playing Harborside and while I have empathy for the impacts of COVID-19, I was really disappointed with my experience before, during and after. This was made even worse as I brought out two first-timers that had been looking forward to it for years...only to be even more disappointed.

Number one, the confirmation email read that you could not check in "no more than 15 minutes" before tee time which was confusing and pressuring since we were nervous to miss the actual tee time. Number two, this was compounded by the lack of signage on how to find the pro shop since more than half of the building was shut down due to COVID. Number three, after checking in, we had to wait five minutes before we could get a cleaned golf cart after waving someone down. Number four, once we finally got our cart, the signage was poor to direct us to the first tee and literally had to ask multiple people for directions even though it was less than 100 yards from the clubhouse. Number five, once we were on the course, the number of port-a-potties was disappointing as recall only one per nine holes. Number six, the condition of the sand traps were terrible and some were just gravel. Number seven, while thankful there was a refreshments cart person, she found us just once and it was not until the 9th hole. Number eight, once again, course signage was terrible and almost non-existent trying to get from #9 to #10. Number nine, while it was referenced in the email confirmation, it was disappointing that the restaurant was closed and that after our round, the halfway house was our only option. Number ten, after the disappointing round and experience, I emailed the course with feedback and appreciated getting an email response offering to talk about it. Unfortunately, that was it and after more than three weeks, the representative could not find two minutes to actually reach out to me to discuss.

I enjoyed my first experience at Harborside years ago, not so much this year and while I may go back in the future, it will not be a top choice because at $100+ a round, it is SO not worth it and even with a twilight at $70, it is still not worth it compared to others like George Dunn that at the same price is in great shape and offers a more scenic playing experience for all.

Fore!

Fantastic golf course. 36 holes. Every hole is very well taken care of and challenging. It’s good for low handicap players to play the blues. It’s also good for novice golfers to play the whites.

It's hard to beat the conditions, location to the city, and unique layout of this course in Chicago, but the price tag doesn't match up. Pace was fine, was about 4.20 for 18 though we had to wait a few times, and the course is challenging but not punishing now that the fescue is cut down. I played a course in the burbs a week prior to Harborside with similar conditions and a better layout, and was $20 less with a cart. I think if the standard rate was closer to $80-90 Harborside would be tough to beat.

That said, the brat at the turn was on point and the practice facilities are unmatched for the area.