Harbor Shores Resort

Harbor Shores, is a great golf course and destination, only a short drive from Chicago, well worth the trip.

This is the most beautiful course in the Midwest I have played at.

My third time playing course since it's inaugural opening. Good layout with hard to read greens. Hole #7 is by far the most tricky hole I've every played. The bunker that guards the green is akin to something at St. Andrews Slope of hole can make you look foolish, when the ball comes back at your feet after not carrying enough frontage. Too long and you're on the beach of Lake Michigan.

Just go play it!!! One of Mr. Nicklaus' finest. Beautiful!

This is a great course it will have to step up you game to score good on this course. Lots of slopes on the greens and fast.

Look I have played everywhere in Michigan. I like HS just personsally dont like the routing. I think course is very over priced also. But I get it. It is a very nice course:)) I would recommend playing here especially for around $60..

A course of this calibre must implement pace of play
There is no place for hackers here. People ahead of us were losing balls, looking for balls, playing practice balls. They belonged to a big group. Ranges were roaming around telling us that it's a slow pace but nobody asked the big group to skip a hole or keep the pace. Is that the way to operate a world class course. I was sick for 5 hours
People behind us did not finish because it was dark
Course was aerated , Which is expected thus time if a year. grille was great,Pro shop was welcoming.

In simple terms, this course is the best.
There's a reason why the Champions Tour will be playing a total of 4 Senior PGA Championships here.... This course is majestic! It does not have the beautiful views of an Arcadia Bluffs, but there are still some amazing views. Not only that, a majority of the holes are "WOW" holes (much unlike Forest Dunes).
The course is stunning and fun. You should make it a point to play here at least once a year, but for me, I'd rather play here as many times as I can. Yeah, Arcadia Bluffs is fun to play once a season, but Harbor Shores gives EVERYONE a chance to play because they're on GolfNow.com.
What an amazing course!

Everything is on point pretty much as soon as you hop out of your vehicle. The practice facilities are what more courses should be like; you could really improve with what's available here. From the black tees the course has teeth, and wind is a major factor pretty much all the way around. Lake Michigan is not as prevalent as it is marketed to be, it is a beautiful golf course but there is way more highway/road frontage than there is frontage on Lake Michigan which makes the course seem loud in places. Overall it's a very nice place with a very goofy layout between holes.

Harbor Shores is a great course with every hole unique and memorable. It is challenging, but after playing it a few times it gets better and better. Forward tees are fair for women golfers. The course is kept in great shape. I don't understand why this course isn't on lists of best public courses, maybe just too new, but it should be on everyone's list! Restaurant is good and patio is really great place to grab a drink after golf.

A unique urban course with Lake Michigan as a backdrop. Scattered amongst wetlands, woods, ponds, a river and yes roads and highways every hole will grab your attention. Oh did I mention the place is kept in immaculate condition? If your not sure of coughing up the dough for this place don't even hesitate. It's worth it. Just bring your best flat stick game cause Jack knows how to design a green complex. Wow!

Don't let the starter fool you! The practice green isn't "the flattest green on the course." This is what we were told and it took us about 5 holes to finally stop over-reading greens. But enough about that...

What a nice course! Immaculate conditions, clever holes that gave you options of how to approach each shot. For the most part, the course rewarded you for keeping the ball in the fairway and away from the rough, trees and bunkers.

It is understandable that the Senior PGA Championship has played there twice given what Mr. Nicklaus has built. It is one of the more aesthetically pleasing course I have played in quite some time. Golfer's eye candy.

Decent pro-shop and locker room facilities, food was okay, but service was SLOW!

All in all, a fabulous course worth playing, even if you are driving a couple of hours from Chicago.

Immaculate course. Extremely well maintained. Very playable, but challenging. Tee shots are reasonable with a few forced carries. Second shots are demanding as you must be on the proper tier of the greens for scoring opportunities. Very few straight putts on the course. Greens will challenge the even the best putters. Only thing that kept the day from being perfect was the weather. 45-50 degrees with a 15-20 mile an hour wind. Made the course play extra tough.

The course is in excellent condition. The course gives you some room off the tee but your approach shot needs to be well placed for a chance at par. It's a hard up and down if you miss due to tricky greens. The course leaves me wanting to play in again to due better.

For the golfer who sometimes misses the fairway, finding your ball in the thick roughs can add considerable time to your round. Surrounding terrain is beautiful. Loved it!

With the exception of #7... just an outstanding variety of holes. While attractive and dramatic... #7 is dangerously close to goofy golf.

You can NOT go wrong with this course it has every aspect you could ever want in 18 holes. We played for the twilight rate which made it easier on the wallet but I would pay full rate to go back again !

The course proved to be fair to both low and mid handicappers in our group. Greens are fun, but some were quite challenging. The course architecture and surrounding natural environment, as well as the friendly and knowledgable staff, made our golf experience one of the best.

Host of the 2012 and 2014 Senior PGA Championship I decided to make the drive over from Chicago and pay Harbor Shores a visit. I had seen Matty G's piece on the Golf Channel which drew my interest. It was about a 1 hour 45 min drive from Chicago (Old Town area). My tee time was at 4:00 with the $75 rate and one thing to note is the time change. I had completely forgotten about it being on EST and my phone did not change luckily I arrived early so it wasn't a major issue but something to remember. Practice area is great with large short game chipping/sand area along with standard driving range and putting green. When it comes to the course I played from the 6200 yard tees which is a little short for my liking, but the only real option available besides 6850 at the back. A lot of the holes are bunker lined that you must avoid. I found some of the tees to sit down some, where it was difficult to visually see the entire hole. The greens like some Nicklaus courses I have played in the past have a lot of extreme undulation in them. The speeds were not very quick which made these slopes playable but when hitting approach shots one must consider the pin position to avoid the dreaded 3 putt. A downside I found to the course was the amount of divots and ball marks that were on the course. Because the course only having the 6200 yardage that a majority of players play all the landing areas are filled with divots and a lot of those divots were not filled in and maintained. Also, pace of play in the afternoon was very slow and we only saw the Marshall once. Teeing off at 4:00 we finished at 8:40 in a threesome! Overall I found it to be a very fair test of golf and one of those courses that you definitely need to play 4-5 times to understand the nuances of it. The greens can be tricky but if you are on the right level/tier of them there are birdies to be made.

Looooooong stretches in-between holes would highly recommend not walking this course

Hole Favorites
#7 first glimpse of the dunes reminds me of Arcadia Bluffs same
#8 Amongst massive dunes along Lake Michigan as well
#2 Blow-out bunkering style

World class layout. Very good staff but halfway house closes way too early. Should allow a few walking times each day.