Fireworks from Colin Montgomerie Headline Official Opening of the Wee Course at Harbor Shores Resort
The brand new golf leisure venue is open to everybody and designed to make golf extra accessible, reasonably priced, and gratifying for gamers of all ages and ability ranges.
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (July 6, 2026) — Harbor Shores Resort celebrated the official opening of the Wee Course right now in incomparable style. Course designer and World Golf Corridor of Famer Colin Montgomerie took two swings and made back-to-back holes-in-one to rejoice the modern nine-hole quick course that’s rapidly turning into a centerpiece for golf, recreation, and group connection in Southwest Michigan.
Montgomerie spent the day at Harbor Shores, enjoying the course, strolling it with visitors and media, and enjoying alongside native kids from the world’s PGA Junior League and First Tee Benton Harbor packages.
“I’m blown away by every thing to do with this and the small print and imaginative and prescient concerned with Jeff Fettig and his group to place this collectively and to ask me to assist in the design, I’m very honored and humbled,” Montgomerie mentioned. “I’ve designed programs all over the world, and to see this now in working order, the standard of every thing is the large Harbor Shores course high quality. It additionally offers alternative to everyone, and with out alternative we don’t know the following Tiger Woods; the place are they? Are they on the market someplace? With out alternative, you don’t know. That’s what the Wee Course is all about.”
Montgomerie aced the third (43 yards) and the fifth (60 yards) holes as he walked with the media, speaking about his imaginative and prescient and the concepts he integrated into the course’s design.
“It was slightly unusual. We walked the primary couple of holes and determined to hit a couple of photographs. I grabbed certainly one of Mr. Fettig’s golf equipment—a chipper—and figured I’d give it a strive from about 60 yards. In some way it discovered the outlet. Then, extremely, I did it once more on the very subsequent gap we performed. Two hole-in-ones in the identical day—it’s simply unbelievable. After I arrived, 51 aces had been recorded on this course. Now there are 53.”
The Wee Course is open to the general public and is the newest addition to Harbor Shores Resort’s rising assortment of golf experiences. The five-acre, nine-hole pitch-and-putt course encourages enjoyable and creativeness for gamers of all ranges whereas remaining approachable for inexperienced persons, all in a relaxed setting that may be accomplished in beneath an hour.
The Wee Course, which options 9 holes starting from 20 to 80 yards and a complete yardage between 275 and 500 yards relying on tee choice, blends creativity, playability, and design inspiration from a number of the most memorable inexperienced complexes discovered on Harbor Shores’ acclaimed Jack Nicklaus Signature Design course.
Two units of tee markers enable gamers to tailor the expertise to their capability stage. Longer tees introduce extra angles and strategic challenges, whereas ahead tees create an inviting setting for juniors, households, and first-time golfers. Gamers may even select to make use of solely a putter from the ahead tees, creating a novel and extremely social expertise.
Whereas golf is on the coronary heart of the venture, the imaginative and prescient for the Wee Course extends past the sport itself. It was designed to be a gathering place the place households, youth, pals, resort visitors, and group members can join via shared experiences in an setting that displays the welcoming tradition discovered in lots of golf communities throughout Scotland.
Jeff Fettig, former chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Company, a number one contributor via the Fettig Household Basis, and the visionary behind the Harbor Shores enlargement, mentioned the venture is already delivering on its unique mission.
“The Harbor Shores imaginative and prescient has at all times been to create a optimistic place for all in our group to get pleasure from. The Wee Course is the following a part of realizing that imaginative and prescient,” says Fettig. “The objective of the Wee Course is to make golf accessible and reasonably priced to everybody. The mannequin is for golf to be the social gathering spot just like most cities and communities in Scotland, and though it’s solely been open for a short while, we’re already seeing that occur.”
That imaginative and prescient is clear all through the broader golf leisure expertise surrounding the Wee Course.
Adjoining to the quick course is Highland Greens, a 15,000-square-foot placing course impressed by legendary placing venues at St. Andrews and Pinehurst. With lighting, music, gathering areas, and food-and-beverage service from Monty’s Place, the world has rapidly turn into a preferred vacation spot for each golfers and non-golfers, extending exercise properly into the night.
In keeping with Harbor Shores Golf Membership PGA, Normal Supervisor Joshua Doxtator, the response for the reason that facility’s tender opening has exceeded expectations.
“Because the venture was absolutely accomplished this spring, the Wee Course continues to achieve momentum locally,” says Doxtator. “The demand has been vital with leagues, Women Nights, personal occasions, and most significantly, grandparents, mother and father, and children having fun with time collectively. The response from our resort visitors staying in our on-site villas has additionally been overwhelming. They’ve entry to the course, the placing inexperienced, and the firepits, proper out their entrance door.”
Group engagement stays a central part of the venture. Packages similar to First Tee Benton Harbor, PGA Junior League and native youth golf initiatives already use the power, reinforcing Harbor Shores’ long-standing dedication to creating alternatives via golf.
“We’ve seen an incredible variety of youngsters enjoying the course,” continues Doxtator. “Our PGA Junior League has weekly practices, and The First Tee of Benton Harbor makes use of the power in its programming. In our quick time open this season, our dedication to being accessible and reasonably priced to all has held true, and I’m excited concerning the many occasions we’ve got deliberate this 12 months.”
Affordability has additionally been a key consideration from the outset. Pricing begins at $30 for 9 holes, $40 for 18 holes, and $50 for all-day entry, together with use of the placing course. Youngsters beneath 12 play free with a paying grownup, whereas juniors ages 13-17 obtain discounted charges. Season go choices are additionally obtainable.
The opening of the Wee Course represents one other milestone in Harbor Shores’ ongoing mission to broaden entry to golf whereas creating significant group experiences. By combining recreation, hospitality, and youth engagement, the venture continues to advance the resort’s imaginative and prescient of utilizing golf as a catalyst for connection and optimistic group influence.
About Harbor Shores Resort
Harbor Shores Resort is Southwest Michigan’s premier golf vacation spot, anchored by its nationally acclaimed Jack Nicklaus Signature Design golf course alongside the shores of Lake Michigan. One of many nation’s most notable examples of golf-driven group revitalization, Harbor Shores was developed via greater than $900 million in strategic funding, reworking former industrial and environmentally challenged land right into a vibrant vacation spot for recreation, tourism, and financial development. The championship course has hosted the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship six instances between 2012 and 2024. Complemented by The Wee Course, the Inn at Harbor Shores, golf villas, and quite a lot of stay-and-play experiences, Harbor Shores delivers one of many Midwest’s most distinctive golf resort experiences. Go to harborshoresresort.com.
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