50 Words or Less
The Wee Course, part of Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan, is a great addition to the resort. Fun for all ages and ability levels. An excellent way to hone your short game.
Introduction
Harbor Shores Golf Course is an estimable track, frequently ranked in the Top 100 and the host of the Senior PGA Championship [full review HERE]. But – as you might guess from that latter fact – it’s not a place built for high handicappers or those learning the game. The property’s latest addition, The Wee Course, is. Designed by Colin Montgomerie with inspiration drawn from the courses he grew up on in Scotland, The Wee Course is a place where golfers of all ages and abilities can play together. Please enjoy my big review of this small course.
Practice Facilities
The Wee Course is located across the parking lot from the excellent practice facilities at Harbor Shores. There you’ll find a full driving range with about ten hitting stations as well as a medium-sized putting green. The highlight is the short game area: two greens, multiple bunkers, and enough space to create any type of short game situation you can imagine. It’s definitely more than you’ll need for navigating The Wee Course, but sometimes it’s nice to be over prepared.
Customer Service & Amenities
Everything in and around The Wee Course lets you know that this is a place built for laid back good times. One modestly-sized building serves as the pro shop, restaurant, and starter’s hut. It’s surrounded by fire pits and Adirondack chairs, inviting golfers to hang out long after the last putt has dropped. Every hole on the course has drink holders at the tee and the green. The course is also lit for night golf and has music playing throughout.
Beauty & Scenery
The Wee Course turns a classic song on its head: they unpaved a parking lot and turned it into a little golf paradise. With Graham Avenue on one side and a parking lot on another, this is not a course full of postcard views. This is a modestly-sized chunk of land that isn’t cliffside, oceanside, or seated on dramatic sand dunes. And it’s exactly what golf needs. If golf is going to grow sustainably, it doesn’t need more $500 per round resorts. It needs places like this where new golfers can learn the game, where golfers of all ages can play together, and where you can connect to the game without emptying your wallet.
The Wee Putting Course
Putting courses have become one of the most in-demand additions to major resort courses, and The Wee Putting Course is one of the best. On a fairly unassuming rectangle of green, there are 18 holes laid out. Most of the putts are around fifteen feet long and aren’t overly dramatic – they look like putts you’d actually see on a golf course. There are a couple long putts and a few heavy breaks to give the round some variety and fun, but this always feels like golf, not mini golf.
At some putting courses, the breaks are so ridiculous that I don’t feel like I’m really improving my putting, and I’m ready to do something else by the time I’m done. Neither of those things is true at The Wee Putting Course. I could go around and around all day. Additionally, the gamification makes this one of the best ways to practice your putting. I can easily lose my focus during normal putting practice, but with a set course and a scorecard, I’m locked in on giving my best effort.
The Wee Course – Approach Shots
The Wee Course features two sets of tees – blue and white – measuring 500 and 275 yards, respectively. When it’s set up all the way back, the longest hole is 73 yards, so most players can take this course on with a putter and one wedge.
As you can see above, there are small swaths of astroturf on every hole, so you’ll always have the possibility of a perfect lie.
From the white tees, the longest hole is 42 yards, and the course states that you can play with only a putter. While technically true, I don’t know that I’d recommend this. Hitting a putter 42 yards takes a hefty swing, and there are a couple holes where you’d need to artfully play the contours to get on the green in one stroke.
The ability to putt every approach and the contours around the green set up The Wee Course to accommodate any and all styles of the short game. You can play bump and run shots, high pitches, and everything in between.
While you can fit your preferred short game into The Wee Course, this is also a great place to get out of your comfort zone. I would love to go around with a lob wedge, then go around again with a 4-iron. This is a course where you can get creative, learn to use the slopes, and generally expand your knowledge and skill.
The Wee Course – Greens & Surrounds
Much like The Wee Putting Course, the greens at The Wee Course favor subtlety, but they don’t lack for character. There are two double greens on the course – the one shared by 2 and 4 is shown above – and each has a major feature separating the two sides.
While you might expect a course this short to have tiny greens, that’s not the case here. They’re not enormous, but they’re big enough to accommodate multiple pin positions and to let less skilled golfers hit a few greens in reg. The larger size is also a factor in the conditions being as good as they are.
Around the greens, there’s a fairway cut and rough that’s almost like a waste area. The fairway cut is lovely to play from and allows for any type of shot. In the rough, you can find bare spots and grass several inches tall, so you’re rolling the dice anytime your ball ends up in there.
The mounding off the greens is a little more severe, but you shouldn’t ever find yourself more than a foot or two above or below the putting surface. Generally, the undulations are helpful, pushing your ball back toward the green.
There is one “bunker” on The Wee Course, and someone in our group managed to find it. The name will be omitted to protect this hacker’s pride.
Conclusion
The Wee Course makes me jealous of the residents of Benton Harbor. If I lived near this course, there’s no question that I’d have a Season Pass, and my short game would be back to its elite pre-kids status. Whether you’re a local working on your game, introducing the next generation to golf, or tacking on a little extra fun to a round a Harbor Shores, The Wee Course is a great destination.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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