Benona Shores Golf Course

Par 60 courses get dismissed too quickly. At Benona Shores in Shelby, Michigan, the format means you're looking at a card stacked with par 3s and short par 4s — a layout built for rhythm, shot-making, and the kind of relaxed afternoon round that reminds you why you took up the game in the first place. It's the sort of course where a clean ball-striker can get on a run, and where high-handicappers stop dreading the round before it starts.

Shelby sits in Oceana County along Michigan's western Lower Peninsula, a stretch of lakeshore country defined by fruit orchards, sand dunes, and the steady presence of Lake Michigan just to the west. The landscape is gentle and wooded in places, with the sandy soils common to this part of the state that drain well and give courses a links-adjacent feel underfoot.

For visitors exploring Michigan's lesser-known golf corridor between Muskegon and Ludington, Benona Shores fills a real niche — an accessible, no-pressure 18 that lets you play fast, play twice, or simply enjoy the west Michigan countryside without the formality of a longer track.