Starboard

East Chicago sits at the industrial edge of the Chicago metropolitan area, where northwest Indiana meets the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It's a working-class city shaped more by steel mills and refineries than fairways, which makes the presence of an 18-hole public layout here genuinely worth noting — golf in this corner of the region tends to serve everyday players looking for an accessible, affordable round without the commute into the city or the price tag of the North Shore clubs.

The name Starboard carries a nautical suggestion, a nod perhaps to the lake's proximity and the maritime character that waterfront industrial towns often carry in their identity even when the waterfront itself is dominated by heavy industry rather than marinas.

This part of greater Chicago has no shortage of solid municipal and daily-fee courses feeding a dense, golf-hungry population. A round here puts you within reach of the lake breezes that define playing conditions throughout the region — wind is rarely an afterthought in northwest Indiana, and a par 72 at this latitude will play differently in May than it does in August.