Hawks Head (south haven Michigan) golf trip?

[zer0]

Looking for weekend golf trip for 8 guys to southern Michigan.   The requirement is that we can stay at lodging at the course.  One of our guys can't ride in a car sundown Friday to sundown Saturday so we need a place where he can walk from the lodging to the clubhouse.

 

Was thinking Hawk head in South Haven?   They have a couple no frills cottages that sleep 8.   Two golf courses.  How is the place?  The golf courses decent?  Anyone ever stayed at the course itself?

 

 

Lastly, are there good restaurants/bars nearby in South Haven?

[postfold]

AFAIK Hawkshead only has one course.  It's a good, not quite great, track which I'm happy to play once or twice a year.  Can't tell you anything about the lodging or scene in South Haven, but it's a Lake Michigan tourist town so there will places to eat and drink.

 

If you're reading that there is a second golf course it may be referring to The Beeches which isn't too far away (but not walking distance), I would expect that people staying in the area play both.  I'm not a fan but I know plenty of people that like the Beeches quite a bit.

[bzimmer21]

We go to South Haven every summer and I play Hawkshead every year.  I really enjoy it.  I can't comment on pace because typically when I get to play, I book an early tee time as a single and am usually the first one out.  The last 3 years I've played it it was in very good shape as well.  Headed there in August this year and typically we are there in June.  

There are plenty of great places to eat and drink in downtown South Haven but it's definitely not walkable from Hawkshead.  And there is nothing walkable to do around Hawkshead so if you are staying there, you better bring plenty of food and drink and things to do. 

[bzimmer21]

I was wrong, they do have a restaurant but I have never been

[ldchristopher]

The course is good. Conditioning is always excellent. The green complexes are pretty benign but tee to green it’s a solid course. The other course is Beeches, which I enjoy. It’s a fun prairie style layout. Choose your tees. From 6600 it’s a good time. From the tips at 7200 it can get mentally exhausting. It’s about an 8 mile walk between the two courses though. No idea on food. 

[Go_Blue!]

Played and stayed at the cottages 4 years ago. 4 of us had a great time. We paired Hawks Head up with Harbor Shores and American Dunes in 2021 when they first opened. We all loved Hawks Head. The cottages are cool. 4 bedrooms with 2 beds and a bathroom in each. The restaurant was really good, too. We ate outside. Really fun and quaint setting. I would do that trip again in a heartbeat. 

[Pepetito]

On 6/23/2025 at 11:07 AM, zer0 said:

Looking for weekend golf trip for 8 guys to southern Michigan.   The requirement is that we can stay at lodging at the course.  One of our guys can't ride in a car sundown Friday to sundown Saturday so we need a place where he can walk from the lodging to the clubhouse.

 

Was thinking Hawk head in South Haven?   They have a couple no frills cottages that sleep 8.   Two golf courses.  How is the place?  The golf courses decent?  Anyone ever stayed at the course itself?

 

 

Lastly, are there good restaurants/bars nearby in South Haven?

We stayed at the cottages in summer of 2022.  Had a great time.  Each cottage is perfect for a group of 8.  Four bedrooms, 8 beds.  They have just the one course onsite, which I'd call "solid".  We had a group of 16 so we had both cottages.  Our group LOVED the setup.

We did not eat onsite.  We grilled at the cottages.  I'd be happy to answer any other specific questions.

 

That trip we played American Dunes (40 mins north), Ravines (20 mins north), Hawkshead (onsite) and harbor shores (30 mins south).  The group pretty unanimously loved the trip.

Edited June 24 by Pepetito
things

[zer0]

21 hours ago, Pepetito said:

We stayed at the cottages in summer of 2022.  Had a great time.  Each cottage is perfect for a group of 8.  Four bedrooms, 8 beds.  They have just the one course onsite, which I'd call "solid".  We had a group of 16 so we had both cottages.  Our group LOVED the setup.

We did not eat onsite.  We grilled at the cottages.  I'd be happy to answer any other specific questions.

 

That trip we played American Dunes (40 mins north), Ravines (20 mins north), Hawkshead (onsite) and harbor shores (30 mins south).  The group pretty unanimously loved the trip.

 

thanks, you are definitely the person to talk to.     so the cottages have grills I take it?    The cottages look pretty bare bones.  They look clean  and nice, but not much to them.   Is there a spot outside to hang out?

 

How close are the cottages to the clubhouse?  one of our guys has to walk on saturday so can't drive to the clubhouse.

 

For itinerary was thinking:

Thursday:   South Bend CC

Friday:  Ravines and maybe American Dunes

Satuday:  36 at Hawks head

Sunday:  South Bend CC or Harbor shores

 

 

[Pepetito]

47 minutes ago, zer0 said:

 

thanks, you are definitely the person to talk to.     so the cottages have grills I take it?    The cottages look pretty bare bones.  They look clean  and nice, but not much to them.   Is there a spot outside to hang out?

 

How close are the cottages to the clubhouse?  one of our guys has to walk on saturday so can't drive to the clubhouse.

 

For itinerary was thinking:

Thursday:   South Bend CC

Friday:  Ravines and maybe American Dunes

Satuday:  36 at Hawks head

Sunday:  South Bend CC or Harbor shores

 

 

You have access to South Bend CC?

 

Going through my old trip emails:

- Cottages have gas grilles.

- Regular coffee maker (bring your own coffee)

- There is plenty of room to hang out.  We had chairs out, bags, frisbee and whatnot.

- Plenty of parking space.

- The two cottage properties addresses are 522 and 526 Kitty Hawk Lane.  By car its maybe just under a half mile from golf course parking.  Its shorter if you cut thru the golf course I believe.  If you only are getting one cottage then get 526.  Most of the room is on that side of the cottages if i recall.

 

[zer0]

1 hour ago, Pepetito said:

You have access to South Bend CC?

 

Going through my old trip emails:

- Cottages have gas grilles.

- Regular coffee maker (bring your own coffee)

- There is plenty of room to hang out.  We had chairs out, bags, frisbee and whatnot.

- Plenty of parking space.

- The two cottage properties addresses are 522 and 526 Kitty Hawk Lane.  By car its maybe just under a half mile from golf course parking.  Its shorter if you cut thru the golf course I believe.  If you only are getting one cottage then get 526.  Most of the room is on that side of the cottages if i recall.

 

 

one of our guys is a member at SBCC.

 

Do they have outdoor chairs and furniture or did you bring your own or bring stuff outside from inside the house?

 

Are the cottages close to any of the greens?  Was thinking an evening chipping/putting contest.

[Pepetito]

11 minutes ago, zer0 said:

 

one of our guys is a member at SBCC.

 

Do they have outdoor chairs and furniture or did you bring your own or bring stuff outside from inside the house?

 

Are the cottages close to any of the greens?  Was thinking an evening chipping/putting contest.

There is def one green you can walk to and mess around at night.  I went home immediately after our final round that year but the guys told me they walked to it and putt and chipped until it got pitch black..

The guy we dealt with at Hawkshead...Greg....super chill guy.  Super cool.  Gave us the keys, said dont be crazy after 11 or so and left us alone.

I dont recall about the chairs, there had to be chairs in the cottages I'd imagine but to be honest I dont recall.  We brought fold up lawn chairs too.