Berrien Hills Golf Club, CLOSED 2019

Detailed description of Berrien Hills Golf Club, CLOSED 2019

Berrien Hills Golf Club is a public 18 hole golf course located in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

The golf course at Berrien Hills first opened in 1924. Ken Killian and Dick Nugent redesigned the course in 1965.

Berrien Hills was founded in 1909, but the club was not at its current location. The course was about five miles upriver from where it is located today. The old course was turned into a public course named Martin Hill then later called Wyndwicke. That course received a final name change to The Oaks before closing in the summer of 2005.

In 1924 Berrien Hills moved to its current location on the St. Joseph River at Napier Avenue. Berrien Hills grew and weathered the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Berrien Hills Country Club closed at the end of 2005, after a final attempt to thrive by going semi-private that summer. The club was bought the following spring by The Neuser Family and opened on April 21 as Berrien Hills Golf Club, a public course for the first time since 1909. Chris Neuser's first job as a teen in 1984 was working at Berrien Hills Country Club. Later that same summer he started working at Wyndwicke for then head pro Dave Vonk. After purchasing Berrien Hills in 2006, Chris immediately hired Dave Vonk to be the general manager of Berrien Hills Golf Club.

The course is somewhat tight, and every hole has trees that can alter your shots. The greens are slightly sloped and of average speed. The fairways are plush, tree-lined, and home to a few sand bunkers. There is a creek that comes into play on some holes.

Par for the course is 71. From the back tees, the course plays to 6219 yards. From the forward tees, the course measures 5263 yards. The longest hole on the course is # 17, a par-5 that plays to 528 yards. The shortest hole on the course is # 16, a par-3 that plays 159 yards from the back tees.

Watch out for # 3, a 386-yard par-4 challenge, and the #1 handicap hole on the course. The easiest hole at Berrien Hills is # 16, the short 159 yard par-3.

The course closed at the end of the 2019 golf season.