Restaurant in middle of golf course plans for PGA boom

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - There’s one business that’s sure to make a killing next week when the Senior PGA championship comes to Benton Harbor.

The North Shore Inn, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and bar, is located in the middle of Harbor Shores Golf Course.

"There’s (hole) 13 right here, you've got 14, 15, 16, 17 and right there is 18," said 20-year owner Tom Howe, pointing out the landscape outside his business.  

If anybody is making money for the tournament next week it might North Shore Inn. The restaurant is the only food available inside the tournament that isn’t from a PGA vendor.

Howe got in the position by chance. "(The building has) been around since 1888," said Howe. "What they've done is build a beautiful golf course around me… how sweet," Howe joked.

Howe said when plans were in place for Harbor Shores he made it clear he was not willing to leave the location and the golf course was built around the building.

The player’s cart path runs along one side of North Shore and the spectator path along the other.

"They'll come through here and of course they'll see my tent,” Howe said. He expects 3000-5000 people walking past the location each day of the tournament.

North Shore is planning special accommodations with a beer tent, ten port-a-potties and an array of food to feed the masses.

Howe’s business doesn’t need to pay for a vendor’s license or share a cut of their profit with the PGA so prices should be lower for spectators. "I’m going to be less than the golf course, but I’m not going to jab anybody,” he said. “You can't do that to your friends."