Shelter Harbor Golf Club

Designed by Michael Hurdzan with Dana Fry and constructed by Landscapes Unlimited, the Shelter Harbor course between Westerly and Charlestown was the first private layout to open in Washington County, Rhode Island for more than a hundred years when it was unveiled in 2005.

The clubhouse is set within a 400-acre property on one of the highest promontories in Rhode Island and it offers wonderful views over the 18-hole layout, the adjoining 9-hole par three course and the nearby waters of Block Island Sound.

Characterized by bearded bunkers, many of which were built by Coore & Crenshaw collaborator, Jeff Bradley, the course also features a number of small stone dykes that appear with regularity throughout the round.

“In a state where nearly every top course dates to before World War II, it is hardly surprising that an ambitious modern layout like Shelter Harbor would be constructed in a classic style,” wrote Daniel Wexler in The American Private Golf Club Guide, “its wooded fairways, rough-edged bunkering and occasional stone wall combining to give it a somewhat “lived in” look. This is also one of Hurdzan and Fry’s more strategic designs, with angled or centerline bunkers affecting many tee shots, and the majority of holes mandate at least a modicum of thought.”