Build-Out Begins: KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship Starts Taking Shape at Harbor Shores

The Build Out begins today.

Crews will begin ‘building a city’ at Harbor Shores Golf Club for the final KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, set for May 23-26. There’ll be several significant ‘fan-friendly’ changes in the planned layout as construction starts.

To learn about the plans for the 2024 edition of the Senior PGA, MoodyOnTheMarket.com sat down with Championship Operations Director Chelsea Borettii. Chelsea is a member of the five person PGA management team that has been fulltime here in Benton Harbor for the entire 12 years of the PGA-KitchenAid sponsorship. Borretti joined the team shortly before the 2022 event and has been planning for 2024 ever since.

Today, her job moves from the office to the field as she welcomes the crews from vendors and contractors across the country who will begin constructing the Championship layout that Boretti has created in her mind and will now transform into reality.

Probably the most important change being made to the SPGA layout is a major shift of a general public gathering area from the edge of the event at the Main Gate on Graham Avenue to the ‘heart’ of the event near Holes 14 and 17 along North Shore Drive.

‘The Pure Michigan Championship Courtyard’ will take shape in the parking lot of North Pier Brewing Company near Harbor Shores’ #14 Tee. It will encompass the KitchenAid Fairway Club, the Community Showcase building, Volunteer Hospitality area, the Giant Video Board and picnic table seating for the general public.

Boretti says bringing these venues together in one location will allow golf fans and those attending ‘just for the fun of it’ to gather and mingle, enjoy food and beverages, take in a KitchenAid cooking demonstration, and learn about important community activities—all while never leaving the center of the SPGA Championship action.

In prior years, these venues were centered near the Main Gate, seemingly disconnected from the excitement of the golf tournament. Visitors could only access them at the beginning or end of their visit to the Championship. Now, they will be able to utilize the Pure Michigan Championship Courtyard as their headquarters, just a short distance from the golf action.

Nearby, visitors will once again be attracted to the Makers Trail 19th Hole, showcasing local brews and wines. It’s located between Holes 16 and 17. Observers of tournament crowds since its beginning in 2012 believe adding the Makers Trail led to significantly younger fans (under 40) spending more time at the SPGA event.

Borretti said bleacher seating for the general public will also be added this year at Hole 16, in addition to the usual bleachers at #1 Tee and #18 Green.

Changes in parking may also bring some smiles to the faces of longtime tournament attendees who sometimes grumbled about having to ride buses from Riverview Drive at the Charter School parking lot. Boretti says this year General Public Parking will be in the big empty lots at the corner of Upton Drive and Whitwam Drive, with shuttle buses taking you to the Main Gate at the Clubhouse on Graham Avenue.

Volunteers and Sponsors will find their parking area much closer as well, along Graham Avenue near the Main Gate in space re-assigned when those KitchenAid and Community buildings are moved to the new Pure Michigan Championship Plaza.

Souvenir merchandise buyers will still be able to buy their favorite items as they head for the exits, and not have to carry them around all day. The ‘Merch Tent’ will be in one of Harbor Shores permanent buildings, the Learning Center, located close to the Main Gate where the shuttle buses will transport you back to your car.

Something that will change very little, because it has worked so well in the past is the Senior PGA Trolley/ system. Boretti told us the trolley stops around Harbor Shores will be similar to past years, however she will add additional trolley units, anticipating a large crowd for this final run of the event and a strong field of golfers expected to compete.

We asked Chelsea to give us a look behind the scenes as she begins creating this ‘city within a city.’ She emphasized that it’s very much a team approach, with the professional PGA managers making the plans but a huge group of contractors and vendors implementing those plans, starting today.

For example, workers today will begin erecting 70,000 sq. ft. of tents—65,000 sq. ft. with flooring. They’ll put up more than a mile of chain link fencing and almost two and a half miles of windscreen. Power cables, internet cables, generators and eventually television equipment will be placed in all corners of the golf course. Boretti pointed out that NBC and Golf Channel will televise 13 hours of the Championship around the World, showcasing Southwest Michigan.

That element of community branding is an unusual aspect of this golf event that rarely comes up in others. She acknowledged that it’s usually just about the golf, but here it’s different, it’s about the entire community showing itself off to the World. It’s a special responsibility that Boretti said she treasures and takes very seriously as she builds the physical aspect of the event for a final time.

Many of the big-ticket items in the SPGA build-out come from national sources on national contracts for the several major tournaments directly managed by the PGA of America. It makes business sense. However, Boretti says, many perishable items or one time purchases are sourced from local and regional vendors. Sometimes the quantity needed dictates larger suppliers: examples like 286 golf carts, 353 compatible two-way radios, eleven Leaderboards and TV camera towers.

There are short-term job opportunities created by the SPGA Championship. While major contractors and vendors bring their managers and directors along with them, they often hire support staff and day labor locally, either directly or through local employment agencies. Boretti suggested that if employment at the tournament is your goal, you should contact the local PGA office by email: spgabh@pgahq.com Indicate your area of experience or expertise and they will direct your inquiry to appropriate vendors who may be hiring.

Boretti said construction and installation activity will gradually increase over the next couple of weeks and spread over the entire Harbor Shores site as we move forward into May. Tear down and removal goes faster but still takes several weeks following the conclusion of the Championship May 26. When it’s all over, Boretti expects to move on to another PGA-managed golf event a year or more in the future.