SHARA stands for "South Haven Area Recreation Authority". This authority is apparently responsible for installing an 18-hole disc golf course near the southwestern Michigan beach town of the same name.

This is a generally technical course with good challenges for rec to intermediate level players. The fairways range from narrow to moderately wide, with no thread-the-needle holes but no wide open ones either. You'll need to throw a variety of shots accurately to score well here. There is a decent range of distances, with seven holes listed under 200' but six others over 300'. The longest two holes (at 394' and 368') are listed as par 4's. It seemed like some holes had been recently lengthened, and now play longer than what is shown on the tee signs/hole info here.

SHARA DGC has some of the best navigational signage I have ever seen. There is red tape on each basket rung pointing towards the next hole. Then, they also have these great big bright blue arrows nailed to trees everywhere. I think you'd have to be blind to not be able to find your way to the next hole.

The other course amenities here are great too.
- Blue Prodigy baskets (one per hole) in great shape.
- Large, level, and grippy concrete tee pads (one per hole).
- Tee signs that are built to last and have all the info you could ask for (including QR codes).
- Periodic trash cans and benches, the latter in the same blue color as the navigational signage.
- Practice basket and porta potty near the parking lot.
- A kiosk including a detailed course map (this is at hole 1's tee, not the parking lot).

The main knock I have for this course is just that it's a little mundane. The holes are all flat, and there aren't any water hazards or other memorable obstacles to work around (I saw no sign of the retention pond shown on the course map). The holes are also not long enough to really challenge advanced players.

Some tees are a little bit close to the previous basket. It's nothing egregious, but could be a slight issue if the course were very busy.

The one place where I could have used some helper text with the arrows is pointing towards hole 1 from the parking lot. There is a tee pad right at the parking lot, but that is actually for hole 18 (and the corresponding tee sign was missing when I visited, which added to my initial confusion). And as others have said, it's also a little bit annoying that hole 18 plays away from the parking lot then you have to walk it back to finish the round. Only a very minor thing though, as they have established a dedicated path through the woods for this walk back.

Road noise from I-196 can be heard throughout the park. Again, only a very minor annoyance.

I almost gave this course a 3.5, but decided there just isn't anything memorable enough here to tip me over that boundary. Writing this only 2 weeks later, I already don't really remember many specifics about the course other than those great big, wonderful blue arrows. That's more a limitation of the land available than it is a knock on the course design though.

Anyway, SHARA DGC is a fun addition to the area and a great contrast with the huge, mostly open holes at Lake Arvesta Farms down the road. Nothing to go out of your way for here, but a nice and convenient stop if you're headed between the Chicago area and various points of interest in western lower Michigan (Grand Rapids, Holland, Ludington, etc.). I'd play here again if I were passing through the area and had the time.

- SHARA DGC has 18 holes of deuce-or-die, pseudo-technical discin' that play through scrubby savanna-y sorta semi-woods, jack pines and such. Most of the fairways are broad lanes occasionally punctuated with trees. Distances range from really short (e.g., hole #'s 2, 4, 6 & 9 are all less than 180') to a bit longer (hole #17 is the longest at 394'). Aggressive scoring on the shorties help balance out some of the tougher, longer looks. Anything off the fairways, though, and it's in some scrubby thick nastiness, and some work to get a recovery shot. Beginners should be able to do well here score wise, and advanced players will enjoy making putter ace runs and some of the longer, leaner holes (#'s 5 & 8 were particularly tasty).
- Brand new concrete tees, well done; trash cans, tee signs, benches, maps at the donation kiosk by hole #1. Port-a-john in the gravel lot. Great next hole arrows, impossible to miss. Juust a tad cramped in places but mostly manages to keep from stepping on its own toes flow-wise. The exception is hole #18 leaves you a 400-ish ' walk back the length of the fairway, which is a bit weird. But okay.
- One or two of the longer holes have nice low ceilings off the tee that make getting a good shot off all the more difficult.
- French drains were strategically placed near where I suppose the muddiest spots form after rains. The map shows a retention pond crossing hole #'s 13 & 14, but I saw nothing of the sort: bone dry during my round here. It was more desert than pond throughout. SHARA desert.

- Some short almost gimmicky shots (hole #2 I'm looking at you). Wooden railing thingys on each side of the basket apparently provide difficulty? Maybe don't make the hole 177'.
- Not a lot of kicks in the 3rd dimension (i.e., this course is flat).
- The suboptimal routing back to the lot is a minimal irritant. Having to hike out the final length of the hole you just threw is a bit of a kick in the shins, but not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination.

- I really liked this course! Really short fun holes balance out the longer stuff nicely. The putter driver holes are great practice, and the longer holes provide nice scoring separation.
- Some gnarly fungi: saw a bunch of fresh choice oysters on a stump in the fairway.
- I'd jam out at SHARA, rough or no, any day.