BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI – After spending 12 years without hosting one of the largest tournaments in the world, Oakland Hills Country Club wants to get back into the most important business of championship golf.
And the club is spending a lot of money doing it – $ 12.1 million, to be exact.
Oakland Hills held a press conference on Monday to announce details of a one-year renovation on the legendary South Course to not only make Michigan’s most prestigious layout more playable for members, but to attract the US Open or PGA Championship. – both ? – go back to Michigan.
The club has hosted 17 major leagues, a roster that includes six US Open, three PGA Championship, two US Senior Open and the 2004 Ryder Cup.
But it hasn’t hosted the US Open since 1996, and the last professional major was the 2008 PGA Championship. The 2016 US Amateur was also played in Oakland Hills.
Now, the club is doing some renovations that it hopes will entice the USGA or PGA of America to bring another major back to the South Course, which Ben Hogan dubbed “The Monster” after winning the 1951 US Open.
“The clubhouse is essentially the same, but to the east here’s a golf course that has changed dramatically,” Chief Pro Steve Brady said on the clubhouse’s porch as workers behind him worked on the renovations. “It all has to do with the board of directors here and the support of the members here at the Oakland Hills Country Club.
“If you look out there, you can imagine 100 years ago what Donald Ross and belonging at the time might have had in mind. Undulating terrain, trying to put the golf holes where they would be strategically placed and extremely playable for members and hopefully host major championships along the way.
“Over the past 100 years, we have done both. We have a golf course that members love to play and have hosted many major championships. This is the kind of plan for the future. “
The earliest Oakland Hills could host a US Open would be 2028, while PGA championship sites are locked until 2031.
To re-enter the rotation for both tournaments, the club hired architect Gil Hanse to renovate the course that was originally designed by Donald Ross more than 100 years ago before being redesigned by Robert Trent Jones in 1969.
Hanse’s original designs include Pinehurst No. 4 and The Olympic Course in Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the 2016 Summer Games tournament. He also redesigned the Winged Foot Golf Club, Los Angeles Country Club, and Baltusrol Golf Club.
Hanse and his crew removed 137 masts and 40 bunkers. Hanse said the surviving bunkers have gotten bigger and feature a lot more sand. The fairways, which have shrunk over the years, have also been widened to make the course more member friendly and the front tees have been moved between 350 and 400 yards.
Hanse wanted to bring Oakland Hills back to what Ross had envisioned before it opened in 1916, making it more challenging for today’s players and modern equipment that allows them to hit the ball further than ever.
“It’s not that this golf course was broken or that there was a serious need to modify it,” said Hanse. “But what we proposed to the members was a master plan … on how this golf course could be improved, updated both in terms of infrastructure and also looking at the evolution of the game, especially in the last 15-20 years. and how technology has altered the way higher level players play on the golf course. “
Hanse said his crew did everything they could to lengthen the course and they succeeded.
Before the renovations, he played 7,445 yards from strikers. But when the refurb is finished, probably by next July, it can be stretched to nearly 7,900 yards, although it will play closer to 7,500 or 7,600 yards for tournaments.
Perhaps the most innovative change will be for the greens, where Hanse has installed a Precision Air system. This allows the ground crew to quickly drain the greens after heavy rain and also allows the greens to be raised or lowered according to weather conditions.
So in April, they could blow warm air into the greens while on a hot day like Monday – when temperatures soared in the 1990s – they could blow cold air into the greens to cool them.
Precision Air is becoming common in clubs hosting major leagues these days.
“There will be no grass in the prettiest country of Oakland Hills Country Club,” said Brady, who is in his 24th year as Oakland Hills pro head.
Mike Tirico, who is NBC’s lead guest for golf coverage and does play-by-play for Monday Night Football, also spoke at the new conference. Tirico, a Michigan resident, visited the course and was thrilled with the changes.
He said he sent pictures of the changes to Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods. Their answer? “Are they making that place more difficult?” Tirico remembered with a laugh. “How is it possible?”
“Oakland Hills is a special place,” Tirico said. “We don’t need to tell anyone he’s here. But golf continues to evolve like everything in life. You have to catch up, otherwise you get overtaken. This golf course can host any big event, but to host the absolute best events you need to find a way to be with modern players.
“As we all saw if you were at … Mortgage Rocket, you saw Bryson DeChambeau sucking protein shakes and hitting from 340 yards. His caddy said,” There’s a bunker out there at 355 “and it was important for shooting The world has changed because it is a conversation we weren’t having 2-3-4 years ago in golf.
“So, to test, to identify the best players in the world, we have to find a way to evolve. Golf is not going backwards, it is going forward. “
What if the USGA and / or the PGA of America don’t decide to award a future major to Oakland Hills? Would the club consider hosting a regular PGA Tour event?
It seems unlikely.
“It depends on the board,” Brady said. “But our charter and mission statement in the past was’ We are here to host major leagues, to make our contribution to the game. It’s not just about enriching the Tour players.
“It’s about growing the game of golf and having Southeast Michigan or the Midwest be able to see golf in the foreground without having to jump on a plane and do cross country.
“In the Midwest this is probably going to be the right place, I’d say.”
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