Oakland Hills – Syndication Server

Pebble Beach another example of how the courses keep getting better for the U.S. Women’s Open

The U.S. Women’s Open is reaching parity with men’s majors when it comes to host courses.

This is a special year as elite women golfers have the chance to experience two great courses for major championships in the United States: Baltusrol’s Lower Course for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Pebble Beach Golf Links for the U.S. Women’s Open.

That’s back-to-back majors on two major-worthy layouts over the span of three weeks in June and July, with the Women’s Open slated this week.

It wasn’t always this way. Women’s major championships have a checkered history of course selections.

The U.S. Women’s Open, for example, for decades was played for the most part on a slate of courses that in no way measured up to the layouts on which men’s majors were contested. In most years, with only a sprinkling of exceptions, the greatest women players in the game played less-than-stellar courses – many host sites were solid regional or local tracks, but world-beaters they were not.

Things began to change in the mid-1980s, as the Women’s Open moved with greater frequency to courses ranked among the top 200 in Golfweek’s Best rankings of either classic (built before 1960) or modern (built in or after 1960) layouts. Women’s Open course selection peaked in 1992 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, which hosted the event again in 2010.

As measured by average rating, course selection has continued to improve over the past 20 years. Golfweek’s Best utilizes more than 800 raters who evaluate courses according to 10 criteria and then offer an overall rating of 1 to 10. Their votes are averaged to compile various course rankings lists, including the modern and classic lists. In general, any course rated above 6 would be considered by most players to be a nice local or regional course, and in most cases a course rated above 7 would be worth traveling some distance to play. A layout scoring higher than 8 is among the top 60 or so courses in the world, and only seven courses in the world rank above 9 points – Oakmont is among those seven.

The average rating of the host courses for the U.S. Women’s Open has improved in each of the past three decades. For the period of 1993-2002, the average (using the 2022 Golfweek’s Best ratings for data) was 6.924. It improved to 7.100 in 2003-2012, and it climbed a bit more to 7.195 for the 10 Women’s Opens of 2013-2022. Compare that to the average of 6.277 from 1973-1982.

And course selection only continues to improve. Starting this year with Pebble Beach (using the 2023 Golfweek’s Best ratings for data), the lineup of announced sites for the U.S. Women’s Open scores an average rating of 8.36 among Golfweek’s Best raters. That’s in line with men’s championships and a far cry from the days when the Women’s Open might be played on a course that hardly anyone in the next state over had ever heard of.

Each of the sites announced to host future Women’s Opens is ranked inside the top 100 Golfweek’s Best modern or classic courses in the U.S. Three of the sites – Oakmont (No. 6 in the 2023 ranking of classic courses), Merion’s East Course (No. 7) and Pebble Beach Golf Links (No. 10) – rank among the top 10 classic courses in the United States. Another four – Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course (No. 14 in the 2023 rankings), Pinehurst No. 2 (No. 17), Riviera (No. 18) and Oakland Hills’ South Course (tied for No. 22) – rank among the top 25.

It’s been a long wait for course selection for the premium women’s golf event to catch up with that of the men, but things are certainly headed in the right direction.

Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses 2022: From Pebble Beach to Pinehurst, the top 200 golf courses built before 1960

Golfweek’s raters have ranked the top 200 courses built in the United States before 1960, such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach and more

Welcome to the Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of the Top 200 Classic Courses before 1960 in the United States.

Each year we publish many lists, with this Top 200 Classic Courses list among the premium offerings. Also extremely popular and significant are the lists for Top 200 Modern Courses, the Best Courses You Can Play State by State and Best Private Courses State by State.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings. The top handful of courses in the world have an average rating of above 9, while many excellent layouts fall into the high-6 to the 8 range.

To ensure these lists are up-to-date, Golfweek’s Best in recent years has altered how the individual ratings are compiled into the rankings. Only ratings from rounds played in the past 10 years are included in the compilations. This helps ensure that any course in the rankings still measures up.

Courses also must have a minimum of 25 votes to qualify for the Top 200 Modern or the Top 200 Classic. Other Golfweek’s Best lists, such as Best Courses You Can Play or Best Private, do not require as many votes. This makes it possible that a course can show up on other lists but not on the premium Top 200 lists.

Each course is listed with its average rating next to the name, the location, the year it opened and the designers. The list also notes in parenthesis next to the name of each course where that course ranked in 2021. Also included with many courses are links to recent stories about that layout.

After the designers are several designations that note what type of facility it is:

• p: private
• d: daily fee
• r: resort course
• t: tour course
• u: university
• m: municipal
• re: real estate
• c: casino

* Indicates new to or returning to this list.

Editor’s note: The 2022 Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list for the top 200 layouts built after 1960 in the U.S. was published Monday, May 23. The Best Courses You Can Play lists and the Best Private Courses lists will follow over the next two weeks.

A month after a fire burned down the clubhouse, USGA announces eight future events to be held at Oakland Hills, including four majors

The USGA will host eight events at Oakland Hills over the next 29 years.

A month after a devastating fire burned down the famed clubhouse at Oakland Hills Country Club, the United States Golf Association had some good news about a long-term strategic partnership with the club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The USGA announced on Tuesday that Oakland Hills would host eight of its championships over the next 29 years, including four major championships announced in January: the U.S. Women’s Open in 2031 and 2042 and the U.S. Open in 2034 and 2051. The additional events: 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur, 2029 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 2038 U.S. Girls Junior Amateur and the 2047: U.S. Amateur.

“This is a significant and meaningful day for all of us at Oakland Hills,” said Rick Palmer, club president. “The commitment of two U.S. Opens as well as four top amateur championships is a testament to the fabulous work of everyone at Oakland Hills. With a total of eight USGA championships coming to our club starting in 2024, we can’t wait to add to our storied history. We look forward to continuing our championship golf tradition at Oakland Hills and our long-standing relationship with the USGA.”

Oakland Hills has hosted 11 USGA championships in its history, including six U.S. Opens. The event’s return in 2034 will celebrate the club’s 110-year history with the USGA. Oakland Hills will become the fifth club to have hosted a U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur, while Pebble Beach will do the same in 2023.

“We could not be happier to bring six additional championships to such an iconic venue as Oakland Hills,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “Since its first U.S. Open in 1924, Oakland Hills has provided a supreme test for the game’s very best, and it will continue to do so for professionals and amateurs alike in the coming years.”

In September of 2020 the USGA named Pinehurst as an anchor site for future championships, and did the same at last summer’s U.S. Amateur when it announced Oakmont as a second anchor site and unveiled a stout lineup of future championships across Pennsylvania. The 2034 U.S. Open was originally announced to be held at Oakmont, but will now be held at Oakland Hills.

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The golf will go on at Oakland Hills after clubhouse fire, and a replica structure will be built

The club plans to build a replica of the iconic clubhouse that burned.

Oakland Hills Country Club president Rick Palmer was at home just minutes from the iconic clubhouse near Detroit on Thursday when he learned the 100-year-old structure was on fire.

“I got the call from (general manager) Christine Pooler about right when it happened,” said Palmer, who retired last year after owning a trucking company and who has been a member of the club in Bloomfield Hills for 26 years. “She at that point says, ‘We’ve got a real issue here and it could be severe.’

“From a personal note, I walked out the door and my wife said, ‘What’s the issue?’ And I said, ‘Well, I think Oakland Hills is on fire.’ And she said, ‘What do you mean?’ because we always have issues. And I said, ‘No, literally.’ ”

The fire grabbed national attention, torching one of the most historic private clubhouses in the United States. The club has been host to numerous championships since its inception in 1916, including six U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, a U.S. Women’s Amateur, two U.S. Men’s Amateurs and three PGA Championships.

Oakland Hills Country Club fire — The clubhouse at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, burns on Thursday, February 17, 2022. (Eric Seals/USA TODAY NETWORK)

The cause of the fire in which nobody was injured has yet to be determined, and the Detroit Free Press reported that an exact cause of the conflagration may never be determined. The club had a fire-suppression system, but the flames could have spread inside wooden walls and under floors. The point of ignition may have been destroyed, leaving few clues as investigators pick through charred remains.

Palmer said Monday the club is working with its insurance providers to determine what might be salvageable and what next steps the club will take in rebuilding. It’s too soon to have answers, he said, although the club has initiated conversations with several architectural firms. It likely will take years to rebuild the structure.

One thing is certain after hearing Palmer speak: The golf and many other activities will carry on, even in the short term as the spring season begins. The fire didn’t damage the club’s two courses, the South and the North.

“Keep in mind, besides other than the clubhouse fire, our tennis building, our golf operations building and out maintenance facility were all untouched,” Palmer said. “… Our membership is fully behind us. We will be as strong as ever.

“I can report that at our board meeting this past Saturday morning that the board easily made a unanimous decision and determined that the restored, rebuilt clubhouse will be a replica of what the iconic clubhouse was before the fire. Our membership and the national golf community really made that an easy decision for us to make, because of the outpouring of how special it is – even our (recent) golf course architect, Gil Hanse, who wants our clubhouse to match his beautiful restoration work.”

The recently restored South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club (Courtesy of Oakland Hills)

Hanse and his design partner Jim Wagner in 2021 completed a restoration of the club’s South Course, originally designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1918, and that track is slated to host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2031 and 2042. The South Course ties for No. 23 on Golfweek’s Best ranking of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S. The club’s North Course ties for No. 196 on that list.

The U.S. Golf Association has voiced its support to Palmer that there should be no issue with the planned Women’s Opens, and the club is still in talks in with the USGA about hosting other possible championships.

“Our partners at the USGA have been incredibly supportive in their calls,” Palmer said.

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That extends all the way to how the club might operate in coming months and years as the clubhouse is rebuilt, everything from what functions might be possible to where will members grab lunch after a round of golf. The USGA has offered its expertise in building temporary structures to help Oakland Hills while the clubhouse is rebuilt, and a local company has provided space for displaced club employees to continue working.

“We want to move quickly, but we want to move slow in order to move fast because we’re really making not just a 2022 decision, but a 2023 and potentially 2024 decision, depending on the process,” Palmer said.

Firefighters from multiple departments remain on the scene the day after the fire, cleaning up equipment and putting out hot spots at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township. (Kelly Jordan/Detroit Free Press)

He said it was a terribly emotional experience watching the clubhouse burn, but he expressed his gratitude that none of the approximately 25 employees who were present were harmed. He said in peak season the clubhouse sometimes has as many as 300 employees present. He also expressed gratitude that the club only “lost things” and not people.

The extent to which things were lost is still being determined. The club is operating as if the building is a total loss, Palmer said, while official word from the insurance company is pending.

The clubhouse also was packed with memorabilia from decades of championships, some of which was salvaged even as the building burned.

Walter Hagen was the first club professional at Oakland Hills and this portrait of him is likely to be among the irreplaceable artefacts lost in this appalling fire – pic.twitter.com/nAZdduUY8o

— TheGolfDivoTee™ (@TheGolfDivoTee) February 17, 2022

“We had the fire crews come in and announce to us that they had a window, and asked where was the memorabilia, where was it at?” Palmer said. “And they kept going in and out of the facility and actually passing that (memorabilia) out to our employees, who formed kind of a breadline and loaded that into a van. There are a lot … of our valuable items that got recovered, and we’re just assessing whether they are fully OK.”

It will take time to catalogue what items were lost and what was rescued and its condition, Palmer said. The club is working with its insurance company to assess all those concerns.

“Watching the great work by the firefighters who, between the weather and the wind and where it was going,” Palmer said, “they were fighting an heroic uphill battle right from the start.”

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Oakland Hills Country Club clubhouse on fire in Michigan

Firefighters are battling the blaze at the historic golf club, home to numerous major championships.

The clubhouse at Oakland Hill Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, a suburb of Detroit — and site of numerous major championships — caught fire Thursday morning.

At about 10 a.m., flames licked the clubhouse roof as black smoke billowed.

Several departments responded after the fire broke out in the clubhouse attic. The clubhouse, which was completed in 1922, was adorned with irreplaceable golf tournament memorabilia and art going back a century.

Much of it likely will be lost in the fire or badly damaged. Early reports indicate the fire will destroy the central part of the building.

See video of the fire at Detroit Free Press

Oakland Hills Country Club was founded in 1916 by Joseph Mack and Norval Hawkins, two Ford executives, at a meeting of 47 friends and associates at the Detroit Athletic Club.

They decided there would be 140 charter memberships at a cost of $250 apiece.

Walter Hagen, an 11-time major winner, was the club’s first head professional.

Sometime between late October, 1916 and late January, 1917 Donald Ross first visits the Oakland Hills property. He tells Joe Mack, “The Lord intended this for a golf course.” In his commentaries on golf architecture, Golf Has Never Failed Me, Ross comments: “I rarely find a piece of property so well-suited for a golf course.” He designs the South Course around the 10th and 11th holes – holes he will later call the finest consecutive par 4s he has ever designed.

Since then, the club has hosted to 14 golf majors or USGA championships, including six U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, a U.S. Women’s Amateur, two U.S. Men’s Amateurs and three PGA Championships — including the 90th PGA Championship in 2008. The club has also hosted the 1922 Western Open, the 1964 Carling World Open, and the 35th Ryder Cup, in 2004.

Oakland Hills is home to two highly rated golf courses. The South Course, designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1918, ties for No. 23 on Golfweek’s Best ranking of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S. The club’s North Course ties for No. 196 on that list.

The clubhouse was designed by C. Howard Crane and opened in 1922. It has undergone several renovations.

The South Course was recently renovated by architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, reopening in 2021 and poised to host more major championships.

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Gil Hanse completes major restoration of Oakland Hills’ South Course, site of many elite competitions

The historic Donald Ross layout in Michigan has been host of many championships, including U.S. Opens, PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup.

The South Course at Oakland Hills, designed by Donald Ross and the site of nine men’s major championships and a Ryder Cup, will reopen in July after a comprehensive restoration by architect Gil Hanse and his design partner, Jim Wagner.

The $12-million project began in the fall of 2019 after Hanse and his team reviewed archived photos and original plans, plus a program from the 1929 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the South, which opened in 1918 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

“Restoring the South Course at Oakland Hills was a master class in scale from architect Donald Ross,” Hanse said in a media release announcing the upcoming reopening. “By returning the proportions of the features to the large scale of the property, we learned so much about how to create interest, strategy and beauty. This was a truly thrilling project for us to be involved in and we are excited about the transformation that has occurred.”

The recently restored South Course at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (Courtesy of Oakland Hills/Lawrence Lambrecht)

Hanse, Wagner and onsite coordinator Kye Goalby led the work to restore all 18 greens to their original sizes and shapes while constructing them to USGA specifications. Precision Air sub-surface units were installed to control moisture and temperature. Bunkers also were restored with new drainage, fairways were restored to their original widths, new irrigation was installed and a significant number of trees were cleared to improve playing conditions and reopen the vistas.

“Oakland Hills is proud to reopen the South Course after a masterful restoration by Gil Hanse,” club president Michael Dietz said in the release. “Our Donald Ross classic has been transformed into a contemporary course that will challenge and delight our membership while hopefully continuing our rich tradition of hosting championship golf at Oakland Hills.”

The South has been the site of 17 elite competiitions, include 11 USGA Championships. The total includes six U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, two U.S. Senior Opens, two U.S. Amateurs, one U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2004 Ryder Cup.

Even before the restoration, the South ranked as in No. 2 in Michigan on Golfweek’s Best Private Courses list. It also is tied for No. 23 on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses list for all layouts opened before 1960 in the United States.

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Gil Hanse completes major restoration of Oakland Hills’ South Course, site of many elite competitions

The historic Donald Ross layout in Michigan has been host of many championships, including U.S. Opens, PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup.

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A U.S. Open at Oakland Hills? It should happen. Here’s why.

Oakland Hills has paid its dues, and it has been too long since the golf-mad state of Michigan has hosted a major championship.

It’s time for Oakland Hills Country Club to host the U.S. Open. It’s time for the U.S. Golf Association to recognize the hard work one of the country’s most historic golf clubs is doing, and award it our national championship for the first time since 1996.

It’s time because Oakland Hills has paid its dues, and it has been too long since the golf-mad state of Michigan has hosted a major championship.

I spent last Monday at the Bloomfield Township club speaking with members and staff and listening to a presentation about the restoration of the championship South Course scheduled to be completed in July.

The $12.1-million project is extensive and impressive. Its key component is the installation of a PrecisionAire system that dries, cools and heats the greens. It would give the USGA the assurance and control of green speeds that is crucial during the U.S. Open.

Oakland Hills Country Club 16th hole during the third round of the 2008 PGA Championship. (Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports)

“At the end of the day,” architect Gil Hanse said Monday, “with players of this caliber, it comes down to two things. We’d have to build this course at 9,000 yards long, and that’s not happening. It comes down to rough and it comes down to firm greens.”

The course should be the least of anyone’s concerns. The venerable club was founded in 1916 and has the pedigree anyone would cherish. It has hosted six U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships.

No one doubts the course will be amazing when the work is done. The question on everyone’s mind is what would it take for the USGA to award Oakland Hills the U.S. Open, which wouldn’t come until 2028 at the earliest?

There are a lot of factors involved, but the most important one is relationships.

The USGA can pick almost any course it chooses to host the U.S. Open. I think it comes down to USGA leaders being comfortable with the Oakland Hills leaders and feeling they could have a good working relationship for the numerous years of preparation that lead up to the tournament.

Although it has been a long time since Oakland Hills hosted the U.S. Open, that was in part by choice. I’ve spoken with lots of people over the years at Oakland Hills who told me club members in 1996 were put off by the way the USGA took over the club during the tournament.

Egos were bruised and Oakland Hills chose to take itself out of the U.S. Open rotation and partner with the PGA of America to host the 2004 Ryder Cup and the ’08 PGA Championship. In the world of golf majors, you either work with the PGA or the USGA, but not both at the same time. To put it in Detroit terms, you’re either a Ford or a Chevy person.

But the leadership from 1996 is different on both sides now. The relationship has been mended, evident in 2016, when Oakland Hills hosted the U.S. Amateur.

Padraig Harrington, of Ireland, celebrates after sinking a putt for par on 18th hole that gave him the win in the 90th PGA Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Mich.

“We have a committee, a future-sites committee, at the USGA that’s constantly looking at where all of our Open championships go,” Ben Kimball, then the U.S. Amateur director, said in 2016. “We want to take our Open championships to the best venues in the country. This is certainly one of them.”

Great!

On Monday, Oakland Hills head pro Steve Brady said the club’s “relationship with the USGA, I think, is wonderful.”

Even greater! When do we tee off?

Unfortunately, relationships are harder than carrying a bunker at 275 yards. There are relationships formed through temporary business alliances, like hosting a U.S. Open. And then there are long-term trusting relationships like the ones formed between the USGA and members of private clubs that volunteer their time to serve on USGA committees. It’s my understanding Oakland Hills hasn’t had many of the latter recently. That needs to change if it wants to give itself the best shot at hosting a U.S. Open.

Once those relationships get stronger, the USGA shouldn’t have any qualms about awarding Oakland Hills the U.S. Open. The club has logistics nailed down like plenty of offsite parking, space on the course for corporate chalets and the North Course is ideal for a practice area and business operations facilities.

Even the local economy, which is hard to forecast eight years out, holds promise when you consider the smashing success of the PGA Tour’s return to Detroit last year with the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Jack Nicklaus chips to the second green at Oakland Hills in Birmingham, Mich., Aug. 3, 1979, during second round action in the PGA championship.

Oakland Hills has also been working with the Detroit Sports Commission, which partners with all the big hitters in town to try to land major events. Oakland Hills is a private club, but its members and leadership understand there’s a public trust with Michigan golf fans who count on the club to bring the biggest tournaments to our state.

Hanse is one of golf’s premier architects who has worked on renovating and restoring some of the best clubs, including upcoming U.S. Open host courses like Winged Foot and Pinehurst. He’s optimistic about Oakland Hills’ chances, but even he doesn’t know the secret ingredient the USGA looks for when it awards the U.S. Open.

“There’s room here to do it, but there’s so many considerations that go into it that obviously I’m not privy to,” he said. “I will say that I’m hopeful once we’re finished that if any of the governing bodies come out to take a look they’ll be favorably impressed. Hopefully, we’ll find a way to get them back here.”

The sooner, the better.

Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

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Oakland Hills Country Club undergoing $12.1M restoration with hopes of hosting U.S. Open

Oakland Hills Country Club outside Detroit is undergoing a $12.1M restoration with hopes of hosting the U.S. Open.

Oakland Hills Country Club is prepared for a U.S. Open and said it’s more than ready to host its first major since 2008 and first Open since 1996.

Leaders at the 104-year-old club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, held a news conference Monday to discuss progress on a $12.1-million restoration that centers around the ability to control the speed of its greens — a key feature for U.S. Open host sites.

Head pro Steve Brady said the club has a good relationship with the U.S. Golf Association and that he was confident Oakland Hills’ famous South Course would be the jewel among championship courses in the region once the restoration is completed in July.

“In the Midwest,” Brady said, “this will now probably be the place to be, I would say. No offense to Oakmont, Medinah, all those other places. “And the club goes out of their way to make sure that those relationships (with USGA) are fostered. We communicate with various other organizations yearly, monthly, whatever it is. They had a great time at the U.S. Amatuer in ’16. They loved it.”

Oakland Hills reconnected with the USGA when it hosted the U.S. Amateur four years ago. Since then, architect Gil Hanse modernized the course that has hosted six U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, the 2004 Ryder Cup and the 2002 and 2016 U.S. Amateur.

The project includes the removal of 137 trees and other structural changes. But chief among the changes is the installation of a state-of-the-art PrecisionAire cooling, drying and heating system for its greens. The USGA is fiercely protective of its playing conditions, prefers winning scores close to even par and is adamant about not having debacles on its greens, such as the nearly unplayable conditions at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.

“So our relationship with the USGA, I think, is wonderful,” Brady said. “I think one of the issues was that greens retain moisture. For a stroke-play event like the U.S. Open, I’m not sure if you want to have it here.”

The next available date for a U.S. Open is 2028. Brady said Oakland Hills checks just about every box for what the USGA might want from a host venue for the U.S. Open, although it’s impossible to forecast the economic climate in Detroit that would facilitate the selling of corporate sponsorships that support the event.

“I will tell you this: Are we going to get a U.S. Open?” Brady said. “I don’t know. Who knows? What’s their criteria? Is it 10 that they need? We’ve got 11 now. The history: Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan all won here. …

“But going forward, I think the USGA has the golf course, has the tradition, has the membership, has the volunteers, has the love of the game. The economic part of it? Sure, I hope so.”

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