Since Oakland Hills Country Club (OHCC) in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., opened its Donald Ross-designed South Course in 1918, its members have enjoyed the prestige that accompanies hosting championship golf, including six U.S. Open Championships, two U.S. Senior Opens, the U.S. Women’s Amateur, two U.S. Men’s Amateurs, the Western Open, the Carling World Open, the 35th Ryder Cup Match (2004) and three PGA Championships— including the 90th PGA Championship in 2008. In July 2021, the club debuted its fully restored course with a week of events and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
EVOLUTION
The advancement of equipment, technology and apparel over the years led to increased popularity of the sport and elevated the level of play in both the long game and short game. Even courses as divinely designed as Oakland Hills’ South Course were altered periodically to become more challenging to the club’s members and more alluring to the professionals. Having been given the Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and Rees Jones treatments in the 1950s and early 2000s, respectively, the 160-acre course bore little resemblance to the original design. The club’s 575 members were aware that year after year was passing by without OHCC hosting a major event and, for many, that felt existentially antithetical to the club’s core character and guiding mission. In 2017 the membership voted to close the South Course and embark on the U.S.’s biggest course restoration with renowned architect Gil Hanse and his partner Jim Wagner. That epic restoration began in October 2019 and the journey has truly illuminated what “finesse” looks like, in both design and play.
Christine Pooler, who began her duties as general manager/ COO in December 2020, coordinated the club’s roundly saluted month-long series of member events to celebrate the reopening of the South Course in July. Pooler’s extensive experience with prestigious club facilities and championship golf helped to position OHCC to be in contention to once again welcome the pros, spectators, cameras, fanfare and prestige that comes with being among the elite championship courses. “Being a Championship course is in Oakland Hills’ DNA; it’s part of our essence, our identity. Our members are proud of the club’s traditions and history, and hosting championships is a privilege and honor that the membership does not take lightly or for granted. The club looks at this investment as a way to give back to the game of golf and delight golfers of all abilities,” Pooler said.
RESTORATION
Every inch of the course was touched, every aspect examined and restored to Donald Ross’ 1916 specifications—with some necessary modifications—with the goal of providing members with the best golf experience possible and to ensure that both champions and novices can enjoy the unique challenges the design affords amid the elevations and vistas of its former topography. Hanse’s team restored the natural beauty of the land by removing some of the landforms that had been installed over the years and recreating Ross’ vision for the bunkers and, hence, increasing the options players have in approaching any given hole. Director of Agronomy Phil Cuffare was at the course nearly every day of the 21-month, $12.1 million restoration, coordinating the removal of 150 trees, overseeing the installation of nearly 21 miles of irrigation pipes, and bringing to life its 38 acres of fairways and 42 acres of rough. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world: Working alongside arguably the best golf course architect of our time to bring back the brilliance of a legendary Donald Ross design is such an honor and was such a powerful experience,” said Cuffare.
Over the years, features were added, fairways were narrowed, greens were diminished, and the plausible approach for par was all but dictated by the hazards and features that were installed to stiffen the challenge. Cuffare went on to say “[Those changes] effectively eliminated options for players, particularly amateurs … The last thing we want to do is have a course that leaves members by the wayside. This restoration addressed that reality and, by turning back the clock, our members have a lot to look forward to.” He then clarified that the South Course remains a challenging course—as it has in all its iterations—but that the redesign, coupled with the installation of course-wide irrigation upgrades and PrecisionAire venting pumps under the greens, gives players more options to play each hole and enables the management to control the climate and conditions as necessary.
The team painstakingly analyzed Hanse’s proposed tactics and vetted the products used throughout the course to help determine which technologies and innovations would best serve the club’s goals. Cuffare travelled to multiple high-caliber courses to gather perspective on all manner of course operations and maintenance. From greens mixes and grass varieties to drainage practices and trends in shoring up infrastructure, Oakland Hills did its research and due diligence to restore a masterpiece and outfit it with state-of-the-art technology and controls.
OHCC’S THRIVING GOLF CULTURE
Throughout the restoration and the COVID-19 shutdown, Oakland Hills’ North Course—a 1924 Donald Ross design— recorded 50,000 rounds per year, and the demand for instruction, social golf, practice facilities and family programming were indicative of an active and invested golf community. The members know that a championship venue must invest in a championship course. They are proud of the club’s history, its contributions to the game of golf, the evolution of the South course, and the prospects for the future. The restoration, with its accessible horizons and clearer views of the pins, enables golfers to look at a hole and more clearly envision the various ways to approach it. Options and possibilities abound for OHCC golfers. So, what’s the “trend” of note in Oakland Hills’ story? Simply put, know who you are at your core, invest as necessary to achieve your goals, and trust in the resilience of tradition.
