Michigan’s venerable Detroit Golf Club will go under the knife after its membership and board approved a renovation masterplan from architect Tyler Rae.
Both the North course, which has played host to the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic since 2019, and the South course were designed by Donald Ross in 1916. Since then, a variety of architects have tweaked the layouts. Rae will endeavor to infuse the Ross characteristics that defined the courses when they opened.
"As the current stewards of one of the country’s most renowned golf clubs, we would like to thank our members and lending partners for understanding the importance of these golf course renovations," Detroit Golf Club president Michael Pricer said. "At a time when our club has more members and golfers than ever before, we look forward to restoring our golf courses to their original glory."
Executing the plan won’t happen until after the North course has hosted the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June 2025. Within this $16.1 million first phase, Rae and the club will address golf course features including greens, tees, fairways, bunkers and trees, together with a comprehensive overhaul of the drainage and irrigation systems.
"As Detroit Golf Club is a special place with a celebrated history, we are extremely honored to be spearheading its golf course restoration which will incorporate many facets of Donald Ross’s bold original design including hummocks and mounds, angled drainage ditches and perched greens," Rae said.
Work is expected to conclude in time to play the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June 2026.
REES JONES TAKES TO BOCA WOODS RENO
Boca Woods Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida, announced the kickoff of its Woods course renovation at a groundbreaking in late March. Club dignitaries attended, accompanied by the architect of the renovation, Rees Jones, and his associate designer, Bryce Swanson.
Boca Woods will spend $9 million to have Jones and his team transform what was originally known as the South course, designed by Joe Lee in 1981.
"Our team is pleased to be involved in the classic transformation of the Woods course at Boca Woods Country Club," Jones said. “The redesigned course will be both dramatic and playable. It’s a design that will provide an ever-changing enjoyable experience for all members. Overall the course has really good bones and a tremendous amount of potential.”
Jones will bump up the par-72 layout by nearly 400 yards to approximately 7,000 yards. He will rework the entire course, and enhance bunkers, waste areas and water features.
“The design creates options for risk/reward strategy decisions as well as options for easier routes that accommodate players of all levels,” general manager and COO David Sweet said. "The future for Boca Woods Country Club is very bright. In the last five years we have witnessed regeneration of the club, securing a vibrant future."
GOING SOCIAL
Overlooking the skyline of Dubai, our new reversible 8-hole course features template holes and a private performance academy. This is a great example of a what can be achieved on a small footprint of land.#templateholes #punchbowl #socialgreen @turfrass_consultancy @asgca1947 pic.twitter.com/yO8yMI7cv3
— RTJ2 Golf Design (@RTJ2GolfDesign) May 17, 2024
WE'LL TAKE JUST ONE, PLEASE
Clayton, DeVries & Pont has opened a new par-3 hole at The Addington, nine miles south of central London, England. The new short hole is a fresh challenge at the 105-year-old course.
CD&P has consulted with the club since 2020 and is currently well into a five-year restoration of the club's J.F. Abercromby-Harry Colt design. Over the years, greens had shrunk by 30-40%, fairways had been narrowed by up to 50%, and bunkers were affected by overgrown trees. Pont, an expert at Colt restorations, having toiled on more than 30 Colt originals, was amazed at the potential.
"It’s almost like a Rembrandt found in an attic," Frank Pont told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. “You need to take four layers of varnish off, just clean it up and bring back what’s there. But the whole painting is still there.”
Upon inspecting the layout, the CD&P team discovered an old green to the right of the 10th tee and to the left of the 12th hole, with a hole corridor that was completely blanketed in forest. It turns out that the green site had been abandoned 100 years ago.
CD&P cleared the trees and crafted a new hole that debuted in May, 115 yards, with a new green that utilized the old green site. The new green, designed by DeVries, sports a wildly undulating surface, with a helping slope on the left and a hollow to the right. The hole is expected to be part of an alternative routing that will be used as often as every other day.
