Rocket Mortgage Classic Course Tour
The Rocket Mortgage Classic is held at the historic Detroit Golf Club, which boasts two 1913 Donald Ross Courses.
For the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the PGA TOUR used one hole from the South Course (the South first is the third hole of the tournament), and re-routed some of the remaining holes on the front nine of the North Course.. The course’s normal eighth is the first, while the regular seventh is the ninth.
Bubba Watson compared the Detroit Golf Club to, among others, Riviera. It is, he said, a second shot course.
I would say it’s a combination of a few of them. We were talking about Canada, we were talking about Riviera, and Travelers last week. It’s tree lined, but it’s the kind of grass, the way the shots you’re hitting into the greens with the slopes and the undulations. From tee to green, it’s not too bad. It’s kind of fair, kind of open. I shouldn’t say that until after I tee off, but it’s kind of open.
But then the tournament starts, it’s the second shot or third shot, trying to get the ball in the right position. So there’s a couple courses we play throughout the year with this kind of grass and this kind of, I don’t know if wedges, playing safe with wedges, but trying to play smarter and leaving an easier putt to make a par or birdie.
If you’re attending the tournament, a great place to watch is in the shady tree area that lies between the first fairway and the eighth and ninth greens and fairways. From that vantage, you can stay cool, while taking in a considerable amount of golf.
Another good place to take in the tournament is the congruence of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth holes, known as Area 313. Heavily fortified with grandstands, strategic seating choices here could let you see the finish on fourteen, the entirety of fifteen and tee shots on sixteen. Your mileage may of course vary.
Area 313 is of course a reference to Detroit’s area code. But is also a reference to a meta-game that’s being played this week on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth hole. If over the course of the week, a player manages to record an eagle on fourteen (a 3 on the par 5), an ace on the fifteenth (a 1 on the par three) and a birdie on the sixteenth (a 3 on the par 4), they will be said to have recorded a 313. As a result $313,000 will be donated in their name to charity.
As Mike Tirico said during the ceremonial Area 313 kick off, it’s such a good idea that someone deserves a bonus.
A photo tour of the course, along with yardages, follows:
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