Oakland Hills Golf Course Review

Oakland Hills Golf Course Review
The first at Oakland Hills is a 406 yard par 4.

Oakland Hills Golf Course Review

Oakland Hills
Battle Creek, Michigan
Grade: B
Teachers’ Comments: Pleasant, and well-kept

Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills is internationally famous. Oakland Hills near Battle Creek? Not so much.

That said, Oakland Hills Battle Creek is still worth playing. It’s a pleasant parklands course that’s well-cared-for, and boasts the “best greens anywhere.”

Their greens certainly were in good shape.

Oakland Hills Golf Course Review
The third at Oakland Hills is a 409 yard par 4.

My favorite hole was the par four third. Beginning on a hilltop, the hole crosses a stream between two ponds, then doglegs left as it rises slightly again. The approach shot is slightly downhill to the green.

Oakland Hills Golf Course Review
The sixteenth at Oakland Hills has a unique island green. It is completely encircled by a narrow pond.

Oakland Hills has a couple of really unusual holes The most interesting is the par four sixteenth, which has a green surrounded by a moat. On a first playing, it was a real shock to discover it as I rounded the bend of the dogleg. I really didn’t grok what the circle around the green on the scorecard was telling me.

Oakland Hills Golf Course Review
These pine trees block any shot from the inside corner of the dogleg on the seventh.

Another quirky hole was the 300 yard par 4, dogleg 7th. On paper, it looks like the kind of hole where even an average golfer could hope to drive the green. Except, that is, for the pine trees just off the green in the fairway.

Other than those two whimsical creations, Oakland Hills is a fairly straightforward course. The two nines are separated by a country road. The front nine — a few holes of which are visible from I-94 — is across the road from the clubhouse. That nine is where the “hills” part of the name comes into play, with seven of the nine holes having elevation changes. The back nine, behind the clubhouse is relatively flat.

Oakland Hills Golf Course Review
The clubhouse at Oakland Hills is rumored to have once been a residence of Al Capone.

The clubhouse is worth mentioning. It is an old Italianate farmhouse that I was told once served as an underground railroad waystation, and later, as a residence for Al Capone.

Bogey golfers should have a good time at Oakland Hills. The fairways are relatively wide, and lines of trees between holes are spaced widely enough to allow advancing recovery shots.

Oakland Hills has three sets of tees, measuring 6, 631, 6, 327 and 5, 517 yards.

Conditions on the day I played were good, The course was quite tidy, and the greens, as advertised, were very nice. Management and staff quite obviously take pride in their work.

Overall, playing a round at Oakland Hills was a very pleasant experience. It is a course to which I’d like to return.

The Oakland Hills golf course review was first published July 7, 2020 from notes and photos take on a round played in June 2020. For all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan Golf Course reviews, follow the link.

A photo tour of Oakland Hills follows:

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