This year’s PGA Championship is at Oakland Hills, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It’s an exclusive club and the closest most of us will get is with a ticket to an event.
Fortunately, there are several other Donald Ross courses you can play in Southeastern Michigan and the Detroit Area. A major golf publication recently reported that there is just one Donald Ross course open to the public in the Detroit Area. They’re wrong. There are, in fact, four. They include:
Rackham Golf Course I played this one about ten years ago, and it was a lot of fun. Some of the holes run right next to the adjacent Detroit Zoo, and I heard the lions while playing through. It’s probably the best of the bunch (although I haven’t tried Rogell, below).
Rogell Golf Course This course recently was bought and renovated by Greater Grace Temple, making it one of the few African American – owned courses in the country. I play to play before the summer is out.
Warren ValleyI played this a couple of times (before I started GolfBlogger, so there are no photos), and it was never in great condition, but it was a decent course.
Hawthorne Valley Hawthorne Valley is but a shadow of its former self, having been cut up by developers. Only nine holes remain.
So if you’re traveling to see the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, you can still get a taste of Donald Ross in Michigan.
A side note to major golf publications: If you’re going to write about an area’s golf courses, hire someone with local knowledge, not some stiff who gets his information from a Zagat’s guide. I’m available.
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Oakland Hills is a great golf course. Should be an interesting match.