Birmingham Country Club

The first question for most golf course architecture aficionados when looking at a new course is to ask the architect. At Birmingham Country Club, a better question may be “who wasn’t an architect of record?” Tom Bendelow, Donald Ross, William Diddel, Robert Trent Jones, the Matthews brothers, and multiple stops by Arthur Hills have all occurred at this suburban Detroit layout.

One facet that no architect can tinker with is the Rouge River, which flows across the property and provides a fronting hazard for greens at Nos. 2, 10 and 18.

A more challenging opponent across the round will be the rolling greens themselves. Although it would be fair to assume these putting surfaces came from the pen of Ross, the Scot only provided consultation on the course during Bendelow’s design and construction of the second nine, and in fact the front nine (which feature some of the most impressive greens) had already been built. The signature hole is No. 6, which is hugged by a pond on the inside of the corner of the dogleg, and features a rather Himalayan green.

The club hosted the PGA Championship during 1953 and the U.S. Women's Amateur during 1968.