Detroit (North)

Formed in 1899, Detroit Golf Club is one of a select number of clubs that are fortunate to possess two 18-hole Donald Ross-designed courses. Both the longer North and shorter South layouts were first brought into play in 1916.

“If there is a better side of Detroit to be on, this isn’t it,” asserted Tom Doak in The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, “but somehow Detroit Golf Club has survived the city’s exodus in stride. The full-length North course once had a wonderful set of greens, but multiple rebuilds have eroded some of their character.”

“Much like the Country Club of Detroit,” wrote Daniel Wexler in The American Private Golf Club Guide, “the Detroit Golf Club occupies a fairly flat site, and thus relied heavily on the design skills (particularly the ever-innovative – if now largely altered – green complexes) of Donald Ross. Ross managed to squeeze 36 holes into this compact, triangular tract and though his routings remain mostly intact, much has changed over the decades, particularly with regard to tree growth and bunker alteration. The much longer North course has lost numerous crossbunkers and has certainly been narrowed by trees, resulting in a more challenging (if also more confined) layout than in Ross’s day.”

In 2019, Detroit’s 7,334-yard North course staged the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. Journeyman Nate Lashley – the last player to secure a place at the RMC – not only won the event to claim his first PGA Tour title, but also he secured a place in the 148th Open at Royal Portrush.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic returned to Detroit Golf Club in July 2020 when Bryson DeChambeau claimed his sixth PGA Tour title and Australian Cam Davis won his first PGA Tour title here in 2021.