Oakland Hills Country Club South Course

Bloomfield Hills, MI Private

Overview

Donald Ross felt his 1918 design was out-of-date for the 1951 U.S. Open and was prepared to remodel it. Sadly, he died in 1948, so Robert Trent Jones got the job. His rebunkering was overshadowed by ankle-deep rough, and after Ben Hogan closed with a 67, one of only two rounds under par 70 all week, to win his second consecutive Open, he complained that Jones had created a Frankenstein. Sixty-plus years later, Oakland Hills is even longer, but its bite wasn’t severe when it hosted the 2016 U.S. Amateur. In 2019, the South course closed as Gil Hanse and his team significantly renovated the course with the intention of removing the Jones influences and restoring its Ross feel. They did that by expanding greens to recapture what are some of Ross's best contours, removed trees to show off the rolling landscape and shifted bunkers back to where Ross, not RTJ, placed them. The course re-opened in Spring 2021, and though a crippling fire destroyed the club's iconic clubhouse, the USGA delivered some kind news to the club, bringing the 2034 and 2051 U.S. Opens to Oakland Hills—as well as a number of upcoming USGA championships.

About

Holes 18
Length 7509
Slope 145
Facility Type Private
Year Opened 1917
Designer Donald J. Ross, ASGCA/(R) Rees Jones, ASGCA/Gil Hanse

Awards

100 Greatest
Best Courses in Every State

Ranking history:

100 Greatest: Ranked in every edition since 1966.
2023-'24 ranking: 20th.
Previous ranking: 21st.
Highest ranking: No. 8, 2003-'04.

Best in State: Ranked first, 1985-'87, 1995-2003. Ranked second, 2011-'22. Ranked inside the top 5 since 1977. Ranked 1st in state 1985-'87 & 1995-'03, ranked 2nd in state 2013-'24.

Current ranking: Second.

Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

4.8

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options
7.9552
Character
8.0683
Challenge
8.2584
Layout Variety
7.9207
Fun
7.528
Aesthetics
7.7899
Conditioning
8.1053

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