Oakland Hills Country Club South Course
Bloomfield Hills, MI • Private
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
L.C. Lambrecht/Oakland Hills
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Donald Ross felt his 1918 design was out-of-date for the 1951 U.S. Open and was prepared to remodel it.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
Awards
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
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Open expanse of the entire course visible from No. 1 and 10 tees perched in front of clubhouse location/construction. Usually open with minimal trees limits challenge, but not so here. Bunkering, rolling terrain and green contours provides more than adequate torture throughout."
Read More2024
Review
“Big Ballpark! You feel so small walking the grounds. A definite bucket list course."
Read More2024
Review
“Oakland Hills South is a gem of a golf course, and perhaps the best golf course in Michigan. In the style of many US Open hosts, a recent renovation/restoration by Gil Hanse has the course playing perhaps the best in its long history. Tree removal has restored the expansive nature of the property, and positive renovation decisions have provided more approach shot variety than before, especially with the newly-reimagined 7th hole, and the brilliant downhill approach to #14. Many courses like OHS are boring back-and-forth slogs with rough as a main defense, but this is a brilliant golf course that is anything but boring!"
Read More2023
Review
“Golden Age Donald Ross design that that Gil Hanse recently brought back to its Ross roots. Challenging and difficult even for the greatest players. Course has held 17 Major Championships in its history and has more on the way. One of golf's greatest courses is not to be missed if you're offered the opportunity to play here."
Read More2023
Review
“Great challenge & conditioning. Front pin placement on #11 made a wedge from the fairway tricky & an up and down near impossible. A sort of eerie feeling walking up holes 8 & 18 without the clubhouse. Looking forward to this being redone & the future for Oakland Hills."
Read More2023
Review
“One of the most conditioned courses I have been on, so much attention to detail. Incredible variety of holes, difficult greens with approaches and challenging rough if you miss the fairway. Amazing to see an older course find the distance for todays game and have it feel natural to the course."
Read More2023
Review
“Excellent conditioning, excellent routing, excellent variety of holes, challenging, fun, stimulating. Does it get any better than this ? Not very often. Oakland Hills South is a gem and THE place to play in Michigan."
Read More2023
Review
“The greens at the South course are perhaps my favorite that I have ever seen. It's really hard to make really good challenging greens without being gimmicky, and the course is the best example of this that I have evaluated. What I really loved about the course is that it's really easy to make par to the extent that good (not necessarily great) shots are executed. Very few holes require exceptional shots to make par. But ANY mediocre shot is very likely to lead to a bogey...and there are lots of those out there. From normal blue tees, distance is not necessarily what makes this course super challenging (although the long tenth hole is certainly a stern test of this). The course makes the player really think about how to hit the approach shot and how the green will take it which is a quality rarely seen. I also enjoyed the variety of holes. All 18 holes were very distinctive and I enjoyed the design of both of the short par 4s (7 and 15). Still incredibly easy to make a big number on both but also great opportunities. These greens should be studied in all renovation and restoration work for other Ross courses as they are truly exceptional."
Read More2023
Review
“Excellent golf course and they're making the most of the club with the recent and tragic fire. We played the south course and have heard good things about the north course as well."
Read More2023
Review
“It is one of America’s classic golf courses. It is big and bold as well as difficult yet fair. If you get the opportunity by all means, play it!"
Read More2023
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