Gearing up for golf in Detroit: The city's top 10 public golf courses

By Brandon Tucker,
Senior Writer

DETROIT - With the Detroit Pistons gearing up for another run at the NBA title and the city's golf courses thawing out for another season, it's an exciting time in the Motor City.

OK, maybe not that exciting. The Red Wings, for all we know, will never play again at Joe Louis Arena and Ford and GM just posted horrible first-quarter numbers, causing a panic throughout D-Town. To add to the insult, the Tigers had a game snowed out recently at Comerica Park. M'e groundhog's shadow this season was longer than the Renaissance Center's.

But that won't deter Detroit's golfers from getting on the course. You can commonly drive by Taylor Meadows on I-94 and see a few souls wrapped in Gortex squeezing in a quick nine before Christmas dinner.

And while the metro Detroit area will never mistake itself for the golf Mecca in northern Michigan, there are plenty of courses of varying quality ready to play. New course development in the area has dried up, according to local architects, who have resorted to mostly redesign and renovation work.

Metro Detroit is defined by five counties - Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston and Oakland. Despite the recent course boom, it hasn't developed into a golfing destination and probably never will, given the competition in the state among its 800-plus public courses. But visitors and business travelers can enjoy some top-notch playing conditions during their stay, especially at the courses we consider the 10 best public tracks in the area.

Scores of prestigious country clubs emerged years ago, many in Oakland County, one of America's richest - Oakland Hills Country Club, Franklin Hills Country Club and the Country Club of Detroit come to mind. They still represent one of the best collections of private courses in one locale in the country.

If we did an area pre-1990 top 10, the list would be entirely different. All of the courses that make our top 10 were built within the last 15 years. That's when "modern course design," a.k.a. wide fairways, fancy bunkers and huge undulating greens, all became necessities to attract players - not to mention full-service clubhouses with restaurants and learning centers complete with driving ranges and teaching professionals. Needless to say, Detroit's golf scene has received nothing short of a major facelift.

Golf in the area isn't cheap (unless you compare it to the heavyweights up north). You'll be lucky to find a course that doesn't charge at least $50 for a round and that includes twilight and weekday rates. Some courses, like Shepherd's Hollow Golf Club, Twin Lakes and The Majestic charge upwards of $70 or more. But it's all for a grand experience.

Without further ado, here are MichiganGolf.com's Metro Detroit's top 10 public courses.

1. Shepherd's Hollow Golf Club (Clarkston) - After gaining acclaim with his design at Bay Harbor up north, Toledo-based Arthur Hills hit the jackpot again in creating this gem that rolls through 350 acres on land leased from a Society of Jesus, an order of Roman Catholic Jesuit priests. It ranked No. 6 nationally in January, 2002, on Golf Digest's list of "Best New Upscale Courses."

2. The Orchards Golf Club (Washington Township) - With 93 bunkers, plenty of trees and wetlands, this Robert Trent Jones Jr. design challenged the nation's best amateurs at the U.S. Public Links in July. Opened in 1992, it's the oldest course on this list and should be considered one of the founders of the golf course boom in southeast Michigan. If you are in the neighborhood for a couple of days, check out the Glacier Club (Washington Township) and Greystone Golf Club (Romeo) for one good weekend of golf.

3. The Majestic at Lake Walden (Hartland) - This 27-hole facility, designed by Jerry Matthews, is best known for its ferry boat ride across the 150-acre lake to hole No. 10 and its secluded, northern-Michigan type atmosphere. Locals are thankful the course and clubhouse only suffered minimal damage when a tornado ripped through the property last year. They will notice, however, that one "majestic" tree on No. 10 was lost in the storm.

4. Northville Hills Golf Club (Northville) - The 926-acre site was formerly a county child-development center until it closed. Then the county sold the property to multiple developers and businesses, making the way for a great golf course and pricey neighborhood. Besides the more than 650 homes, priced between $400,000 and $1.5 million, the complex will offer senior apartments, a business park, a retail center and parks. This Arnold Palmer championship layout has a natural appeal with its expansive, untouched wetlands, nature areas and its golden brown, knee-high heather grass. Water comes significantly into play on 14 holes.

5. Moose Ridge Golf Club (South Lyon) - Up-and-coming architect Ray Hearn once again sculpted a great piece of land into a good golf course. Moose Ridge rides up and down a prime piece of property in fast-growing Livingston County. It opened in 2000 and continues to gain momentum as an area favorite. In the area, Tanglewood (South Lyon) and Lyon Oaks (Wixom) are worth a look, too.

6. Boulder Pointe Golf Club (White Lake) - The land at this Waterstone Development was made for golf with 80-foot elevation changes and 15 lakes scattered throughout its 1,600 acres. Twenty-seven scenic holes, with nines named The Peaks, The Dunes and The Bluffs, and global positions systems in the carts make Boulder Pointe a first-class stop. If you're coming from the airport or downtown Detroit, beware. This facility is well off the beaten path, but two other solid public designs, Copper Hills and Devil's Ridge, are close enough to visit in nearby Oxford.

7. Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club (Oakland Township) - Mediocre golfers will love the wide fairways that feature few trees, but beware. The real test on this Ray Hearn design, which opened in 1997, is the greens that average a whopping 12,000 square feet in size. Unfortunately, it's ultra-expensive to play golf in the Rochester Hills area.

8. Blackheath Golf Club (Rochester Hills) - Although a little short by modern standards - 6,768 yards from the tips and 6,127 yards from the blues, Blackheath beats players in other ways with long fescue grasses lining every fairway and green. Kevin Aldridge designed the Scottish links-type course after creating the award-winning Gailes course in Oscoda. Blackheath, which was recently taken over by new management, also happens to own Devil's Ridge and is literally just down the road from Twin Lakes.

9. Cherry Creek Golf Club (Shelby Township) - As good as the golf course is, this 10-year-old Lanny Wadkins/Mike Bylen layout might have even better amenities. When TravelGolf.com visited in 2000, Head Professional Brion Hoke told us: "A lot of people think we are private. That's just a misconception."

10. Fieldstone Golf Club (Auburn Hills) - It's not often that a municipal course earns high praise, but Fieldstone, yet another Hills design, does. After the city of Auburn Hills plowed under the old 27-hole Arrowhead Golf Club, a better 18-hole course emerged on the 200 acres. It boasts everything to challenge any player from small, elevated greens to carries over wetlands off the tee. Its layout is quirky at times, but overall a serious challenge. So tough, in fact, it has hosted several Buick Open qualifiers. Still operating out of trailer, Fieldstone will be much improved once a full-service clubhouse arrives and the course matures.

Honorable mention: The Golden Fox at Fox Hills (Plymouth), Lyon Oaks (Wixom), Pine Trace (Rochester Hills), Copper Hills (Oxford), Greystone Golf Club (Romeo) and Dunham Hills (Hartland).

Fast fact

Planning on attending a Pistons game? The following courses on the top 10 are all within 15 minutes of the Palace: Cherry Creek, Fieldstone Golf Club, Blackheath, Twin Lakes and Shepherd's Hollow.

If You Go

Shepherd's Hollow
9085 Big Lake Rd.
Clarkston, MI
Phone: (248) 922-0300

The Orchards Golf Club
62900 Campground Rd.
Washington Twp, MI Phone: (810) 786-7200

The Majestic at Lake Walden
9600 Crouse Rd.
Hartland, MI
Phone: (810) 632-5235

Northville Hills Golf Club
15565 Bay Hill Dr.
Northville, MI
Phone: (734) 667-4653

Moose Ridge Golf Course
1801 Doan Rd.
South Lyon, MI
Phone: (248) 446-9030

Boulder Pointe Golf Club
One Champions Circle
Oxford, MI 48371
Phone: (248) 969-1500

Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club
455 Twin Lakes Dr.
Oakland, MI 48363 Phone: (248) 650-4960

Blackheath Golf Club
3311 Rochester Rd.
Rochester Hills, MI
Phone: (248) 601-8000

Cherry Creek Golf Club
52000 Cherry Creek Dr.
Shelby Twp., MI
Phone: (810) 254-7700

Fieldstone Golf Club
1984 Taylor Rd.
Auburn Hills, MI
Phone: (248) 370-9354

May 19, 2005

Brandon Tucker is a Senior Writer and Special Projects Editor for the WorldGolf.com Network, where he contributes not only golf and travel articles, but photo essays, videos and more. His golf travels have taken him across the U.S., including more than 50 Myrtle Beach-area golf courses, and to such destinations as Scotland, Wales, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Malaysia.