Where Is the Detroit Golf Club?

The Detroit Golf Club is one of the most historic golfing clubs in the US. It’s been around for over a hundred years and the site of many major championships. But where is the Detroit Golf Club? Learn more about the favorite fairway of some of the best golfers in the world.

The Detroit Golf Club is in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1899 and is one of the oldest private golfing clubs in the US. The DGC has two courses, the North and the South Course, and it has hosted many important tournaments over the years, including the one currently held there, the Rocket Mortgage Classic, a PGA Tour event.

Where Is the Detroit Golf Club Located?

The Detroit Golf Club is located in Detroit, Michigan. It’s in the northern part of the city, close to the Palmer Woods Historic District and the University of Detroit Mercy. It used to border the former Palmer Park country club by Pontchartrain Boulevard on the East and Fairway Drive on the West.

It was built in 1899, making the DGC one of the oldest fairways in the country, right after Newport and Chicago golfing associations. In addition to being great for golfing, the DGC is also a beautiful place to visit. The clubhouse is a lovely Victorian building that overlooks the fairways, worth visiting even if you aren’t a golfer.

A Short History and Tradition of the DGC

William R. Farrand established the Detroit Golf Club in 1899, with the initial golfing membership limit of one hundred people. The first fairway was a six-hole design built on a 45-acre farmland plot. This became a 9-hole course in 1900 after constructing three new holesnear 6-Mile and Hamilton.

Albert Kahn built a new private clubhouse in 1918. One of the most prominent men in the DGC, Donald Ross, had a brother Alec who worked as Club Professional from 1925 to 1945. He was succeeded by Horton Smith, a famous golfer who was inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame in 1959.

Tennis courts, a crystal dining room, and a cart garage were new additions to the DGC by this time. The clubhouse also has a members-only swimming pool and supports a swim team with sponsorships.

Some fun facts include that they have a free membership for the city Mayor, and they became racially integrated in 1986. The current champion of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Tony Finau, holds the best record in the tournament’s brief history, and he is of Samoan and Tongan ancestry – the first of such descent to take part on the PGA Tour.

Donald Ross Built the Current Golf Courses

Donald Ross was commissioned to survey any new land acquisitions the clubhouse founders made. He found that the newly purchased property around 1913 could support the construction of two 18-hole courses, thus creating the best fairway in the city.

His work remains until today, and he’s known as one of the most famous and oldest golfing fairway architects in the US.

Which Tournaments Are Played at This Club?

The DGC has been the home of numerous championships over the years. In 2011, the DGC bid for a PGA event and lost the competition, but they managed to organize numerous local events adapted for all kinds of golfers. There are fifteen men’s and fourteen women’s tournaments.

The men’s tournaments include junior championships and the President’s Cup. As a part of women’s competitions, there are unique tournaments, such as the Girls’ Night Out and one for senior ladies, the Grandmother-Senior event. The Ryder Cup is also held here.

They Also Have Couples and Family Tournaments

The DGC isn’t unique because of its many inclusive individual tournaments but also for the group events that include couple and family-style plays. These types of tournaments include:

• Nine and Dine,
• Memorial Day Scramble,
• Labor Day Scramble,
• DGC Caddie Scholarship Event,
• Patriot Day,
• Couple’s League,
• Husband-Wife Championship,
• Mother’s Day Tournament,
• Father’s Day Tournament,
• Junior Golf.

Since 2019, the DGC Has Hosted the Rocket Mortgage Classic, a PGA Event

The DGC is also home to an elite PGA event, the Rocket Mortgage Classic. When it became the host for this event, it also brought the best of the best to the city for the first time; the Rocket Classic was the first PGA Tour event ever held here. It was scheduled for June 24 – 30, 2019, and had a cash prize of $1,512,000.

Here are all the winners and runners-up for the previous three years of the tournament held at the DGC.

Year	Winner	Score	Runner(s) up
2019	Nate Lashley (US)	263	Doc Redman (US)
2020	Bryson DeChambeau (US)	265	Matthew Wolff (US)
2021	Cameron Davis (AUS)	270	Troy Merritt (US) Joaquín Niemann (Chile)
2022	Tony Finau (US)	262	Patrick Cantlay (US) Taylor Pendrith (Canada) Cameron Young (US)

How Many Courses Does the DGC Have?

Two courses grace the grounds of the DGC, the North and the South. The former is the original and is a par 72. The latter was added in 1927 and is a par 70.

The North Course is 870 yards longer than its counterpart. In the original design by Ross, the 8th tee should be played 1st, and the 7th tee should be played 9th. On the South course, the two tees are combined – the third and ninth, and the fifth and the eighth.

During the early 1980s, the two fairways joined at the 13th and 14th tees on the North, where a snack shack was built and still stands today.

The Bent Tree on the Fairways Was a Marker on the Indian Trail

The North Course has a distinct feature between the seventh and eighth hole, a bent tree that stands out remarkably from the rest of the landscape. This was the tree Native Americans shaped when it was still a seedling to act as a marker for the old Indian Trail between Detroit and Pontiac.

Be a Part of Michigan’s Golfing Community at a Stunning Location

If you are looking for a challenge, the DGC is one of the best clubs for you. It has some of the most challenging fairways in the country and has been the home of many major championships. When you decide to get involved, get your beginner’s golfing clubs and start practicing to reach a 20+ or a 3+ handicap at one of the oldest and nicest places in Michigan.