Oakland Hills

The Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Oakland County, Michigan boats of two world class golf courses: the South Course and the North Course.

History of the course

Joseph Mack founded the Oakland Hills Country Club in 1916 along with 60 other members. Subsequently he was the first president of the club. The South Course , designed by Donald Ross, came into existence from 1918. It was redesigned by Arthur Hills in 1987. The course was built on rolling terrain and only features a few trees bordering the fairways.

The course is currently going through a thorough makeover under the eyes of Robert Trent Jones' son Rees Jones as it is going to host the PGA Championship, the last of the four majors, in 2008. More bunkers, water and moving of some tees are some of the major renovations that will take place. Both the ponds on the course are being excavated so that it becomes bigger and can hold double the amount of water it currently holds.

Course Trivia

• The Oakland Hills (South) has some of the thickest rough in the country making it notorious amongst other golf courses. As a result, it is sometimes referred to as “The Monster”.
• All the major tournaments hosted by the Oakland Hills Country Club have been played at the South Course . It has hosted the US open five times.
• The 2004 Ryder Cup was also held here.
• The signature hole of the South Course is hole No. 16 as it requires two well-executed shots up a dogleg right fairway to reach its very small green.
• The last five holes are known as the "Fearsome Fivesome”.
• The two courses are connected by the world's largest arched aluminum pedestrian bridge.

The Oakland Hills (South) golf course holds the 13 th spot in Golf Digest magazine's list of 100 top golf courses in the US in 2005. As we continue on this tour we will learn about the other top-100 golf courses in the world.