Detroit Golf Club

The North Course at Detroit Golf Club opened in 1916 as a Donald Ross design, part of a private club founded in 1899 that relocated to its current location in the city's Palmer Woods neighborhood. Ross routed the course over gently rolling terrain characteristic of southeastern Michigan, creating a layout that emphasizes strategic bunkering and subtly contoured greens typical of his work. Robert Trent Jones Sr. later made modifications to the course, though the fundamental Ross character remains evident in the hole corridors and green complexes. The club sits on substantial acreage within Detroit's city limits, with mature tree-lined fairways providing definition and framing. The North Course shares the property with the South Course, and together they have hosted significant regional amateur championships over the decades. The routing takes advantage of the natural land movement without dramatic elevation changes, relying instead on Ross's characteristic use of angles, strategic bunker placement, and green surfaces that reward precise approach play. Detroit Golf Club maintains a traditional private club atmosphere, with membership drawn from the metropolitan Detroit area. The club has long been part of the city's golf history, serving as a venue for competitive events and maintaining both courses to standards befitting their classic pedigree. The North Course represents a well-preserved example of Ross's Midwest work from the period when he was establishing many of the design principles that would influence American golf course architecture throughout the twentieth century.