The annual stop the PGA Tour takes at the Detroit Golf Club since 2019 will be going through a huge renovation after the members of the prestigious club voted in favor of a $16.1 million decision. Donald Ross, a renowned designer, was responsible for designing both the North and South courses, which were fully finished in 1918. Since then, they have renovated the North Course once in 2014, where the Rocket Mortgage Classic has been held for the last six years and the South Course has remained untouched.

This will be the biggest renovation for the Detroit Golf Club in the last 100 years and aims to give back the vision of Ross to the North and South Courses in honor of the 125th anniversary of the clubhouse.

The biggest changes for the Detroit Golf Club where Rocket Mortgage Classic happens!

As reported by Detroit News, the course will renovate the draining and irrigation system which will aid in better fairways and make it more competitive as the grass will not as flatten. Additionally, after renovating the bunkers in the 2014 redesign, in this renovation, too, a few new bunkers will be added around the greens.

Particularly, the 1st hole will have new bunkers and also a ditch. In an exclusive interview with Richard Hummphery of Golf Course Architecture Journal, Tyler Rae, the architect responsible for the renovation, said he would mimic Donald Ross’s original plan from 1914 for better renovations.

He said it will “incorporate many facets of Donald Ross’s bold original design including hummocks and mounds, angled drainage ditches and perched greens.” Another hole that would undergo massive change is the par-4 14th hole. The North Course has a signature water pond near the 14th hole, which would not be there anymore after the restorations.

The plan is to remove the signature water pond near the hole for better gameplay. Additionally, new tees will be added to extend the yardage of the North and South Courses. Notably, new tees were added in the 2014 renovations as well. Lastly, several trees around the fairways will be removed. Similar to the 2011 renovation of Pinehurst No. 2, this Donald Ross course will also feature wider fairways after the restorations.

What is the timeline for the renovation of Detroit Golf Club?

The Detroit Golf Club has planned that right after the 2025 Rocket Mortgage Classic concludes. It should be noted that, according to Detroit News, the annual venue for the Rocket Mortgage Classic will be wrapped up before the 2026 edition starts, as confirmed by Detroit Golf Club.

On the other hand, on the South Course, the PGA Tour uses its first hole of the course as its third hole for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. However, once the North Course has been redesigned, they will probably stretch the course and the PGA Tour will no longer use the South Course. Thus, the South Course will be undergoing restorations right after completing the North Course.

Tyler Rae will use various historical photos from back then, and aerial pictures of rebuilding the North and South Courses. In the next two years, the Detroit Golf Club will have a new face and a bigger challenge for the Rocket Mortgage Classic field.