The 10 best golf courses to play near Detroit during 2024 NFL draft
Welcome to the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit. Whether you’re visiting our fair city from another state, outstate or just outside of Detroit, we know the whole weekend can’t be just about football.
So if you love golf and need to kill a few hours before your favorite team pins its hopes and dreams on a kid who was taking a math class a few weeks ago, you’ve come to the right place.
The Free Press and the golf-mad state of Michigan are here to help by offering 10 public courses worth playing that are within an hour’s drive of downtown.
I’ve split the list in half, with the first five courses being offered on pure excellence and reputation. The second five are the best choices that are closest to downtown.
Best of the best
University of Michigan Golf Course, Ann Arbor
All I really need to say is Alister MacKenzie. If you don’t know who that is, his LinkedIn profile only needs one line: architect of Augusta National.
The U-M course, recently named the Free Press' No. 1 public course in metro Detroit, opened a year before Augusta and bears little resemblance to its famous cousin, other than the large, fast, subtle and difficult greens — some of which feature a signature boomerang shape.
How tough are they? This is how general manager Andrew Romig once put it to me: “If you’ve played here once, you struggle. By your 10th time, you struggle. But maybe by your 20th, 30th time you start to get a feel for the greens and where putts are going to go.”
When my golfer friends visit Detroit, they ask about their chances of playing four courses: Detroit Golf Club (almost no chance), Oakland Hills (forget it), Crystal Downs (exists only in a mythical realm, like Brigadoon), and U-M. So be thankful you can play this course, even if it tops out at $170 for “unaffiliated” golfers Friday-Sunday.
When you’re standing on the elevated 18th tee and overlooking downtown Ann Arbor, you’ll swear you can still hear the echo of Jim Harbaugh promising he isn’t going anywhere, and you won’t regret the price you paid or the journey you made to be here.
Contact: (734) 615-4653; umgolfcourse.umich.edu
THE COURSE: Why University of Michigan is No. 1 golf course in metro Detroit
Shepherd’s Hollow Golf Club, Clarkston
Metro Detroit’s most bucolic course is a can’t-miss experience set on a Jesuit parkland retreat with rolling, wooden terrain. Arthur Hills’ three distinct nines offer as much beauty as they do challenge.
But the true reason everyone comes to Shepherd’s is the unique approximation to playing “Up North,” a compliment of the highest order that Detroiters often repeat on the hilly, secluded track set on Oakland County’s second-highest point.
There’s a nice sense of occasion from the moment you make the long drive up the road to the beautiful clubhouse reminiscent of a mansion in South Carolina's Low Country. But don’t be intimidated. The initial stateliness belies the fun, playable and fair challenge that awaits.
Contact: (248) 922-0300; shepherdshollow.com
THE COURSE: Shepherd's Hollow is a serene, ‘Up North’ experience
The Orchards Golf Club, Washington Township
This former apple orchard has plenty of pedigree. Robert Trent Jones Jr. built it in 1993, his lone Michigan design, and nine years later it hosted the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship won by Ryan Moore. On a clear day, you can see Detroit’s skyline when you look down the fairway from the first tee.
The Orchards is a public course that bills itself as your private club for the day, and everything about it feels that way — minus all the politicking, entitlement and social climbing you find at most private clubs. (Oh, but at not your club, of course!). From the parking lot bag attendant to the brick-paver pathways to the splendid course conditions to the great practice area and the helpful starters, the Orchards offers a thoroughly elevated experience.
But the course will always be the star. Late owner Ron Dalby made sure of that with his brilliant decision to hire Jones, who carved out a subtle masterpiece that offers the perfect amount of variation and challenge that leaves every club in your bag dirty if you play from the right tees.
Contact: (586) 786-7200; orchards.com.
THE COURSE: Through triumph and tragedy, Orchards Golf Club remains one of the best after 30 years
Stonebridge Golf Club, Ann Arbor
Another Arthur Hills gem which offers a straightforward test presented with great conditions, placid lakes and tons of playability thanks to several dogleg rights that accommodate most people’s gentle fades and wild slices.
Stonebridge has a top-notch, attentive staff and gets bonus points for offering carts equipped with GPS. Even though most everyone has a golf watch or rangefinder these days, the cart’s GPS eliminates a few extra steps on every hole that add up over a lengthy round.
Contact: (734) 429-8383; stonebridgegolfclub.net
THE COURSE: Stonebridge's great conditions make it among Free Press’ Top 10 Public Golf Courses
Moose Ridge, South Lyon
Another beautiful piece of secluded property that also features the treasured “Up North” feel on this former raspberry farm. The rolling fairways and architect Ray Hearn’s strategic bunkering reward precision off the tee.
If you play the right set of tees, you should be challenged without much frustration. There are five par-4s shorter than 400 yards from the tips. The front nine is especially short, tipping out at 3,255 yards as a par-35. Ironically, it features a 611-yard fourth hole — one of the longest par 5s in the state.
As a bonus, the clubhouse features a log-cabin design with exposed beams, a vaulted ceiling and stonework. The whole experience at Moose Ridge will make you believe you’re a lot closer to the Mackinac Bridge than Joe Louis’ fist.
Contact: (248) 446-9030; mooseridgegolfcourse.com
THE COURSE: Seclusion, elevation and rugged beauty are among reasons Moose Ridge is a gem
Best of the (nearby) best
Lakes of Taylor Golf Club, Taylor
This excellent municipal course gives you everything you can handle at 7,028 yards with rolling fairways, beautiful bunkering, a varied layout that twists and turns through lakes, marshes and wetlands.
The eighth and ninth holes close out a fantastic front nine. But the most unforgettable hole comes on No. 17: a 201-yard gut check to a peninsula green ready to ruin that great round you thought you were about to have.
If you survive the 17th, there’s the par-five 18th with water to the right of the fairway and water along the left side of the green. It’s a terrifying finish, but a fun and fascinating experience.
Contact: (734) 287-2100; lakesoftaylorgolf.com
Fox Hills Golf and Banquet Center, Plymouth
The beauty of this 63-hole facility is its abundance of available courses: the 18-hole Golden Fox, the 27-hole Classic Fox and the par-3 Strategic Fox. If you can’t get on at Fox Hills, you’re not trying.
If you can, opt for the Golden Fox, Arthur Hills’ links-style track that offers plenty of challenge with undulating greens and steep bunkers, but remains thoroughly playable, especially if you pick the right set of six tee options.
Contact: (734) 453-7272; foxhills.com
Rackham Golf Course, Huntington Woods
Sure, it’s a Donald Ross course. But don’t get excited. Rackham bears no resemblance to its famous cousins like Oakland Hills or Detroit Golf Club. The greens are ho-hum and not the signature, undulating putting surfaces Ross is known for.
Rackham is one of the best everyman courses in metro Detroit that’s extremely accessible near the intersection of two major freeways. It’s a long course at 6,555 yards, especially on the back with two par-3s over 200 yards and a slightly uphill closing hole that runs 448 yards.
Above all, Rackham is pure Detroit. Joe Louis used to call it home and hosted a tournament here. Just about every golfer in metro Detroit has played the track at one time.
Contact: (248) 543-4040; rackham.golf
Chandler Park Golf Course, Detroit
This very basic course fits three key requirements. It’s the closest course to downtown (eight miles away), it’s cheap and it’s easy.
But don’t expect much more from a pancake-flat track that measures just 5,832 yards. There are numerous fairways so close to each other that you can almost high-five the 8-year-old who just made quadruple-bogey on the hole in front of you. It’s a course for novices, so don’t expect a lightning-fast round.
On the plus side, there’s an 88-yard par-3. So this might be your day for that hole-in-one you’ve been waiting for.
Contact: (313) 331-7755; chandler.golf
St. Clair Shores Golf Club, St. Clair Shores
Bypass Chandler and 15 minutes farther up I-94 is this short, fun course. Bruce and Jerry Matthews’ 1973 layout is eminently walkable with excellent greens, a surprising amount of challenge and is extremely affordable. Can’t ask for more than that from a muni.
What the course lacks in length (6,015 yards from the tips) it makes up for in challenge with subtle breaks in the small, true greens, tighter fairways and water that comes into play on eight holes.
The Matthews’ masterpiece is the par-3 14th hole that plays over water on four sets of tees that range from 122 to 176 yards. If you can handle it, play this one from the tips, where you’ll feel a special sense of isolation and challenge as you stare down a lengthy carry that suddenly will feel like the sixth Great Lake. If you can avoid a hook or coming up short, there’s plenty of bail out short and right, plus two bunkers that catch strays. And watch out for the false front on the left side of the wide green.
Contact: (586) 294-2000; scsgolf.com
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on X: @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The 10 best golf courses near Detroit to play during NFL draft 2024
