The PGA Tour rolls on to the Motor City and the Rocket Classic as we head down the stretch toward the year’s final major and the FedExCup Playoffs that follow. The Detroit Golf Club is a beautifully manicured, classical, tree-lined, Donald Ross-designed course that has been one of the most prolific birdie-making courses on the PGA Tour.
Established in 1899, the club has a long history, with the North Course (opened in 1916) being the oldest annual course in the Tour rotation. Playing at over 7,300 yards, most of the North Course is used for the tournament routing. This year’s tournament is the seventh edition, with past champions including Tony Finau, Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler, and Cameron Davis (twice)
While longer hitters have thrived here thanks to the forgiving layout off the tee, players of all styles have found success, with many shorter hitters also posting strong finishes on past leaderboards. With four highly scoreable par 5s and few penal areas to punish mistakes, the winning score has been -23 or better in four of the past six years. Skilled putters who are strong with their wedges and are proven par-5 scorers are among the best players to target this week in Detroit.
The Field
This is also arguably the deepest Rocket Classic field since its inception, as 47 of the top 100 ranked players will be in attendance. Other notables include, Akshay Bhatia, Cam Young, Luke Clanton, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Si Woo Kim, Davis Thompson, Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaeger, Tom Kim, Alex Noren, Rasmus Hojgaard, and Nicolai Hojgaard.
Detroit Golf Club – History
The Detroit Golf Club was founded in 1899 by local businessman William R. Farrand and his partners. The course was originally a six-hole layout on a rented 45-acre plot of farmland just a few miles north of the city center. Originally limited to 100 members, the course added three holes a year later, making it a nine-hole course. With membership increased to 200 in 1902, an additional 35 acres of land were purchased, and the course expanded to a full 18 holes. In 1913, more property was acquired, and one of the most iconic golf course designers of all time, Donald Ross, was brought in to survey the land. He determined that two 18-hole courses could be built on the property.
In 1916, Ross completed the two 18-hole tracts, which were simply named the North and South courses. The property’s heritage goes even further back in history, as between the seventh and eighth holes on the North Course, an oak tree was bent by Native Americans to mark the trail that extended from the area of Pontiac to the Detroit River.
Ross preferred to let the natural environment determine the design of his courses. This classic approach is quite evident at the Detroit Golf Club, especially concerning the topography of the course. There is very little elevation change, with only 10 feet between the highest and lowest spots. It is also this classical approach that, over a century ago, did not take into account players bombing the ball 320 yards off the tee. The course was chosen to host the 1941 Ryder Cup, but the outbreak of World War II scuttled that.
Based on the ShotLink data, minor adjustments to the course continue to happen. For example, on the par-4 12th hole, players were bombing it over 300 yards past the fairway bunker. This caused tournament officials in 2023 to add 40 yards to the hole which has kept the bunker in play.
One revision of the North Course has been more controversial. Typically, the complexity of the greens is what makes it a “Donald Ross” course. With the passing of time, the greens have weakened, with some of the slopes becoming flatter. Said Golfweek’s course evaluator, Nick Ficorelli, “I’m a little worried about the North greens being too easy. They used to be really, really good. When I watch PGA Tour players playing, say, a 1916 golf course, it’s disappointing if those greens have been weakened. There’s nothing more boring than watching guys make 30-footers that don’t break.” While Ficorelli is accurate regarding the green surfaces being less undulating than a century ago, the sloping “back to front” greens remain the course’s main defense.
As soon as this year’s Rocket Classic is completed, the will be a complete renovation of the North Course. This will include a remodeling of the greens back to how Ross had them at the course’s origin. Architect Tyler Rae will also reconstruct tees, fairways, and bunkers, along with removing problematic trees.
Finish Position and Strokes Gained History at Detroit Golf Club (2019-2024)
This includes the average finish position and Strokes Gained per round since 2019 for each of the categories. Players are sorted by SG: Total. Detroit Golf Club is the 16th least predictive annual course on Tour.
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Course Features
The North Course at Detroit Golf Club is a par 72 layout that measures 7,370 yards. It features the standard breakdown of four par-3s, 10 par-4s, and four par-5s. Let’s cut right to the chase here. It is one of the easiest courses on the PGA Tour rotation. Over the last five years, it has played as the 11th easiest course at an average of -1.71 per round. Players will need to shoot low rounds each day to be in contention. Winning scores have ranged between -18 to -26.
It is a traditional parkland venue with tree-lined fairways and flat topography. When the course entered the Tour rotation in 2019, its standard deviation of terrain change stood at 2.18 feet, edging TPC Louisiana (2.23) as the flattest course on Tour. Aside from a handful of holes, few truly stand out due to the limited variation from tee to green throughout the round. Most of the layout runs either north to south or south to north, with only a few doglegs providing directional change.
Lacking length and any real penal areas off the tee or on approaching the greens, expect birdies to come in bunches. Such an easy-scoring environment opens the field to more contenders. Because the course does little to punish poor shots, there’s minimal separation between strong and below-average tee-to-green performances. As a result, the tournament essentially becomes a wedge-fest followed by a putting contest. Recent rainfall and typically soft conditions from pop-up summer storms lead to receptive greens and only add to the scoring potential.
Sam Moynihan, Director of Agronomy at Detroit Golf Club, and his team are focused on drying out the course early this week after it was hit by rain over the past few days. Scorching temperatures in the mid-90s on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday will aid the drying process. He believes they may even need to add some water by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. The goal is to get the course playing firm and fast.
Said Moynihan, “Normally, I need to have 18 greens for the membership to play for the rest of the season. Knowing that we have this construction project, we can find that edge and maybe go a little further, knowing that if they get really banged up, I don’t need them in July. I don’t need them in August. So it allows you to push the needle a little bit further than you typically would.”
“We’re going to try to push this golf course as far as we can with what the weather gives us. Now, if it rains, all that goes out the window. But we’re definitely trying to get these greens as dry and firm as we possible can before we renovate them in two weeks.”
Unlike a hazard-laden course such as TPC Twin Cities, there are no “blow-up” holes here where players are threatened with double-bogey or worse. There is only one hole with any threat of water danger. In fact, there are only two holes on the course with a bogey or worse rate above 20%. The course has the second-fewest number of penalty strokes on Tour.
The bluegrass rough at Detroit Golf Club is listed at four inches but is very patchy in many spots due to the multitude of trees and rarely limits players from reaching the green in regulation. Even with many of the greens being diminished in nature from Ross’s original design, the course’s main defense is the sloping back-to-front green complexes. Greens are a mix of Poa annua and bentgrass and run around 12 on the stimpmeter. Greens are also smaller than average at only 5,150 square feet.
Hole Preview
The holes used for the Rocket Classic are a composite routing with 17 holes coming from the North Course and one from the South Course. The layout begins with holes 8 and 9 serving as Nos. 1 and 2, followed by hole 1 from the South Course serving as No. 3. The course then plays holes 2-7 of the North Course as Nos. 4-9 before the regular back nine on the North Course makes up the final nine holes for the championship.
Overall, the front nine plays easier than the back nine. Hole Nos. 6-8 are one of the trademark stretches on the course. Each demands tee shots into some of the most narrow fairways on the course with some sloping that angles drives toward the rough. Each of these holes also has two-tiered greens with multiple tricky pin positions.
The fourth hole is one of two par-5s on the front nine and is the course’s longest extending to 635 yards. While tough to reach in two shots, it still has a birdie or better rate of 33%. On the back nine, holes 14-16 combine to form what organizers have called the “Area 313” challenge. The 14th hole is a 555-yard risk-reward par-5 with a 43% birdie or better rate. The 15th hole is an uphill par-3 that typically plays longer than its 160-yard scorecard number, while the 446-yard par-4 16th hole has one of the most demanding greens on the course and rates as the 6th toughest hole overall.
The four par 5s are among the easiest on Tour with a 43.7% BoB rate and hold one of the keys to unlocking enough birdies to maintain the scoring pace on the leaderboard. Four of the ten par-4s are under 400 yards and combine to produce a bogey-or-worse rate of only 10.4%. The par 3s combine as the eighth-shortest group on Tour with three of the four playing among the seven toughest holes on the course.
Strokes Gained Analysis
Off the Tee
Over its first six years as a Tour stop, the top of the leaderboard at Detroit Golf Club has consistently featured a strong contingent of big hitters off the tee, including Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Taylor Pendrith, Min Woo Lee and Cameron Young. Fairways are generous and wider than average at over 35 yards, making them the 12th widest on Tour. With few hazards or penal fairway bunkers, there are no forced layups or “danger” areas off the tee. Players are free to blast away with driver which is evidenced by 77% of drives hit over 280 yards and a distance average of 296 yards. Those with extra length will have wedges and short irons into greens on every par 4.
After Tony Finau won here in 2022, he talked about length being an advantage. “If you hit it far, you have an advantage not only off the tee, but into the greens you’re hitting shorter shots. If you’re hitting it into the rough, you’re hitting more lofted clubs out of there, you’re able to create speed out of the rough. I always feel like guys that bomb it have the advantage and this golf course is no different.”
During his winning run at the 2020 tournament, Bryson DeChambeau shared insight into his strategy for the week. “There’s a lot of bunkers that are around 290 yards, so hopefully I’ll be able to clear those. Sorry Mr. Ross, but you know, it is what it is. Having a 9-iron into these par fives, it’s definitely nice to be able to attack par-five flags. There’s a couple holes where I can get it up close to the green and just chip it on there and make a putt.”
That being said, even though DeChambeau’s aggressive “bomb-and-gouge” approach overwhelmed the course, setting a clear precedent for how distance could dominate here, it should also be remembered that DeChambeau gained eight strokes putting that week along with the six strokes he gained off the tee.
And while length can be an advantage, there have been plenty of shorter, more accurate hitters who have contended here as well. With it being very average length-wise, anyone who can keep the ball in the fairway will have the chance to contend. Along those same lines, former PGA player Brian Stuard had an interesting comment saying, “I think driving it straight here is very important because, with every fairway pretty much tree-lined, you would rather be 150 (yards) in the fairway rather than 100 in the trees.”
Approach
Because players are unable to separate themselves off the tee due to the lack of any penalty for wayward drives, Detroit Golf Club plays much more like a second-shot golf course. Over 43% of approach shots come from under 150 yards, which is one of the highest wedge rates on Tour. Thanks to a full set of par 5s and two longer par 3s, 21% of approaches also come from over 225 yards which is 4% higher than the average course. Even with the 11th smallest greens on Tour, these greens have one of the highest GIR rates at 73%.
With winning scores often reaching -20 or better, it’s not enough to just hit greens—players must hit it close and convert birdie chances. With the majority of approach shots coming from the short iron or wedge range, players that are strongest in that area will have a sizeable advantage. The greens have numerous quadrants, and finding the right area on approach to set up uphill putts will be another factor in golfers separating themselves from the field. While not overly complex, the greens are well-protected by bunkers and feature subtle tiers and slopes that reward precision.
Around the Green and Putting
Although the green complexes are protected by thick rough and challenging runoff areas, the high greens-in-regulation rate this week minimizes the importance of around-the-green play. With so few missed greens, even elite short-game players don’t get enough chances to gain meaningful strokes in this area. Conversely, weaker chippers aren’t exposed as often, which neutralizes a key area of weakness.
When examining the numbers from past winners, Detroit Golf Club consistently ranks as one of the most important putting courses on Tour. As noted earlier, putting here is no easy task. While the Donald Ross greens have lost some of their original movement over time, many still feature the classic back-to-front slope that defines his design style.
They rate as the 10th most difficult greens on which to gain strokes putting. And yet, close to 40% of all strokes gained on this course come with the flat stick. That is well above the typical average of 35%. The undulated areas around some of the pin placements make putting even tougher from inside five feet with the course averaging as the 6th toughest from that range.
2019’s winner, Nate Lashley gained over 10 strokes on the greens that week. In 2020, every single player in the top 12 gained at least one stroke putting. In 2021, each of the top five in the standings gained over three strokes, and 23 of the top 25 were positive on the greens. 2022 saw more of the same as each of the top five on the leaderboard gained at least 3.5 strokes putting. In 2023, the top 13 gained an incredible 5.2 total strokes putting on average. Last year, every single player in the top-13 on the leaderboard gained at least a half-stroke on the greens per round.
Lashley confirmed that certain hole locations on the greens can be tricky, saying, “The greens do have quite a bit of slope, some of them around the holes that have a lot of undulation. If you get it on the right spot, though, and get it in the right tier, you can make a lot of birdies.”
Though there is a blend of Poa annua mixed in, similar to TPC River Highlands, these greens do not play like “West Coast” Poa. They are very smooth and play more like bentgrass greens. Green speeds have been increased since the tournament’s inception, moving from 11 on the stimpmeter in 2019 to upwards of 12 and beyond this year.
Most Important Stats For Success at Detroit Golf Club
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- Birdie or Better %
- SG: Approach
- SG: Putting (Bent/Poa)
- Par 5 BoB%
- Driving Distance
- SG: Easy Scoring Courses
- Proximity: 50-150 yds
- Putting 5-15 feet
- SG: OTT on Driver-Heavy Courses
- SG: Average/Weak Fields
Key Rabbit Hole Filters
- Course Region: Midwest
- Scoring Conditions: Very Easy
- Field Strength: Weak/Average
- Field Size: Full Field
- Greens Surface: Bent/Poa
- Green Size: Small
- Rough Surface: Bluegrass
- Architect: Donald Ross
- Gain OTT: Easy
- OTT Club Type: Driver Heavy
- Fairway Accuracy: Easy
- GIR Accuracy: Easy
- Missed Fairway Penalty: Low
- Gain Putting: Difficult
Weather Forecast – Detroit, Michigan
