Michigan Amateur, Oldest Major in the State

By Greg Johnson

Oakland Hills Country Club’s commitment to hosting championship golf has not wavered despite the fire of February 2022 that claimed the historic clubhouse.

“We are going full speed ahead,” said Lee Juett, a longtime Oakland Hills member, GAM president-emeritus and GAM rules official who in June will serve as tournament chairman for the 112th Michigan Amateur Championship on the North Course at Oakland Hills.

“The club will be ready for the Michigan Amateur and the U.S. Junior (Amateur) the following year. We are committed to doing the best we can under the circumstances.”

By the end of the 2022 golf season Oakland Hills was operating most of its amenities, including some food service, out of temporary, high-end, corporate tents and that will be the case this month. Juett said the club is heavily involved with membership planning the new clubhouse and that a construction start is tentatively set for fall of 2023.

“We have two very nice temporary structures on the South side and another on the North side so we don’t see any issues with providing all the things we have in the past when we have hosted championships,” Juett said. “We won’t have the first-class clubhouse, but the club and grounds staff and club members will provide a first-class effort.”

The North Course – the de facto other course at Oakland Hills in deference to the famous South Course that has hosted 11 USGA championships, including six U.S. Opens, as well as three PGA Championships and the Ryder Cup Matches – will host the Michigan Amateur for a fourth time.

Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Randy Lewis of Alma won his first Michigan Amateur title there in 1992, and Drew Preston of Ada took the title in 2012, holding off Tom Werkmeister of Grandville 2-up. In 2019, Ben Smith of Novi topped Patrick Sullivan of Grosse Pointe 2 and 1 in the finale.

“Oakland Hills is very supportive of amateur golf and they see it as part of their mission as a club and a membership,” said Ken Hartmann, senior director for rules and competitions for the GAM. “They like hosting top quality amateur tournaments, state and national, and they have two golf courses that test any golfers, including the best in the world.”

Hartmann feels the North course is one of the top golf courses in the state and Midwest and said the previous Amateur championships on the course showcased the challenge built into the design.

“The North is a strong golf course with a great set of greens,” he said. “It is not a long course at 6,900 yards, but it can hold its own easily with wonderful greens, some great par 4s and it is always in pristine shape, always tournament ready.”

Oakland Hills, which earlier this year was announced as a host site for six future USGA championships including two U.S. Opens (2034, 2051), used both the North and South in stroke play rounds during the 2016 U.S. Amateur.

In 2013 the late Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest renovated 30 bunkers on the North, fixed drainage issues and added 300 yards.  The North, like the South, has Donald Ross lineage in routing and design, and was also renovated by Robert Trent Jones (1961). The North opened in 1924, six years after the South, and was presented for 35 years through the Great Depression and beyond as a public course (1932-1967). It has served the club’s membership as a private facility since.

In 2019, the North course hosted the Michigan Am during the celebration of the GAM’s centennial.