Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course)

Donald Ross's South Course outside Detroit, toughened into 'The Monster' for 1951 and restored by Gil Hanse; six U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships.

Two Ford Motor Company executives, Joseph Mack and Norval Hawkins, bought farmland on Maple Road northwest of Detroit in 1916. Donald Ross's South Course opened in July 1918 with Walter Hagen, already a U.S. Open champion, as head pro, working out of an old chicken coop. The club hosted the Western Open in 1922 and the first of its six U.S. Opens in 1924.

Robert Trent Jones toughened the layout before the 1951 U.S. Open, which produced only two under-par rounds. Ben Hogan's closing 67 won it, and his line about bringing 'this monster to its knees' gave the course its nickname. Rees Jones later lengthened it past 7,300 yards for the 2008 PGA Championship, won by Padraig Harrington. Gil Hanse's 2019–21 renovation removed trees, enlarged greens and cut the number of bunkers while making the remaining ones bigger. The USGA has since awarded the club U.S. Women's Opens in 2031 and 2042 and U.S. Opens in 2034 and 2051.

Holes to know

2

Par 5 · 592 yd

Site of T.C. Chen's double eagle in the first round of the 1985 U.S. Open.

5

Par 4 · 491 yd

Where Chen made a quadruple bogey in the final round of 1985, hitting his ball twice on one swing, and lost a four-shot lead.

16

Par 4 · 425 yd

Gary Player's late birdie here sealed the 1972 PGA Championship.

Championships

• U.S. Open 1924, 1937, 1951, 1961, 1985, 1996
• PGA Championship 1972, 1979, 2008
• Ryder Cup 2004
• U.S. Amateur 2002, 2016
• U.S. Senior Open 1981, 1991
• U.S. Women's Amateur 1929
• U.S. Junior Amateur 2024

Design history

• 1950: Robert Trent Jones toughened the course before the 1951 U.S. Open
• 2000s: Rees Jones bunker work and lengthening past 7,300 yards before the 2008 PGA Championship
• 2019–21: Gil Hanse restoration; trees removed, greens enlarged, bunkers reduced in number