Golf-thirsty Michiganders are fortunate to have a wide variety of options throughout the state. The Free Press last summer took on the difficult task of chronicling 10 of our favorite metro Detroit public courses.
There may be a new addition near the top of the rankings on our next tour.
Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, rebranded from The Inn at St. John’s, transformed the site that once had 27 holes into The Cardinal, the first newly constructed 18-hole layout in southeast Michigan since 2000 (Clarkston’s acclaimed Shepherd’s Hollow).
The Free Press toured the facility last Aug.
There are several reasons that Saint John is confident that it will provide visitors with an unparalleled experience when it opens in the spring of 2024.
The Cardinal experience
It started with a renovated golf complex by a Holland-based architect Ray Hearnwhich created The Cardinal, The Little Cardinal seven-hole par-3 course and an as-yet-unnamed putting course next to Carl’s Golfland at Sheldon and Five Mile Road.
Hearn, who has several Michigan golf courses in his design portfolio more than 27 years including Moose Ridge (South Lyon), The Majestic (Hartland), The Grande (Jackson) and Twin Lakes (Oakland Township), were brought when the nonprofit Pulte Family Charitable Foundation purchased the property in 2021. ownership is sinking $50 million into Saint John’s to attract big business, elegant weddings and charity events to its hotel.
The clincher is a revamped approach to public golf, with a high-end experience in hopes of becoming Detroit’s destination resort.
“This is an elite-level course in how to put it, how to maneuver it … what we offer is different from other public courses,” said Stan Witko, the new executive director of golf, after taking over the Free Press on a recent tour. “We are not just a high-end public course. We are a high-end course that is in a beautiful resort with a ton of beautiful space around and the ability to do things that other courses can’t or won’t. That’s why we have an exceptional first-class experience from the moment you step on the course to the moment you leave it.
Hearn used to have a different love for the land, and said he’s probably walked the old course 50 times over the years. Once he was hired, he came up with 22 different routes before settling on a winner.
“The terrain is amazing,” Hearn said August 31. “For southeast Michigan, the glacier is doing its job here. The valleys, the drumlin like slopes and then you have your flat areas.
“The property is worth a good 18 compared to what I would say is an average of 27. It’s always a 27 as a bunch.”
The Cardinal has five sets of tees from 4,758 yards from the forward tees to 7,002 yards from the back tees on a par-72 layout, with the rarely seen consecutive par-5s on each nine (Nos. 4-5 and 11-12). Hearn emphasizes playing off the right tees, with other options being 6,543 yards, 6,126 and 5,458.
Hearn kept some of the recognizable existing fairway corridors, but built new tees, bunkers and USGA-level greens (minus the underground SubAir drainage system) comparable to the restored Oakland Hills South Course.
Saint John seeks to separate itself from other public access courses by presenting a unique private club mentality.
“When people see it, they’ll see what it looks like — the care we put into what the staff does is different, the way they attend to guests is different,” Witko said. “So we wanted to have a private club feel but it was on a resort course.”
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That started with the hiring of highly respected golf course superintendent Kevin Peck, formerly of the Country Club of Detroit.
The course of the game will be separate, golfers will have their names and hometowns announced on the first tee, just like on the PGA Tour, but with a bonus comparable to batting for the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park: They will have their choice walk-up music.
Hearn’s trademark scheme at The Cardinal gives players angles and options, which he learned from his former mentor, the legendary Pete Dye, and from a dozen trips to Europe.
The standout is Hearn’s distinctive undulating green, with rich detail on the edges. Those complex movements allow an approach shot to feed a shape of the ground, or, in some cases, run off the green due to the formations created by lowering, inspired by the greens experienced by Hearn in Ireland and Scotland.
“The more you play at Saint John’s, the more you recognize that the balls can be edible, and the little spines that go into certain greens,” Hearn said.
Golfers will note that Hearn has avoided a common theme in American golf where thick rough surrounds the greens. Instead, he replaced the rough in some areas with fairway-length grass to give golfers a variety of shot options. He wants the player around the green to think: Do I want to pitch it, lob it or maybe putt?
Players who have played the previous course here will notice the new landscape lines. Hear a course contractor Rich LaBar, who previously worked in the Oakland Hills, cut down hundreds of trees that obstructed angles and limited choices. However, Hearn is happy to respect the ownership’s desire to keep several woodlots and 100-year-old trees to create what he calls a perfect parkland golf course, adding seclusion and beauty to the round. .
The sides of the fairway are now more in play, Hearn said. “You can play and favor one part of the fairway and then face the hazard to get the best position for your second shot.”
Water is an integral part of the risk woven throughout. A rock-lined creek blocks the fairways of several holes on the front nine, and ponds protect the four greens.
Memorable holes include closers on every nine.
The par-4 ninth uses the same corridor as the previous hole, but now has the rarely seen church bunches to the right of the gentle dogleg, “a cool feature,” Hearn said.
“It fits because it defines the angle of that dogleg. It makes you play the turn.”
The par-4 18th plays up a hill into a deceptively large fairway, cresting to reveal a large pound guarding the left side of the green and a spectacular view above. resort brick buildings in the background.
Hearn and Witko hope golfers will be “amazed” by the thought-provoking strategy, beauty, and detailed care and hospitality provided by the staff.
“I want people to say this is a course I can go back and play over and over again and never get tired of,” Hearn said.
Prices are still being finalized, but non-members can expect to pay around $100 on weekdays and $175 on weekends. A local resident rate lowers the price below $100 at certain times.
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Something fun for everyone
Little Cardinal’s seven holes are Hearn’s playful tribute to legendary architects in golf history such as Seth Raynor, CB Macdonald, Donald Ross and Old Tom Morris. Each hole is named after an iconic designer, with Hearn implementing a flavor of some of their famous green templates such as Redan, Alps, Stamp on Stamp and Biarritz.
Three sets of tees accompany each hole, with yardage ranging from 68 to 112 from the back tee.
It’s walk-in only, with membership available: The Shorty Pass allows members access to the short course, putting course, and private driving range, located across from Carl’s Golfland’s range, and adjacent short game practice area .
The 18-hole putting course may be the resort’s hot spot, located on 1.6 acres on Five Mile Road. Rolling land around an existing pond is a combination of two popular putting courses, says Hearn: The Himalayas of St Andrews in Scotland and Thistle Dhu in Pinehurst in North Carolina.
The course has a food truck, patio and tables for guests, with a digital scoreboard that tracks the day’s best scores.
As John Hammond said in Jurassic Park, Saint John’s “no expense spared.”
“We want people in this community to be able to come out here and for a reasonable price, get a really nice, luxury experience at the different golf venues that we have,” Witko said. “And enjoy every part of it if they want. … We want something for everyone but we want to do it in the highest way.”