Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course) Bloomfield Township, MichiganThe Oakland Hills Country Club, South Course (ranked #25 in the world), was originally designed by Donald Ross in 1918. Walter Hagen was the first head pro at Oakland Hills. The South Course has played host to the U.S. Open six times: 1924, 1937, 1951, 1961, 1985 and 1996. It also hosted the 2004 Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship in 1972, 1979 and 2008. The course hosts the 2016 US Amateur championship this August.
Oakland Hills is located in the affluent Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. The club has two courses - the South Course which hosts the championships and also a North Course across West Maple Road. Oakland Hills is similar to several other championship venues that play host to major championships: two courses, a big clubhouse and a lot of property for tents, concession stands, etc. I found it similar in this regard to Oak Hill, Winged Foot, Medinah and Baltusrol. The memorabilia in the clubhouse attest to its esteemed place in the golf world, especially the walk down the long white corridor between the grill room and the pro shop, lined with pictures and signed competitor displays.
Near the first tee of the South Course are plaques of all the players who have won championships at Oakland Hills. The most famous, of course, was Ben Hogan's victory in the 1951 U.S. Open when he famously said, "I am glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees." He also said that it was "the greatest test of golf I have ever played and the toughest course." Oakland Hills was an early example of a real estate development linked to the building of golf course. When originally conceived in the early nineteen-teens lots were laid out for sale encircling the golf course.
Robert Trent Jones made significant changes to the course prior to the '51 Open and is credited with making the course a lot more strenuous. The sixth hole, seen below, is representative of what makes it a difficult course: its well-placed bunkering, along with its length and tough greens. This hole also has a two-tiered green. As you would expect at a championship course of this caliber, the greens are very fast and have many challenging pin placements.
I've been working on a recreation of Oakland Hills South for some time. I have scrapped the project and completely restarted twice because of poor plot layout and other various rookie mistakes (I'm really a novice in the GNCD). From watching some great YT design videos from various TGC'ers (taste, canuck et al) and practicing on my two scrapped attempts along with numerous standalone practice holes I feel fairly confident working within the designer now.
Finally I have a system down that I feel fairly comfortable with, taking measurements from Google Earth Pro along with the StrakaLine book and any/all blog info and photos I've been able to find. Greens won't be able to be completed (not that I'm anywhere close yet) until they are added to Straka, but that's a long long way off considering I'm only 3 holes in.
I'm designing this on xBox. I will post screens as I progress. The first content I have is via a video capture showing the first 3 holes laid out with tee boxes, fairways (no intermediate rough yet), bunkers & relevant trees, no elevation work has been done at all yet....my plan it to lay out the complete 18 and then start the elevation working my way up from the lowest point. I am looking for any/all advice, comments, tips, critiques, etc…..lay it all out there for me, it will only help me create a better course in the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF41jX8zjbUSo far I've been using Rustic theme, but I'm not in love with the gigantic size of the trees, not sure how that will look as I progress through more holes and fill the already tight plot canvas (entire 18 fits in roughly 1/4th of the plot size ~ will give me nice room to add in a few visible holes from the North Course that sits across Maple Road). I wish Countryside had some pines, but alas. Boreal may be an option also, haven't really investigated that one yet. Curious on community opinions of how the course looks so far in Rustic with current texture selection.
Some pics from the 2008 PGA:


No idea how to handle the rock retaining wall on the famous 16th.

