Oakland Hills Country Club completes restoration project

By Alistair February 14, 2022 10:25

Oakland Hills Country Club’s South Course is celebrating the completion of an extraordinary restoration project through the support of Bernhard and Company.

The South Course at Oakland Hills has played host to 17 major golf championships in its illustrious history, including six US Opens, three PGA Championships and the 35th Ryder Cup in 2004. The restoration project has allowed the course, once again, to offer its originally intended playing style, with larger fairway landing areas and greens. That, coupled with pristine conditioning, has enabled the famous course – nicknamed ‘The Monster’ – to rise a phenomenal and unmatched 41 places in the new rankings list, moving into 31st position.

Image from Larry Lambrecht

Following the renovation work carried out by renowned course architects, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, directory of agronomy, Phil Cuffare, and his team of turf professionals were tasked with elevating the conditioning on the South Course to its highest ever level. With industry-leading grinding equipment and educational support provided by Bernhard and Company, the team was able to work with profound efficiency in delivering attention to detail mirroring that of the very best courses in the world.

Cuffare said: “We are very excited about the recognition that our famed South Course is receiving after the completion of its extensive restoration. To bring back to life something that had been lost for so long is a great feeling and we are continuing to express that through our conditioning efforts.

“The ultimate compliment to great golf course architecture is great conditioning. As such, the most important aspect of our agronomic programmes is turf health, and the cornerstone of achieving that is using our reel and bedknife grinding machinery to sharpen mowing equipment used to maintain our fine turf areas.

“The ability to achieve the perfect cut in an efficient and precise manner is what separates Bernhard and Company from others. We have very high expectations that need to be met and Bernhard is the partner that helps us to achieve those goals.”

The project involved the course being largely stripped back to the bare soil.

When managing the growth and health of the new turf, it was important that all grass cutting was carried out with perfectly sharp blades.