Jay, I play CCD once or twice a year. I think it is a very fine course, one of the best in the area. My experience there dates back to about 1984, when I was a young law school grad and our two senior partners were members there. Before the 1996 renovations, they both told me that they were engaging architects to look at the course for possible changes. I had an eyewitness description of the tour taken of the course by Geoffrey Cornish, who said to them, "Do you realize that you have a great Redan? It isn't being maintined properly." Cornish took them all off guard, because (a) few of them knew what a Redan was, (b) they had prided themselves on taking very good care of what is a very flat and non-demanding bit of real estate that is easy to take care of. From the time of the Cornish visit, their concern became "restoration" and not "renovation."
There is one important point that I must disclaim knowledge of; and that is what exactly were Trent Jones' changes in the 1960's. Without the ability to prove it, I am compelled to say this; just ten or fifteen years earlier, Jones had done his work across town at Oakland Hills. And what Jones did at OHCC had everything to do with fairway bunkers and tees, and almost nothing to do with green complexes and virtually nothing with the greens themselves. And that is the way it was, I think, at CCD. But that was before my time. Personally, I think there is a lot of Colt there. Honestly, I gotta believe that Jones spent more time building the Par 3 course than he did meddling with the big course.
The land is very flat parkland. It is in an exquisite neighborhood, bordering Provencal Rd, ancestral home of several Fords, etc. It's a great clubhouse, too, that reminds me a bit of Winged Foot. The whole atmosphere is very, very 'Eastern' and very USGA. And, USGA history-wise, it was the scene of Arnold Palmer's "breakthrough" in the U.S. Amateur. I think that in the picutres of Ben Hogan being handed the U.S. Open Championship Cup at Merion, the presenter is Jim Standish, a CCD member.
There are no water hazards, and almost no OB that comes into play. My old mentor, now deceased, used to tell me about never losing a golf ball all summer, and I believe him. I'm not sure I've ever lost a ball there. It is a small membership, with very low numbers for rounds of golf played. A WASP Franklin Hills.
Tom Doak thinks it is a credible and attractive test of golf; he's very keen on several of the holes. I'm not near my copy of The Confidential Guide right now and I can't remember what he gave CCD on the Doak Scale. I vaguely remember his comments as being correct and consistent with my own thinking.
It is a treat to play the course, and I would never turn down the opportunity. I think is is absolutlely worthwhile. I am very familiar with Detroit's other Colt-Allison Championship course, Plum Hollow, which is bulit across town on a very different kind of real estate. Plum Hollow is a gamey course with a fun membership. Given 10 rounds to play at them, I'd play 6 or 7 at CCD and the rest at Plum Hollow.