[BCowan]

Tom Bendelow 1921.  More photos to come later in Summer/fall.   Bruce Hepner Renovation/Restoration.  New Pure Distinction greens and Pure Select in Fairways, collars, and aprons, and tees.  17 acres of new native.  Went from 60 to 80 bunkers.  6th and 15th rebuilt.  Renovated the pond in between these to hold irrigation reservoir

Tom Bendelow




From 1953 PGA Championship


Hepner Plan



Hole #1 (2011)                                                                    New photos from 2015 done by Chris Richards Photography




(2015)





Hole 2   (2011)


#2  (2015)



#4 (2015)



#5 Tee (2011)



(2015)



#6  (2015)



#8  (2011)


#9 (2011)


(2015)


#10 (2011)


(2015)


#11 (2011)


(2015)



#14  (2011)


(2015)  #14, 15, and 5 view


#15 (2011)


(2015)


#16  (2011)


#16  (2015)  Fairway expansion





#18  (2011)


(2015)


Old RTJ bunkering


Drone Pic


Bruce Hepner Painting


shaping


Green expansion




View from the Clubhouse

[Phil Young]

Ben,

The original 9-hole course  that was built in 1916 was designed by Wm. Connellan. Bendelow was hired by the club in 1921 to design a new 18-hole course to take its place. In June 1929 the club considered a proposal by Donald Ross to redesign the front nine. Two months later Wilfred Reid was invited to a Board meeting and proposed a redesign of the entire course. The club hired Reid.

BCC has had some confusion through the years in understanding their history. One version had Wm. Diddle redesigning the existing 9 holes and designing a new second nine in 1920. This didn't happen.

Great photos of a wonderful course with a great past including being the host of the 1953 PGA Championship...

[BCowan]

Phil,

  Thanks for posting.  I just wanted to get some photos up.  We will add some history to this thread come late summer or early fall. 

[Aaron McMaster]

Ben, thanks for posting photos of this project.


I've played BCC quite a bit over the years and had the pleasure of visiting many times during the renovation with Dan Dingman the superintendent.  The improvements to the course are striking!  Dan and Bruce Hepner have done an amazing job on this project......I'm excited to play it this coming season!!

[Joe Sponcia]

THIS is why I love Golf Club Atlas!  THESE are phenomenal before and afters.  I beg more people do post these.  This is how we as a group can influence golf for the better.  Thank you!

[Sean_A]

Ben


Cheers.  I was impressed by Birmingham CC prior to any recent work...there are a load of very good holes and a neat set of greens. The one very glaring architectural issue I thought was more than obvious is the 10th.  The stream is not well featured there.  Trees could be cleared out down the left to create a wide fairway with a stream more obvioiusly in play.  I don't spose anything was done about this?  The 16th too had serious tree issues on the turn which bugged me.  Wished the flag could be seen from the tee.  I see some trees have gone, but bunkers added.  Why the sand when trees are already blocking that corner?


Ciao

[David Davis]

Ben,


Great stuff. Thanks for posting. Another brilliant example of what a difference a few (100?) trees make. But from the looks of it seems like solid improvements all round. The trendy more natural looking bunker shapes greens seem to have more natural undulations and width seems to be restored. It's a great trend for US golf, maybe someday it will even hit over here.


Do you know off hand how many trees were actually removed? How tough was it to get the members on board for the changes? Did RTJ significantly change the original design?


Noticed in one of your photos that there seemed to be significant water/drainage issues. Was that just during an annual flooding period (if that exists) or would you say that they have been able to fix this issue?

[BCowan]

Aaron, Sean, David, and Joe,

    I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.  I believe Dan said an additional 25 trees have been whacked since the photos were taken late fall.  Dan used to post and read GCA regularly before kids.  He forgot his user and password and I talked him into coming back from out of the shadows.  So when Dan is back he can answer your questions much better then I.  I leave you with a story I shared before but it's funny and I wonder how often it happens post tree removal at other clubs.

   Last winter I had lunch with a friend at another area Metro Detroit course that removed somewhere around 900 trees.  It was late winter and our table and another were the only ones in there.  We sat at the other side of the room from the table that was already in there.  I asked my friend the member, ''why are we sitting on the complete opposite side of the room''?  He said ''those people are the tree lovers, we aren't too fond of each other''.  I'm curious as to how this plays out at other courses and if tree lovers 5 years down the line change their outlook.  My hunch is so more often then not, that people change their mind, but I guess its good that everyone doesn't think the same...

[Joe Sponcia]

No.  The tree huggers/lovers NEVER get over it.  What you described is common.  It would be better to have said a vulgar drunken comment to ones wife than chop an integral part of the dogleg 12th. 


"...They love trees more than golf" - Brad Klein

[Jason Way]

THIS is why I love Golf Club Atlas!  THESE are phenomenal before and afters.  I beg more people do post these.  This is how we as a group can influence golf for the better.  Thank you!

+1


Pictures like this, plus the commentary from the group that they inspire, is one of the most effective ways for me to deepen my understanding of GCA.


Thanks for Sharing Ben.  Another one to add to the SE MI list.  It's getting a bit out of control at this point.

[DDingman]

Hello everyone,


Nice to be back here on GCA. Thanks to Ben and Aaron, I am back from the shadows. Glad you all like the photos of the changes that have been made to BCC over the last 5 yrs. It has been a lot of fun working with Bruce Hepner and we are both pleased with the results of the work. I will answer a few of the questions that have been asked already:


Phil - Thanks for clearing up the Club history and I know you are still digging.


Sean - If you take a closer look at the photos of #10, we cleared a bunch of trees on the left (and right) and expanded the fairway over some 20 yards. The river is certainly in play now and you have to think about your club selection off the tee. Same goes for #16 - Only trees we left are the huge beech trees that sit atop the ridge line. With the fairway expansion on the left we exposed a catchers mitt in the center of the fairway that will surely swallow up any tee shots that try to carry the bunkers that aren't high enough.


David - I cannot give you the exact number of trees that have been removed but it easily exceeds 10X your guess. It wasn't easy to get started but once we did the improvements were obvious. We have a strong Green Committee here that supported both Bruce and I through it all. As far as drainage - Drainage has always been an issue at BCC. The Rogue River runs through the property and can come out of its bank after really heavy storms. During the renovation we added 20 miles of drain pipe - mostly in fairways and plan to add more in the coming years.

[Trey Rogers]

I agree with all above, this renovation has been excellent and the hard work will show and pay off.  It has been interesting to be involved in the vast majority of these renovations in SE MI.  As an agronomist, I knew these SE MI courses (and several in the works) needed to be updated to become "sustainable"  (My definition in the turfgrass world is simple...Go 60 days without water and be able to come back to shape in 1-2 weeks...that is a sustainable turf.)  Bringing courses to this point of sustainability (removing trees, adding drainage, and changing grasses) is important for this decade, but more important for future decades and generations.


Th great news on work to keep your golf courses as you know and love them?  The best, in terms of playability, is yet to come.  Now these superintendents will really begin to dazzle and amaze you.


TR

[Sean_A]

Thanks Dan.  The course does look miles better with muscled up bunkers and far less trees. 


I don't see if 12 tee was sorted with the removal of trees near 8 green....any pix if sorted?


Ciao

[BCowan]

Sean,

   Tree removal behind 8 green. 

old


Now                                                                                                                (photo by Michael Perron)

[BCowan]

#15

Before


Now                                                                                                                                      (photo by Michael Perron)

[BCowan]

#14

old


2016  (very cool infinity pool like feeling with this green)

[BCowan]

#16

old


Now

[Mike Schott]

Thanks for the pictures Ben. Congrats to Birmingham CC for having the courage to make such massive changes. I've driven past many times and been to the clubhouse a few times for parties but have not played the course. It looks so much nicer now.

[Ryan Taylor]

Great photos! I was lucky enough to recently play this re-polished gem. Congrats to BCC, Dan Dingman and Bruce Hepner! I hope the golf course gets the recognition it now deserves. We're running out of superlatives to describe the renovated golf course. Great rolling land, perfect variety of 3's, outstanding brute but beautiful 4's (#9), strategic short 4's with perfect cross bunkering (#16) and a really fun set of 5's. (#14, #18, etc.) My favorite hole was #14. A great short par 5 that is reachable in two from the correct tee. The second shot is semi blind and downhill to one of the best greens on the course. The green has great front to back movement with some neat shelves.

I would be remiss not to mention the staff and course conditions. The staff really go out of their way to make you feel at home and are enthusiastic about the club and course changes. The course conditions are beyond ideal. Firm, tight fairway lies and challenging but fair rough.

[Tim Passalacqua]

I was lucky enough to just play Birmingham and it was awesome.  I didn't realize that Detroit has such great rolling terrain to route a golf course on.  BCC has a very unique routing that I had never seen.  The front nine was routed on the interior of the property and the back nine did a full circle around the front nine.  One of the things that stood out most to me were some of the strong uphill shots on a couple par fours and a par three.  It fit in perfectly with the routing and was a welcome challenge.  It really added some distinct character to the course.  Add in the terrific greens and bunkering and you have a very enjoyable golf course!  Great renovation!

[Mike Schott]

I was lucky enough to just play Birmingham and it was awesome.  I didn't realize that Detroit has such great rolling terrain to route a golf course on.  BCC has a very unique routing that I had never seen.  The front nine was routed on the interior of the property and the back nine did a full circle around the front nine.  One of the things that stood out most to me were some of the strong uphill shots on a couple par fours and a par three.  It fit in perfectly with the routing and was a welcome challenge.  It really added some distinct character to the course.  Add in the terrific greens and bunkering and you have a very enjoyable golf course!  Great renovation!

Hi Tim. It's flat in our area but not FLAT. Thank goodness the better clubs are built on that kind of land. Oakland Hills, especially the north course has some nice terrain in the interior of the course, Franklin Hills is built on hilly property as is Orchard Lake CC. I guess the better description of these properties is as you say, rolling.

[BCowan]

Tim,  Nice post.  BCC has many fine standout holes such as 3, 5, 9, and 14-16.  The greens are really good and have been recaptured by Bruce nicely.  Here are some photos from Ron and myself from this past weekend, course is growing in well. 




3rd hole looking back

   
5 from fairway and green looking back



9th



11th


14, stellar hole and infinity green


18 looking back


fescue grown in

[Ron Smith]

I was really impressed with Birmingham CC, the greens were outstanding and the routing was intriguing.  I really liked the diversity of shots required throughout the round.  It was a course that required multiple clubs off the tee and could be played a number of different ways.  Again, I am amazed at the quality of golf in southeast Michigan!

[BCowan]

A friend emailed me this a few days ago.  Shows BCC from 1953 PGA top and Hepner plan on bottom.  Notice that 14 was a par 4 and the angle of the 15th tee was much more to the right.

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