1953 Birmingham CC aerial.
Few Detroiters realize that Birmingham Country Club hosted the 1953 PGA Championship won by Franklin Hills professional Walter Burkemo, a native of Detroit who learned the game as a youngster caddying across town at Lochmoor Country Club. He might have won more tournaments, but as was the case for many sportsmen of the era, WWII intervened. To make matters worse, Mr Burkemo was seriously injured twice in battle, earning him two Purple Hearts. It took several years to fully recover from the injuries until a breakthrough came in 1951 when Mr Burkemo won the first of four Michigan Opens. The last victory came in 1970 at the age of 51.
Even fewer Detroiters know that Birmingham hosted the 1968 US Women’s Amateur, won by one of the greatest female golfers in history, Jo Ann Carner, the last of her five victories. With nothing else to conquer as an amateur, at the age of 30, Mrs Carner turned professional and would eventually earn a Hall of Fame career with 43 wins. None of the 43 were more important than the two US Women’s Open titles in 1971 and 1976. Her final tour win came in 1985, but Mrs Carner remained competitive in her 60s and in 2004 made an LPGA tournament cut at the age of 65!
Birmingham CC is a heavily modified 1921 Thomas Bendelow re-design which has recently undergone work by Bruce Hepner. Fairways and greens have been re-laid with newer strains of bent grass, some fairway expansion, seventeen acres of native area have been created, a thousand or so trees removed, bunkers renovated and number increased from 60 to 80 and the 6th and 15th greens have been rebuilt. This all sounds like the course would be a disaster zone for the summer...not so. I realize this is the sort of thing good supers do for a living, but I will never get over how great a job guys like Dan Dingman can do. Even when one is told the course was totally re-grassed and underwent serious architectural alterations during the winter, it is hard to believe. There are very few indications of any such under-taking.
Bruce Hepner's Birmingham CC Plan.
The results of the work are very, very good. Major spots such as left on 10 fairway and behind the 8th green have been resolved. However, I was not quite prepared for how much the interior views of the course have been exposed. It is most evident on the first tee where much the front nine and some of the back nine is spread below us. I was also taken aback the improvement to the fifth. The tree clearance there has done nothing less than allow us to properly see the best hole on the course. Having only played the course once prior to the work, I will have missed much of the improvement detail, but one woud have to be blind not to recognize how much the course has improved.
A legging left par 5, the opener is a gentle handshake...
with an interesting green. That said, we come to my only real disappointment, the fairway lines. I can only assume folks like fairways cutting to the inside line of bunkers rather than well around (much of the time) bunkers and greens. The variety of shots the golfer has when this is the case is far greater, making for a more pleasurable experience.
The second drifts right and comes back toward the house. Not an onerous hole, but it is easy to mark a kiss on the card.
A medium length one shotter, the third features deep bunkering.
Set at angle and generally flowing to the front, the 4th green makes for an interesting target.
The first bold statement of the design comes at the 5th. Turning sharply right, it is quite easy to run out of room unless one adds a hint of fade to the drive. The difference the tree clearing makes once turning the corner is remarkable.
Unlike many of Birmingham's greens, the 5th is designed to take a running approach. Clearing the trees will definitely help with keeping the turf drier to encourage the ground game. As it happens, we had a front hole location on the day which highlights the benefits of tree clearance. Below is a good look at the new bunker and fairway feeding into the green.
More to follow.
Ciao