“We have lost our iconic clubhouse:” with those words the entire golf world wept.
Oakland Hills Country Club president Rick Palmer confirmed what everyone feared Friday morning – a devastating fire that broke out Thursday morning completely destroyed the century-old clubhouse, which had stood sentinel over six U.S. Opens, nine major championships in all, two U.S. Amateurs, and the 2004 Ryder Cup. Preeminent architect of the age C. Howard Crane designed the structure in 1922. This would have been the centennial anniversary of the old rambling white Colonial clubhouse, which was designed to look like Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. The golf pro shop, golf operations building, golf maintenance building, and other sports complexes were unharmed. The 2022 golf season is planned in full as normal.
Proceeding as though it were a total loss, the club has promised to rebuild a replica. Palmer, who delivered the old clubhouse’s epitaph on Friday announced the news Monday morning after the club deliberated over the weekend. Insurance proceeds will cover the costs in full, and the USGA has promised assistance with both temporary structures and contractors. The club is slated to host two Women’s U.S. Opens and is a perennial candidate for a long awaited return to host the U.S. Open. Steve Jones won the club’s last Open in 1996 over the Donald Ross-designed South Course.
Firefighters and club employees rescued a portion of the priceless and historic golf memorabilia the club had accumulated over the decades, passing it through a window to a waiting van. It is unclear what was lost, though the insurance adjusters are at work on the problem. Meanwhile fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause the fire, which started in an attic and defied detection though firefighters and employees all smelled smoke for some time before flames erupted through the clubhouse roof. Six different engines battled the blaze throughout the day and into the evening.
