As an urban planner, I've always been fascinated by how cities grow. Populations rise. Farmland gets paved over. Housing tracks turn into apartment complexes. Office complexes rise into skyscrapers. But occasionally, pockets of land go untouch. Magically frozen in time, these pockets give present day visitors a glimpse into the past.
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| The Rogell Golf Club formerly located at 18601 Berg (where the Rouge River passes under Grand River Blvd.) sits surrounded by the neighborhoods of northwest Detroit (Malvern Hill, Oak Grove, Bentler-Pickford and Old Redford) |
The Rogell Golf Club in northwest Detroit is a pocket. A golf course designed by perhaps the game's two most renowned course designers, surrounded by a City that developed around it. It briefly survived as Michigan's first African-American owned golf course. Today, it sits awaiting new life.
The Story of New Rogell begins in...
1872
Banned from the City's prestigious social and dramatic clubs, The Phoenix Club was opened as a place where the Jewish elite could dine, socialize, play billiards, bowl and stage performances. Max Fisher, whose name adorns the Detroit Orchestra's current home, becomes one of its first and most prominent members.
Wishing to add a golf course, the club purchases 113 acres of land in a village near the present day city of Redford. Straddling the Rouge river, architect Jack Bendelow designs a nine-hole course. It would be one of 54 courses designed by the Architect in the state of Michigan.
1920
As golf's popularity increases, the course becomes self-sustaining. Separating itself from the club, the course is sold to the city of Redford and becomes the Redford Country Club on January 1, 1920.
1921
Legendary golf course designer Donald Ross is hired to redesign and upgrade the course to 18-holes. From the middle tees, the course measures 5,838 yards and plays to a 68.1(course rating)/123 (course slope).
1926
Wishing to continue expansion, the Phoenix Club moves to a new location. The facility is sold and a new course is designed by Donald Ross on 400 acres of farmland in Farmington Hills. Albert Kahn designs the clubhouse for the new Franklin Hills Country Club.
1945
The Redford Country Club is sold to the City of Detroit for $174,000.
1979
The Club is re-named after Detroit Tigers Shortstop and longtime councilman Bill Rogell. Rogell led the Tigers to a World Series victory over the Chicago Cubs in 1935. He would serve 36 years on City Council and would be honored with throwing the first pitch at the last game held at Tiger Stadium.
2007
The Golf course is purchased by the Greater Grace Temple from the City of Detroit for $2.5 million. It becomes the first Black-owned golf course in the state of Michigan. The course is renamed The New Rogell. It becomes one of only six African-American owned coursed in the United States.
2013
Arguing they are unable to make the course profitable, the church closes the course. The church struggles to maintain the site. They also fail to gain city approval to sell the property to a developer wishing to convert the course into a cemetery.
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| (Credit: Mike Campbell/WWJ Newsradio 950) photo credit |
The City of Detroit Planning and Development Department in collaboration with neighborhood residents and community organizations continues to actively work on a comprehensive neighborhood plan for Northwest Detroit along the Grand River corridor. Essential to this vision is a discussion about the future of the Rogell Golf Course. Proposed new uses include productive landscapes, summer and winter trails, outdoor education, habitat creation, horse stables and riding, playgrounds, sports fields and of course golf. Final community meetings were held in May 2017.
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"Greater Grace Temple Celebrates the Purchase of the 'New Rogell Golf Course", AmericaJR, June, 30, 2007, http://americajr.com/news/rogell-golf-course.html
"Franklin Hills Country Club", Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, http://www.michjewishhistory.org/gallery/2017/05/franklin-hills-country-club.html.
McCafferty, Art, "Michigan Golf Architects: Tom Bendelow - Golf's Johnny Appleseed", Michigan Golfer Magazine, May/June 2004, http://www.michigangolfer.com/may04/may0504-4.pdf.
The Original Golf Blogger, "New Rogell Golf Course Review and Requiem", Golf Blogger.com, May 16, 2013, https://golfblogger.com/new_rogell_golf_course_review_and_requiem/.
"Residents Protest Detroit Church's Overgrown Golf Course", CBS Detroit, Sept. 10, 2014, http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/09/10/residents-protest-detroit-churchs-overgrown-golf-course/.
GolfClubAtlas.com, Ross's Courses, page 9, http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=41570.40;wap2
"Billy Rogell", Wikipedia, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Rogell
McDaniel, Pete, "Saving Grace", Golf Digest, July 28, 2008, https://www.golfdigest.com/story/gw20080801mcdaniel
