Around the Region:
The Cardinal breaks Metro Detroit’s drought of new courses in stunning style
With the most exciting development in more than two decades on the Metro Detroit public golf scene, St. John’s Resort in the charming suburb of Plymouth, Michigan will answer the prayers of golfers across the Midwest.
The resort, thanks to the ownership of the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, who bought it from the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit in 2021, has been busy trans- forming the longtime 27-hole facility into a world-class, 18-hole championship destination, with The Cardinal course set to open in April 2024.
Golftime Magazine got a sneak peek at the $50 million project, thanks to architect Ray Hearn and Executive Director of Golf Stan Witko. While it might be months away from its debut, what we found was an exciting new entry on the Midwest’s great golf scene, one that will most certainly be in the running for
any number of “Best New” course awards next year.
“This is an absolutely golf-crazy area,” Witko said, during an early tour of the seemingly already-ready course. “It’s really unique. So we’re going to do it right, first-class. This is going to be a unique property.”
The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, the non-profit arm of the massive home- building empire, tapped Michigan-based, award-winning architect Hearn to handle the huge project, which took 27 existing holes and essentially started from scratch on the 200-plus-acre property, which will also include a seven-hole short course, and two- acre putting course.
Visit stjohnsresort.com for more information, and we’ll have much more about this exciting project soon. Stay tuned!
Studio B is on the move.
Bettinardi Takes Its Show On the Road
Chicago’s best-known boutique clubmaker, Bettinardi Golf, is taking its famous Studio B fitting studio on the road for the first time this summer, relocating it from above its shop floor in Tinley Park, Illinois, just down the road to a new location in Oak Brook.
“It has been my ultimate dream come true to open a storefront in the best shop- ping location in our home state of Illinois,” said the company’s CEO/founder/legend Bob Bettinardi. “Studio B Oak Brook will allow us to fit our Tour staff and customers with the best technology in the world, in addition to providing the most premium shopping experience in golf. We could not be more thrilled.”
The new brick-and-motar location will host future high-profile events and be the go-to hub for the clubmaker’s world-famous putter and wedge fittings. bettinardi.com.
Bucks Run. Photo by Nile Young Jr.
Less IS More: Bucks Run Trims Back & Better Than Ever
When the Fisher family hired Jerry Matthews to turn their 290-acre former quarry in the Mid-Michigan college town of Mount Pleasant into a championship golf course in 1999, they handed the architect a beautiful slate to work with: Hills, mature trees, wetlands, ponds, and even two miles of Chippewa River frontage.
Matthews’ masterpiece opened a year later in 2000, and since then Bucks Run Golf Club has played host to U.S. Amateur qualifiers, junior tour events, and thousands and thousands of satisfied customers.
Like everything, it also became a bit over-grown in the nearly 25 years since then. So club management decided that less is more, and had more than 1,000 trees removed from the course, dramatically improving the sight lines, playability and even strategy.
The result has Bucks Run Golf Club back atop your must-play list in Mid-Michigan this year. bucksrun.com.
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