Saint John's Resort's new golf course intends to make your round one to remember

Golf-thirsty Michiganders are fortunate to have plenty of stellar options throughout the state. The Free Press just last summer took on the tough task of chronicling 10 of our favorite metro Detroit public courses.

There might be a new addition near the top of the rankings on our next go-round.

Saint John's Resort in Plymouth, rebranded from The Inn at St. John’s, has transformed the site that previously held 27 holes into The Cardinal, the first newly constructed 18-hole layout in southeast Michigan since 2000 (Clarkston's acclaimed Shepherd's Hollow).

The Free Press took a tour of the facility Aug. 30 and the course, built over the past two years, is already in impeccable shape a half-year ahead of its grand opening.

There are a number of factors that has Saint John’s confident it will offer visitors an unrivaled experience when it debuts in the spring of 2024.

The experience at The Cardinal

It starts with the redesigned golf complex by Holland-based architect Ray Hearn, who created The Cardinal, The Little Cardinal seven-hole par-3 course and a yet-to-be-named putting course beside Carl's Golfland at Sheldon and Five Mile Road.

Hearn, who has numerous Michigan golf courses in his design portfolio over 27 years, including Moose Ridge (South Lyon), The Majestic (Hartland), The Grande (Jackson) and Twin Lakes (Oakland Township), was brought in when the nonprofit Pulte Family Charitable Foundation bought the property in 2021. Ownership has sunk $50 million into Saint John's to attract big business, elegant weddings and charitable events to its hotel.

The clincher is a revamped approach to public-access golf, with a high-end experience in the hopes of becoming Detroit’s destination resort.

“This is an elite-level course in terms of how it’s going to be kept, manicured ... what we offer is different from other public courses,” Stan Witko, new executive director of golf, said after taking the Free Press on a recent tour. “We aren’t just a high-end public course. We’re a high-end course that is at a really gorgeous resort with a ton of gorgeous space around and the ability to do things that other courses maybe can’t or won’t try out and do. So we’re going to have a unique first-class experience from when you step on the course till when you leave it.”

Hearn previously had a distinct passion for the land, and said he probably walked the old course 50 times over the years. Once hired, he came up with 22 different routings before settling on a winner.

“The land’s incredible," Hearn said Aug. 31. "For southeast Michigan, the glacier did its job here. The valleys, the drumlin like hillsides and then you have your flat areas.

“The property deserved a great 18 versus what I would say is an average 27. It was always a 27 that was kind of bunched in.”

The Cardinal has five sets of tees ranging from 4,758 yards from the forward tees to 7,002 yards from the back tees on a par-72 layout, with the rarely seen consecutive par-5s on each nine (Nos. 4-5 and 11-12). Hearn emphasizes playing the correct tees, with other options of 6,543 yards, 6,126 and 5,458.

Hearn kept a handful of recognizable existing fairway corridors, but built new tees, bunkers and USGA-level greens (minus the underground SubAir drainage system) comparable to the restored Oakland Hills South Course.

Saint John’s intends to separate itself from other public-access courses by presenting a unique private club mentality.

"When people see it, they’ll see what it looks like — the care that we put into what the staff will be doing is different, the way they’ll be attending to guests is different," Witko said. "So we wanted to really have a private-club feel but have it on a resort course.”

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That starts with the hiring of highly respected golf course superintendent Kevin Peck, formerly of the Country Club of Detroit.

Pace of play will be spaced out and golfers will have their names and hometown announced on the first tee — just like on the PGA Tour, but with a bonus comparable to batting for the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park: They'll have their choice of walk-up music.

Hearn's trademark design at The Cardinal is giving golfers angles and options, which he learned from his former mentor (the legendary Pete Dye) and from a dozen trips to Europe.

The standout is Hearn’s distinct undulating greens, featuring great detail on the edges. Those complex movements allow an approach shot to feed in off a land form, or, in some cases, run off the green because of the formations created going down, inspired by greens Hearn experienced in Ireland and Scotland.

“The more you play at Saint John’s, the more you’ll recognize balls can feed in, and the tiny spines that go on some of the greens,” Hearn said.

Golfers will notice Hearn has eschewed a common theme in American golf where thick rough encircles greens. Instead, he has replaced rough in some areas with fairway-length grass to give golfers different shot choices. He wants the player around the green to have to think: Do I want to pitch it, lob it or perhaps putt?

Golfers who played the previous course here will notice new sightlines. Hearn and course contractor Rich LaBar, who previously worked on Oakland Hills, took down hundreds of trees that blocked angles and limited choices. But Hearn was glad to respect ownership’s wish to keep many of the woodlots and 100-year-old trees, creating what he called a great parkland golf course, adding seclusion and beauty to the round.

The sides of the fairways now come into play more, Hearn said. “You can actually play and favor one side of the fairway and then take on a hazard to get in better position for your second shot.”

Water is a key hazard feature weaved throughout. A stone-lined creek interrupts fairways on a handful of holes on the front nine, and ponds protect four green sites.

Memorable holes include the closers on each nine.

The par-4 ninth uses the same corridor of the former hole, but now features rarely seen church pew bunkers down the right of the gentle dogleg, "a cool feature," Hearn said.

"It fit because it defines the angle on that dogleg. It makes you play around that bend.”

The par-4 18th plays up a hill to a deceivingly large fairway, cresting to reveal a large pound guarding the left side of the green and a spectacular view of the resort’s towering brick buildings in the background.

Hearn and Witko hope golfers will be "wowed" by the course's thought-provoking strategy, beauty, and the detailed care and hospitality provided by staff.

“I want people to say this is a course I can come back and play over and over and over and never get tired of it,” Hearn said.

Rates are still being finalized, but non-members can expect to pay around $150 for a standard round on weekdays and $175 on the weekends. A local resident rate will drop the price below $100 at certain times.

The Cardinal Club membership is $5,000 for an individual and includes unlimited play on The Cardinal, complimentary range balls, member-only leagues and competitions, and numerous benefits tied to the resort.

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Something fun for everyone

The Little Cardinal's seven holes is Hearn's fun tribute to legendary architects in golf history like Seth Raynor, C.B. Macdonald, Donald Ross and Old Tom Morris. Each hole is named after an iconic designer, with Hearn implementing a flavor from some of their famous green templates, such as the Redan, Alps, Postage Stamp and Biarritz.

Three sets of tees accompany each hole, with yardage ranging from 68 to 112 from the back tees.

It will be walking only, with membership available: The Shorty Pass will allow members to access the short course, putting course, and private driving range, which sits opposite Carl's Golfland's range, and adjacent short game practice area.

The 18-hole putting course might become the hot spot of the resort, set on 1.6 acres along Five Mile Road. The rolling terrain around an existing pond is a combination of two famous putting courses, Hearn said: The Himalayas at St Andrews in Scotland and Thistle Dhu at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

The course will have a food truck, patio and tables for guests, with a digital scoreboard tracking the best scores of the day.

Like John Hammond says in Jurassic Park, Saint John's "spared no expense."

“We want people in this community to be able to come out here and for a reasonable price, get a really nice, luxurious experience on the different golf venues that we have," Witko said. "And take advantage of each part of it if they want. … We want something for everyone but we want it done at a really high-end way.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect more accurate pricing on The Cardinal on weekdays.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Saint John's Resort: A round at our new golf course will be special