Inn at St. Johns a Remake on Steroids
By Tom Lang
Award-winning course architect Raymond Hearn believes the totally new development he’s designing at the Inn at St. Johns in Plymouth will be a project for the ages.
Yet what really convinced him was the response from the three most notable golf course contractors in America – think projects at Oakland Hills South and Baltusrol Country Club for example – called him to say they want to bid on The Inn at St. Johns.
“They are three of the largest construction contractors in the country,” Hearn said came knocking on his door in Holland. “And it’s kind of endearing because they are three companies that don’t like to get involved with resort or public courses. They do all private projects.
“But when they looked at this, they said with the 18 holes, the Par 3 and the Putting Course, this is just going to be something else. And I replied it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The masterplan generating so much talk in western Wayne County will transform a nice 27-hole layout that was perfect for local league play, into an 18-hole championship course over 7,000 yards, an 18-hole Putting Course and a 7-to-9-hole Par 3 Course. Add that to the existing exquisite facilities at the former Catholic Seminary turned luxury hotel, and hopefully create what could literally become a Detroit destination from multiple states around.
“That’s our goal, to basically be Detroit’s destination resort. No one has what we do, sitting on almost 200 acres of land, there’s nothing like this in this market and at the level we are taking things,” said Paul C. Wegert, Managing Director, The Inn at St. Johns and CEO, Boutique Hotel Professionals.
The former seminary was purchased in August by the Pulte Foundation, where the late William Pulte, founder of the PulteGroup, had done many improvements in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Detroit the past two decades. The property is well-known for grand Catholic weddings inside the spectacular chapel that’s been on site for decades.
Current holes No. 1-2 and 4-10 are the area that will mainly be transformed into the Par 3 course and the Putting Course, pretty much wrapped around the driving range with additional expansion. The 18-hole championship course will mostly be south of and to the east of the large buildings that make up the luxury hotel, the spa, restaurants and wedding chapel. New expansion will include a 15,000-square foot ballroom, and a 5,000-square foot outdoor pavilion for weddings of multiple faiths, and charity golf outings expansion.
Construction of the new golf courses should begin in April. The hope is to seed the course in September, and weather permitting, open for play middle of 2023.
Every area will be new grass, with a modernized irrigation system. The plan is for 007 Bentgrass, which Hearn said is an environmental icon in the turf-grass industry today. It requires low fertilization and water requirements. There will be new sand, retention pond expansions, and improved sight lines.
There will be significant changes to the current golf courses layout but not necessarily removing a ton of trees to carve all new routing. For example, to create a signature par four 18th hole, they will combine the short par four 26th hole with the 27th short par 3 hole and make it a longer par 4.
If any existing greens are used in the rebuild, those green complexes will get rebuilt with all-new looks. Current par 3 No. 22 for example (pictured), the green will be enlarged and will have just one bunker which will be made bigger, with a new shape and location.
Current fairways and hole lengths will see some changes that make those holes unrecognizable.
The Carl’s Golfland on site will remain in operation for lessons, retail sales and the driving range during the entire course rebuild. The TrackMan-outfitted range there is one of the busiest in the state.
“I think it’s great to wrap a championship 18-hole golf course around this. It just elevates the whole facility,” said store owner Carl Rose, Jr. “And the family foundation is pretty first class in everything. The way they do things there it’s clear they are pretty meticulous.”
Wegert says someday hosting tournaments like Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) events is a future goal.
“If you’re a golf enthusiast in the Plymouth-Canton-Livonia area, compared to what they had, this new development is going to blow you away,” Hearn said. “This is a whole new level, and the angles we’re going to get on these holes that were never there, golfers will love.
“To get more juniors into the game, the Putting Course and the Par 3 course will be something for everybody. Then the synergy with the build upgrades and all these new golfing amenities, I think it’s going to be very special.”
