BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A massive fire Thursday destroyed the iconic Oakland Hills Country Club clubhouse, a facility that has hosted 14 golf majors, authorities said.
Rick Palmer, president of the suburban Detroit club, said general manager Christine Pooler called him at about 9:30 a.m. EST to tell him about the fire, the Detroit Free Press reported. Palmer said he does not know what caused the fire or where it started, but he said the damage was “very, very, very significant.”
“It’s a devastating day,” Palmer told the newspaper.
From the front and side, no visible flames anymore at Oakland Hills CC, but the damage is horrendous. pic.twitter.com/Btb46NyGvF
— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) February 17, 2022
The white clubhouse, which opened in 1922 and had 110,000 square feet of space, was designed by architect C. Howard Crane, the Free Press reported. It was modeled after Mount Vernon, George Washington’s plantation home in Virginia. The clubhouse held irreplaceable memorabilia and art from the nine major championships and the Ryder Cup that Oakland Hills has hosted in the past century, according to The Associated Press.
“It is heartbreaking, it’s just devastating to see the loss, to see the history, to see all the 100-year-old chandeliers, and all the framed pictures and the autographs that are going to be just gone,” club member Denise Stout told WDIV-TV.
The roof of the white wooden clubhouse collapsed around 11 a.m. EST, WXYZ-TV reported.
Bloomfield Township Fire Chief John LeRoy said people in the clubhouse alerted firefighters to the smell of smoke at 9:17 a.m. EST, The Detroit News reported. Firefighters found flames in the attic, according to the newspaper.
Golf great Jack Nicklaus, who defeated Chi Chi Rodriguez to win the U.S. Senior Open at Oakland Hills in 1991, said the clubhouse “is as much a part of the story as the golf itself.”
“It is a sad day for the membership, but also for the countless people, like me, who respect and appreciate Oakland Hills,” Nicklaus, 82, told the Free Press. “They will be able to rebuild the clubhouse, but it will be difficult to replace the many memories lost today.”
Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer won the U.S. Senior Open at Oakland Hills. Gary Player won the 1972 PGA Championship at the course, and Team Europe won the 2004 Ryder Cup, the AP reported. Padraig Harrington became the first Irishman to win the PGA Championship in 2018 at the iconic club.
Overall, Oakland Hills has held six U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, a U.S. Women’s Amateur, two U.S. Men’s Amateurs and three PGA Championships, the Free Press reported.
There were no injuries, according to LeRoy. But the loss of the building left members speechless.
“It’s hard to talk when you’re crying,” Greg Kampe, the men’s basketball coach at Oakland University and a longtime club member, told the News.
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