"We're the kind of club that [Henry] Ford built."

As part of Time Inc.'s look at Detroit, Golf Magazine's Alan Bastable considers the state of the wonderful Detroit Golf Club and how it's coping with lean times.

Thanks to Detroit's 15-percent unemployment rate and, more specifically, the implosion of the automotive industry, more than 100 club members have resigned in the last three years, prompting DGC to drop its initiation fee from $39,000 in 2006 to $6,500 today. It is a dilemma faced by many southeast Michigan clubs that have for decades relied on Big Auto to keep their tee sheets full.

"We're the kind of club that [Henry] Ford built," Beals says. "It used to be nothing to have our upstairs bar full every day of the week with salesmen wooing the GM guys or whatever. They'd take them to play golf to close the deal, but that has all dried up."

Comments

[Jordan]

I went to a corporate outing in the clubhouse a few years ago when I was a peon at a large law firm. Quite impressive. Now that I'm a peon at a tiny law firm, I can't afford the $6,500 initiation fee. But if the fee is that low, why can't they allow occasional public play? I'd love to see if the courses match the clubhouse.

[tlavin]

Nice piece by Bastable. I find it eminently more interesting to read a story about an old-line club that is being buffeted by the turbulent economic times (magnified in the Motorless City, of course) as opposed to the consternation about a place like the Cliffs. Both are troubling stories, but the latter is a more predictable and perhaps acceptable reality compared to a place like DGC with a 111 year history that could possibly be jeopardized.

[LiquidKaos]

@TLavin: I couldn't agree more.

[Ping Pro 1959]

Another sky is falling in article by the liberal media. Yes, Detroit Golf Club lost 100 members, they have about 1100! The club is still very strong and one of the highest paying clubs in the city.