Bitter, sweet. That was the prevailing sentiment – or sentiments – of the day as the first round of the final Rocket Classic teed off Thursday, July 30, at Detroit Golf Club.
Sweet, because architect Tyler Rae’s $16.1 million restoration of Donald Ross’ classic design looks better than ever as a modernized wide-open, links-style course. Rugged bunkers with jagged edges are lined by tall, native grass that picturesquely sways in the breeze.
Sweet, because Rocket ambassador and fan favorite Rickie Fowler fired an early 7-under-par 63 for a share of second place (with Ryan Gerard). Only Peter Malnati was better. He flirted with a 59 after shooting 7-under 28 on the front and finished with a nine-birdie, bogey-free 61.
But also bitter because, after eight years, the Rocket’s going away.
“Yeah, no, it’s definitely been a bummer to kind of come into this knowing it was the last one,” said Fowler, one of six players who’ve teed it up in every Rocket. “It’s been fun for me to have a partnership with Rocket and see this event make its way here because that was always a dream of theirs to have an event back in Detroit, and to see it continue to grow over the years felt like it just kept getting bigger and better. ….
“Fans have always been great to me here and having the association with Rocket, but I think the win in ’23 helped solidify that. Yeah, this has always been a fun week for us and a little bittersweet.”
Malnati, another of the six all-timers, went one step further than Fowler in expressing his love for the tournament.
“I’m determined to get it back on the Tour,” he said. “Not that I have any say in that anymore, but I’m not giving up hope. I want to come back.”
Hey, when you have the kind of round Malnati had, who could blame him for stumping for the return of a tournament that has been a mainstay of the Detroit sports calendar for nearly a decade. Malnati hit 13 of 14 fairways, 17 of 18 greens in regulation and made bomb after bomb on the greens with 146 feet, 5 inches of putts made.
Detroit Golf Club receptive to another Tour event
The crowds were strong for the first round. It’s a big help that the tournament got a favorable July date that made it easier for Michiganders coming back from holiday vacation to attend the event. The perfect weather also helped.
Even in the afternoon, the grandstand by the first tee and ninth green was packed with fans who sat on leather couches in the covered viewing area. They watched Jordan Speith’s group on the ninth green and roared when Jake Knapp drained a birdie putt from almost 29 feet.
A beautiful putt on a beautiful course everyone’s raving about.
“I think a lot of the things that the members are loving is seeing those bunkers and fescue areas,” said Keith Hazely, Detroit Golf Club president. “It’s showing really well on TV and looks phenomenal.”
Hosting a PGA Tour event can be a challenge for any club, which has to go through months of preparation and partial course closures before the event is held. It’s been even more taxing for DGC members who’ve had to endure a year of major course work that has interrupted their own ability to play.
Now that the tournament is finally here and singing its swan song, it’s going to be hard for the club and its members to see it go.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Hazely said. “I think this year, obviously, this is probably the best Rocket experience from a member standpoint it will be. All praise to [tournament director] Mark Hollis.
“In a lot of ways he’s made sure a lot of the member concerns and pain points were heard. He guided a buildout that was second to none in inconvenience to the members.”
That included making sure DGC’s two 18-hole courses were available to members on big holidays such as Memorial Day and July 4.
It’s telling that even with recent price-increase assessments to fund infrastructure improvements, members still value the prestige that comes with hosting a PGA Tour event. Hazely said DGC has 443 Class-A equity voting members, which is close to the club’s bylaw cap of 503 Class A members and 883 total golfing members.
The club is trying to be judicious about how much play its courses can handle. Hazely said there has recently been an uptick in new membership interest. So it wouldn’t be surprising for the club to get even more inquiries following the Rocket’s high-profile conclusion this weekend.
As for current members, Hazely believes the positive experience and impact the Rocket has brought to club would lead to interest in hosting another PGA Tour event in the future.
“Yeah, I think the members would be receptive to what that opportunity would look like,” he said. “I think there’s always a lot of pride to having the best players in the world play your home golf course.”
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Final Rocket Classic tees off bittersweetly at Detroit Golf Club
Reporting by Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
