Fire Burns At Oakland Hills Golf Club in Suburban Detroit

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Firefighters battled a blaze at a more than century-old country club Thursday in suburban Detroit that’s hosted several major golf tournaments and is one of Michigan’s most exclusive golf clubs.

Crews worked to douse flames at the clubhouse of the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, police said. Photos posted by The Detroit News showed flames leaping from the roof.

The sprawling, multi-story clubhouse, which was completed in 1922, is adorned with irreplaceable golf tournament memorabilia and art going back a century, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Members were stunned by the fire.

“There’s so much history, so much wonder here,” Rebecca Robinson told WDIV-TV.

The club, which opened in 1916, has hosted more than a dozen major golf championships on its South Course. That course reopened to club membership last summer following a $12.1 million restoration project.

Gil Hanse led the restoration with the hopes of bringing major championships back to the club, which last hosted a major when Padraig Harrington won the 2008 PGA Championship, WXYZ-TV reported.

The country club also hosted the 2006 Ryder Cup. Recently, the United States Golf Association announced that Oakland Hills would host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2031 and 2042.