OT: Oakland Hills Golf Club Fire
Just seeing pictures on the internet of Oakland Hills clubhouse on fire. Looks like the building will be a complete loss. Pretty sad to lose something historic like that completely destroyed. I've never been but its obviously a very well known place with a lot of history. Sad to see.
February 17th, 2022 at 6:09 PM ^
Xcrunner = dickhead
February 18th, 2022 at 9:25 AM ^
Thanks for the edit.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:39 AM ^
The photos and video confirm it is going to be a total loss. At least the course will remain, but it's sad to see so much history gone in an instant.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
I remember when this happened to Reddeman Farms GC in Chelsea a few years back. Speculation that was intentional. We used to do a big charity event there every year.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
Work right around the corner from it. It's such a dreary day that you can't make out the clouds from the smoke. The fire started in an all-wooden ballroom which may be why it spread so quickly.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:16 PM ^
I ran an errand this morning and I smelled it before I knew what it was. Then a fire truck went roaring up Telegraph Rd. and I figured there was a fire, just not this bad. Great that everyone got out, and they will re-build, but it's still sad. Not a member but I played it a half dozen times and the clubhouse was really nice and the people were super welcoming. They'll be back.
February 17th, 2022 at 2:24 PM ^
I live near the course. I heard a ton of sirens and was wondering what had happened.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:16 PM ^
Pretty sad, yes. Fires terrify me, by the way (bad experience as a child) -- so my first reaction isn't "the poor building," but rather, did everyone make it out OK? Hopefully, there were no deaths or injuries associated with this.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:19 PM ^
No deaths. No reported injuries. This happened pretty early this AM. There's a Comcast outage in the area, so I don't know if it's related. Our internet went down around the same time we saw fire trucks showing up.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:21 PM ^
Excellent news. Thank you. And just to be clear, the total & complete loss of this beautiful building IS sad to see, too.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:33 PM ^
Very sad. Lot of history there.
Never had the opportunity to play there, but my dad and his dad did and never had any complaints.
Thankful no one was hurt.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:06 PM ^
Swam there many times in the 70's and 80's.
So sad but hopefully no one injured.
February 17th, 2022 at 2:04 PM ^
Well, this is sad. I caddied there for a short time in the 70's. It was a beautiful place. Of course, they never let "the help" like us caddies into the clubhouse! But all the shots of it during the golf tournaments over the years showed how nice it was. It's great that no one was apparently hurt.
February 17th, 2022 at 2:28 PM ^
All indications are that everyone exited safely, which is great to hear. I used to caddie there for the Monday caddie playing privileges. Most members were great, but some of them would treat you like dirt and expect you to enjoy it just for being in their presence. I wonder by what % dues will increase.
February 17th, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
Very sad news. While no longer living in MI, have a couple great memories at Oakland Hills from the 1980's. While on internship, the VP I worked with took me there for a round. Great day and saw Al Kaline. The other was the US Open with my late dad, great Father's Day experience. Last time at Oakland Hills was for the Ryder Cup, while the US team sucked, stalking and sending "positive thoughts" to Sergio with best friend was much fun. Take this all you whiney bitching social justice warriors who want to celebrate this tremendous loss
February 17th, 2022 at 4:26 PM ^
I have a great deal of sadness now, (I have not had any possibility of being/playing there) like many here. It is a partial loss of your life that has just "disappeared". It reminds me of Notre Dame in France 3 years ago.
We don't know the cause yet, and may never know it (electrical, accidental, construction, etc...) but this is an EXTREMELY depressing event.
I don't know what else to say. Too close to home. Praying that no one has lost their life b/c of it.
February 17th, 2022 at 4:39 PM ^
It's crazy to me that massive fires still happen in this day and age. For people in construction, are fire suppression systems just not that effective? Super expensive? Why can't we do better?
February 17th, 2022 at 5:25 PM ^
Never been to the clubhouse, but my guess is due to the age of the facility they did not have a fire suppression system. Seems improbable that a building that did have one in place would be completely immersed in flame to that degree. Unless (speculative) an accelerant was utilized to overwhelm the system or it was disabled in some manner.
While suppression systems are expensive to add retroactively, in hindsight its a tragedy if it was considered and nixed due to cost.
Its loss is a huge bummer, always wanted to go to a tournament there; as mentioned previously will be many years until another is now likely.
February 17th, 2022 at 5:31 PM ^
So sad. Like The Grand Hotel, a true classic Michigan architectural gem.
February 17th, 2022 at 10:59 PM ^
Oakland Hills and the clubhouse is a crown jewel of the State of Michigan. This is heartbreaking and beyond sad. I had the opportunity to play 18 holes on the South course many years ago. And I toured the clubhouse and the incredible history within. It's an awesome place. This is devastating and I hope that it will be rebuilt even better.