The Orchards Golf Club

This used to be one of the best public courses you can play in SE Michigan.
The last two times we played were 6 hour rounds.
Why would any decent course that already gets a decent amount of play schedule an outing on Friday? Makes no sense, horrible management. , I’ll never come back nor will anyone in my group. Back to Oakland University Sharf.

Better than average course, very good condition. The downside of The Orchards is that it's built in a neighborhood community and there are a lot of houses on the course. If you hit one bad, you could end up in a back yard! 88 sand traps which makes it somewhat challenging.

Play here a few times each season. The course is always in great shape and the staff is extremely friendly.

A place where there is a premium for keeping the ball in the short grass on most holes. Venture too far right or left and you'll be reaching into your pocket for another ball.

An abundance of sand in the bunkers (which I found a bit too often during my last round) making hitting out of them easier (for me).

It's wise (on a the shorter par 4's - ## 4, 8, 13 & 16) to play an iron off the tee.

Stay to the left side on 18 and avoid the sand on the left side of the green (which i did not) for a good chance at par on the finishing hole.

A challenging place to play but the cost of a weekend round prevents me from playing it more often.

We waited on pretty much every shot for a foursome in front of us. They never gave us a chance to play through the entire round, and even though rangers were around and aware of their slow play, they never did anything about it. The course is really interesting, a fun play, and in good condition, although the greens do need some attention.

I've never finished a round of golf and felt so angry about how I was treated.
There is obviously an obsession with pace of play. My experience was similar to other past reviewers. A nice enjoyable round of golf ruined by harassment of the rangers.
We had been keeping up with the group ahead of us ( 6 mins behind pace according to the gps) and had not been holding up the group behind us. We struggled on the rather difficult 6th hole and fell behind. The Rangers seemed to be waiting for us and told us that we were one hold behind and we either needed to skip a hole or speed up. They lurked behind us for the next 2 holes. Needless to say that made some of us nervous, others angry. The outcome was worse , slower play. We eventually caught up to the group ahead by the 8th hole.
Problem solved, right? Wrong, while making the turn the starter complained that we were 1 hole behind and needed to speed up. When we arrived at the 10 th tee the group ahead had finished their 2 nd shots and driving to the green.
I don't get it. I have played behind slow players before and had to wait on the tee several minutes and have played in slow groups before when the group behind us was always waiting. Neither of that happened during our round.
It is a nice course, slightly overpriced but definitely not worth the drive nor the harassment that we endured during our round. Will not come back

Orchards is a great golf course, it’s very well maintained, extremely photogenic, and has a very fun design. Don’t let loose deceive you though, the greens are fast, the bunkers are deep, and the rough is THICK. Make sure you hit the fairway on this golf course, if you don’t, you will be punished.

Can't say enough. Course is fabulous, People are fantastic. Proven when I left my wallet in the cart and left. When I called they had found it and held on to it. Loved the GPS carts too.

Finally had the change to play this gem. What a great course and layout. This course is the pinnacle of risk/reward golf. Place your shots and play smart and you can get around this track with a relatively good score. We were lucky to get paired with a single who plays this course weekly and was able to give his guidance on the course. Pace of play is my only concern, but that's a concern at every course in the metro area especially on the weekends during the summer months. This course deserves more hype than it gets. Skip the over hyped Greystone right up the road and spend your time and money here. Can't wait to get back!

This course has been widely advertised as a premier tract and this 1st time low-hdcp traveler absolutely agrees. Top shelf conditions and playability with a few forced carries & modest elevation changes. Generous practice area and rangers visible to assure pace of play. Of note is the fact that I made my ttime weeks in advance for my leisure travel, yet was called & informed that my start would be delayed 20 mins so crews could prep the course for play without being visible to players. Even had a cart girl on a weekday morning which is rare these days!

Had a chance to play this course in an outing I was invited to. I got there and hit the range and putting green. The putting green was large and the driving range was very nice. What a great course! Very nice layout makes it challenging and you have to position shots to get into good scoring chances. Also the separation of the holes makes it as if you are really in the moment of that hole. Greens were in perfect shape and rolled nicely. Did get into some green side bunkers and had no problem, well manicured. We enjoyed our time playing, all staff were nice.

The Orchards is easily one of the 4 courses on the Mt Rushmore of Metro Detroit Public Golf. It is a stern test that will require precise and accurate iron shots. Greens are moderate sized, and the area around the greens can be punishing with thicker rough and usually tricky bunkering. There is a nice variety in the layout with some holes guarded by woods and other routing through the near by housing developments and allowing for great playability. This is easily on of the most expensive public tracks in the area; however, this is a MUST PLAY for any nearby Michigan golfer

The Orchards is easily one of the best public golf courses in the Detroit area. You will pay a premium price, but if you can appreciate the quality maintenance put into the golf course, it is worth it. Pace of play can get a little sluggish on weekends but in all honesty, what course has A+ pace of play on weekends if you don't tee off before 9am? The design is spectacular, no gimmick holes and for the most part, it is fairly forgiving from tee to green. Personally, I prefer Lyon Oaks in Wixom to The Orchards based on the value and considering the course conditions are on the same level but The Orchards should still be a must play for any level golfer.

Really too bad that some people dont have the courtesy to be concern w/ pace of play. Course over booked or in need of rangers to move people along. Waiting more than 10 min on every tee box & in the fairways. Really a great course, too many other course to play will not be back.

Well worth the money / drive to play here. The facilities were sparkling clean, the practice area is massive. The course itself is breathtakingly beautiful and hard. Greens are very fast. Pace was average on the front 9, we waited on a few holes for a few minutes, no big deal. For some reason at the turn they put a 3 some out in front of us, and a 2 behind us. We waited almost 20 minutes between finishing 9 and teeing off on 10. After our tee shots on 15 we were berated by the ranger for slow play. He said we were 20 mins off pace. Go figure..... It wouldn't have bothered me that much if he was polite with us, but it was the starters fault that we were behind and the ranger was inexcusably rude with us. If I remember right the highest score in our 4 some was an 85, its not like we were hacking balls all over the place.

This is just my experience, and I hope it was a one time incident. This is an amazing course and everyone except the ranger was extremely polite and professional. I highly, highly recommend playing here. Its well worth the $$

I've played about a dozen rounds here going back to high school golf where this course hosted our Regional tournament. If it's your first time playing here, it may be a bit of a shock to the system how quick and undulating the conditions are, and how seemingly tight the landing areas off the tee might be. But trust me, the more you play here and learn where you can get away with missing it, the more enjoyable the experience will be. Even from the tips, it doesn't play that long because the fairways run out so much. This means your #1 priority should be putting the ball in the fairway off the tee, rather than automatically taking driver just for distance. Even fairway woods, hybrids, and long irons will get plenty of roll to leave you a manageable length approach shot. The greens are generally large and receptive to well-struck shots, but definitely putt pretty quick. Trust me, play almost 1/3 more speed and almost twice as much break as you think, especially on putts over 10ft. On holes like 6, 8, & 13 which are dogleg right holes with trees/hazard along the right, give yourself plenty of room to aim left and fade/slice it to not roll in there. This is a course where you can miss it sometimes up to 100 yds right off the tee, but generally not left a fraction of that much because of hazards/O.B. Overall, one of the best public courses in Metro Detroit and impeccable conditions. Try to play as often as you can, since it only gets better the more you play it!

I always enjoy playing here... Wonderful condition...great design.
Course is challenging, but fair.

The Orchards is a great course and kept up very well. Everything about the course is upscale. The course is challenging with a lot of bunkers that are precisely located. The only drawback is the price, but if you can catch a deal through Golfnow, then I would highly recommend you play this course. Definitely one of the best in the area!