Dearborn Country Club was one of Henry Ford’s personal civic projects in the 1920s. In 1923 he directed his secretary, Ernest Liebold, to develop a practical golf club for Dearborn residents. Liebold initially commissioned a local landscape plan but, before that scheme was completed, Ford engaged Donald Ross to lay out the course; Ross’s work coincided with Albert Kahn’s commission for the clubhouse. Club documents and local histories place the course opening in 1925, concurrent with completion of Kahn’s building. The National Park Service added the property to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025, and the Register documentation (as summarized in the NPS listing and secondary histories) reiterates Ross’s authorship and the late-1920s opening chronology.
Primary club control shifted in the postwar period: members purchased the property in 1952, after years of Ford family stewardship. The club grew its campus with a pool house (1956) and clubhouse additions (1959–60). In 1966–67, the course underwent a significant modernization under Clinton E. “Robbie” Robinson, an update that—by the club’s own description and subsequent directory entries—involved adding lakes and reshaping ground forms, as well as enlarging greens. A later remodeling by Jerry Matthews is recorded for 1985 by the Michigan State University architect archive. No documentary evidence surfaced in publicly available sources indicating that Ross himself returned for construction supervision or subsequent tweaks after the opening; confirmation either way would require access to club minutes, Ross office correspondence, or construction invoices.
Chronology (evidenced): 1923—Ross engaged; 1924–25—clubhouse constructed; 1925—course opened; 1952—member purchase; 1956–60—amenity additions; 1966/67—Robinson modernization; 1985—Jerry Matthews remodel; 2025—NRHP listing.
Unique Design Characteristics (as seen today, with attribution caveats)
The club’s “Course Tour” text provides hole-by-hole descriptions that illuminate present features. The first hole plays to a “crowned green,” a presentation that—if consistent with 1920s contours—would be compatible with Ross’s period green forms; however, Robinson’s 1966 program explicitly enlarged greens across the course, so the current crown may reflect later expansion or recontouring. The ninth has a “hog-back ridged green,” the fourteenth green is “divided by a high ridge,” and the eighteenth’s putting surface is described as ridged with flanking lakes near the green—contours that today create strong interior sections and difficult recoveries. These interior ridges and the scale of the surfaces reflect the mid-century enlargement program; without access to original Ross drawings, we cannot separate original shaping from 1960s augmentation with certainty.
Routing-wise, the course still occupies the same Ford-assembled acreage between Military Street and Outer Drive that opened in 1925, and nothing in publicly available club materials suggests a wholesale rerouting in 1966; most changes are characterized as additions of “knolls, valleys, [and] lakes” with green enlargement. Notably, water is in play at present on the third (pond left of green), twelfth (dogleg around a pond), thirteenth (large pond guarding the right), and eighteenth (lakes flanking the approach). Because club documents tie the introduction of “lakes” to Robinson’s 1966 project rather than to Ross’s 1920s work, those specific water hazards are best understood as later additions imposed onto Ross’s corridors. Conversely, holes with no significant water—such as 1, 5, 7–10, 14, 16–17—likely preserve Ross’s corridor alignments even if surface features were modernized; confirmation would require comparative analysis of 1920s and 1960s aerials or Ross plan sheets.
Among the clearest surviving “feel” of the original scheme are the opening and mid-front-nine corridors, which read as conventional ground-routed par-4s culminating in green sites described as “crowned” (#1) or with subtle front-to-back movement (#5) in the club’s tour text. By contrast, the late-back-nine holes (#12–#13, #18) showcase Robinson’s water and scale interventions. These attributions rely on the club’s published descriptions and the dated characterization of the 1966 works; granular distinctions of original vs. altered green interior contours remain unresolved absent primary drawings.
Historical Significance
Dearborn’s Ross course was one of several Detroit-area commissions tied to the auto industry’s growth and corporate patronage, standing alongside contemporary Ross work at Detroit Golf Club, Rackham, Western, Franklin Hills, and others. What sets Dearborn apart in the regional story is its direct Ford sponsorship, its Ross/Kahn pairing, and its later role in professional tournament golf. The club hosted the LPGA’s Lady Stroh’s Open in 1978 and 1979 (won by Sandra Post and Vicki Fergon), bringing national women’s professional golf onto the property. In 1990, Dearborn Country Club staged the Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship—the Champions Tour major now known as the Senior Players—won by Jack Nicklaus at 261 (−27); contemporary reporting explicitly places the event at Dearborn Country Club, with the “big four” of Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, and Player in the field. The club and state associations also cite U.S. Amateur sectional qualifying played at Dearborn in 2008. These tournament uses underscore the course’s capacity to handle championship setups after the 1966 modernization.
Current Condition / Integrity
Today’s course plays as a hybrid of Ross corridors and mid-century renovations. The club’s own historical summary credits Robinson in 1966 with adding “knolls, valleys, [and] lakes” and increasing green size; the present hole descriptions emphasize large, internally contoured greens on several holes and highlight water on 3, 12, 13, and 18—all consistent with that modernization brief. A subsequent 1985 remodel by Jerry Matthews is noted in the Michigan State University architect archive; the club’s public materials do not elaborate on scope, but in that era Matthews commonly updated bunkering, edges, and drainage for Michigan clubs. Without plan sets, it is prudent to treat most current green perimeters and some of their internal ridging as post-1966 work, while acknowledging that the overall routing and several land-based green sites likely trace to Ross. Tree planting since the mid-century era has produced narrow, shaded corridors on some holes, a modern overlay not typical of 1920s openness.
Facilities are fully contemporary: the current scorecard documents par and yardage, while the member orientation materials outline range access and practice expectations, caddie availability, and tournament operations. The club identifies itself unequivocally as private. These operational details, while not architectural, frame the conditions under which Ross’s corridors—and Robinson/Matthews’s updates—are experienced today.
Citations and Uncertainty
Two areas require specific caution. First, dates: the club’s own online scorecard masthead lists “Architects: Donald Ross (1916) and C.E. Robinson (1966).” The Robinson date aligns with other sources, but the “1916” for Ross conflicts with multiple narratives that document the project beginning in 1923 and opening in 1925; one directory entry even lists “Opened: 1928.” These inconsistencies almost certainly reflect differences between early land assembly, planning, and opening dates (or simple directory error). Verification requires consulting Ross plan dates, construction contracts, and early club minutes.
Second, architect attributions for later work: some online lists attribute renovations to both Jerry Matthews and W. Bruce Matthews III. The Michigan State University architect bibliography explicitly records a 1985 Dearborn CC remodel by Jerry Matthews; we found no primary source specifying a role for Bruce Matthews III at Dearborn. Until club records or project reports surface, Bruce’s involvement should be treated as unverified.
Sources & Notes
Dearborn Country Club—About/History pages. “Henry Ford developed our 18-hole golf course… opened in 1925.” Accessed 2025. (Club site; secondary summary of house history). [Verification from board minutes and the 1925 incorporation certificate would strengthen exact dates.]
National Register of Historic Places, Weekly List (Mar. 14, 2025). Confirms NRHP listing; Wikipedia’s Dearborn CC entry summarizes the NRHP Registration Form (Ian Tomashik, Feb. 24, 2025), including the commissioning sequence (local plan replaced by Ross) and campus chronology. [NRHP registration form itself should be consulted for direct quotation and fine-grained dating.]
Club “Course Tour” (public pages). Hole-by-hole descriptions noting crowned or ridged greens and the presence of water on 3, 12, 13, 18; used here to characterize present-day features. (Interpretive caution: the language describes current conditions, not necessarily original Ross features.)
1966–67 Modernization. Multiple sources attribute a 1966 update to Clinton E. “Robbie” Robinson with additions of lakes, knolls/valleys, and enlarged greens; see club-linked summaries and Michigan golf directories. (Primary scope drawings not located online.)
golfmichigan.com
1985 Remodel. Jerry Matthews listed by the Michigan State University “Golf Architects” archive as remodeling Dearborn CC in 1985. (Secondary listing; plans and scope not posted.)
Tournament Use—LPGA. The Lady Stroh’s Open (LPGA Tour) played at Dearborn Country Club in 1978–79; winners Sandra Post and Vicki Fergon. (LPGA chronology via standard references; also repeated in club channels.)
Tournament Use—Champions Tour. 1990 Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship hosted by Dearborn Country Club, won by Jack Nicklaus (−27); contemporary Los Angeles Times coverage places event at the club. Amateur Qualifying. U.S. Amateur sectional qualifying held at Dearborn CC in 2008 (university athletics release).