For 13 years, the Rocket Classic has brought PGA Tour action to Detroit, with the Detroit Golf Club hosting the last seven editions. But as the tournament begins on Thursday, it marks the final year of Rocket Mortgage’s title sponsorship. The PGA Tour released a statement last month announcing the end of its partnership with Rocket Mortgage, but as PGA Tour leaves the venue, it will prove to be a major headache for the 147-player field. 

According to a report from the Central Oregon Daily News, the Detroit Golf Club has undergone a massive restoration project that racked up $16.1 million. Perhaps the biggest change is that the course will now play as a par 70, a change from a par 72, which had been the case for the last seven years. But that is barely the end of the changes players will have to deal with this week. 

The renovation project on the course has left it with deeper bunkers and bigger greens. Bunker renovation was important here. The Donald Ross design emphasized depth perception and the layers. Course architect Tyler Rae, who spearheaded the project, tried to restore that. What will it mean for pros?

Well, they have to avoid them as much as they can. And if they land inside the sand traps, crossing the wall of bunkers will be increasingly hard. Any ball stuck around the lip of the bunker will force the player to land on the other side of the green instead of aiming for the hole and risking an extra shot.

“So you might think, ‘Wow! the fairway is big; the green is bigger. But it looks harder than it is,” Rae told Gary Williams in the 5 Clubs Podcast.

Xander Schauffele would agree.

“Fairways are key,” the two-time major winner said. “There’s a few holes where you can get away with hitting in the rough where you’ve got a wedge in your hand, but with the trees kind of overhanging on some holes and the bunkers, there’s a lot of bunkers positioned sort of in that 50 to 75 range out from the green that feels like you can’t run a ball up.”

Special attention also covers the fescue grass, which will grow longer and appear more often. Then there are the par-4 holes; the course designers lengthened them and added more ditches and hazards, forcing players to be more careful while navigating the course. Meanwhile, the pre-existing four par-5 holes now number only two.

Those two, the 7th and 17th holes, were previously short par-5s by PGA Tour standards. But now they are longer par-4s. The 14th hole, which was previously part of the ‘3-1-3’ corridor, had a large pond in front of the green. But it has now been completely removed and filled in with fescue. So the course will now have four par-4 holes longer than 500 yards, with two of them coming back-to-back on Nos. 6 and 7.

Meanwhile, there are three par-4s under 400 yards: Nos. 2, 12, and 18. However, the last hole has also been lengthened: it will play over 470 yards, up from 455 yards last year.

Golf course architect Tyler Rae has overseen these changes and built on the work of Donald Ross. The latter’s course was always considered easier. So, with the changes, is the course much more difficult? 

Pros are losing a big opportunity

The reduction in the number of par-5s will see players lose two of their best birdie and eagle opportunities. The longer par-4s, which were previously considered the easiest holes on the course, will now become some of the toughest, requiring longer approach shots and making pars more valuable. Meanwhile, the deeper bunkers will make recovery shots significantly harder and increase the penalty for errant drives and approach shots.

The introduction of more fescue grass, especially where the pond in front of the 14th green used to be, means wayward shots that find the thick grass will be more heavily penalized and harder to recover from. And with every hole remeasured or rerouted, it has created different angles that require club selections players have never faced before.

All the players returning to the course on Thursday will find it unfamiliar and significantly altered, reducing the advantage of previous course knowledge. While it remains to be seen whether the changes have indeed made the course more difficult, the winning score has previously ranged from 18-under to 26-under par, so that could change this year.

Tony Finau scored a tournament-record 26-under par in 2022, while Aldrich Potgieter won at 22-under par in 2025 after a playoff. This year, however, birdies have become harder to come by, making it more difficult to post such low scores. 

What are top players saying about Detroit Golf Club?

Wyndham Clark, a regular at the tournament, summed it up this way:

“It’s already eight shots tougher just because there’s two less par 5s, and holes like 2, they moved back about 50 yards. That used to have a wedge into it, now it’s going to be probably an 8-iron so that changes quite a bit. And a lot of the fescue makes it more challenging off the tee.”

It definitely is going to be. The winning score is likely to be higher than what it was last year. Defending champion. Aldrich Potgieter, one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, said there are a lot of par-4s that feel like 500 yards. Don’t forget about the greens too.

“It’s really hard to say. I don’t know what the greens are going to look like by the time the weekend rolls around, but I do think it’s going to play a little harder,” said the South African International.

In the meantime, as the Rocket Classic truly tries to test its players, the PGA Tour has already found a replacement tournament. It has partnered with Japanese insurer Sompo, which will become the title sponsor next year under a yet-to-be-announced tournament name. This new tournament, however, will be played in Napa, California, so some are hoping the PGA Tour returns to Detroit.

“It’s been amazing to see what they’ve been able to build,” Rickie Fowler said. “To be a part of that has been a lot of fun… I’d love to have an event back here at some point. Never say never.”