NMP Golf Construction transforms Detroit Golf Club ahead of Rocket Classic 

As Detroit Golf Club prepares to welcome the Rocket Classic Presented by AlumniFi for the eighth and final year — July 30-Aug. 2, 2026 — NMP Golf Construction is spotlighting its role in the major renovation and transformation of the club’s historic North Course, which has hosted a PGA Tour stop since 2019. 

Working in support of architect Tyler Rae’s restoration of the 1920s Donald Ross design, NMP helped deliver the infrastructure and construction work needed to modernize the course while preserving its “Golden Age” character. The project included extensive storm, greens and fairway drainage; new irrigation mainlines and control systems; and significant construction across a flat, technically demanding site — all on an accelerated schedule shaped by the Rocket Classic tournament calendar. 

“Detroit Golf Club was a different kind of project because the tournament date was firm,” said Darryl Bartlett, chief development officer for NMP Golf Construction. “We had to work backward from when the course needed to be ready this July, give the club enough time for grow-in and still complete a full-scale renovation with extensive drainage and irrigation work. It took planning, manpower and execution, and our team hit every milestone.” 

NMP began by installing the heavy infrastructure in advance of the 2025 golf season, including roughly 9,000 feet of storm drainage pipe tied into the city storm system. Because of the site’s flat topography, portions of this system required deep trenching, with basins installed at significant depths to establish reliable grades and tie-in points for the rest of the renovation. 

The day after the 2025 Rocket Classic finished, NMP returned to the site to complete the course-wide renovation, including irrigation tie-ins, bunker and fairway drainage, greens drainage and installation of approximately 120,000 linear feet of 2-inch fairway slit drainage. At peak activity, the project required a workforce of more than 110 and precise coordination among construction, shaping, agronomy and tournament-readiness teams. 

The North Course renovation by Rae restored more of Ross’s original scale, strategy and visual character while updating the course for modern play and professional tournament demands. The project included rebuilt greens, repositioned and updated bunkering and enhanced playing surfaces, including new fairways.  

“We had to replace the infrastructural components of all major pieces of the golf course,” said Rae. “This entailed a completely new irrigation system, full-scale drainage replacement of very large, deep main drain lines — up to 18 feet deep in places — with a smaller arterial drainage network tying into the new main system, all new greens bunkers and tees, walk and cart bridges, ditches and cart pathways.” 

“This was a 10-month scope of work packed into a five-month project,” Bartlett added. “We were involved in every capacity, from drainage layout to building and shaping the greens and bunkers by hand with our team. This was an abnormal procedure since the timeline was so tight; thus, it was all hands-on deck from our team.”  

July’s tournament coverage will offer a national showcase for the restored venue and for the construction, agronomic and design teams that helped bring the project to completion.  

“This course has to perform for members, for agronomy and for the best players in the world,” Bartlett said. “That means that work below the surface matters just as much as what people see on television. Drainage, irrigation depth, basin locations, bunker floors and green construction all have to work together. We’re proud that NMP helped set up Detroit Golf Club for that kind of performance.” 

With final tournament preparation underway, NMP continues to support the club with punch-list work and finishing touches as grandstands, hospitality areas and tournament infrastructure are installed. 

“It looks fantastic,” Bartlett said. “When you see the course now, you see the strategy and the Ross character coming back, but you also know there is a tremendous amount of infrastructure underneath it. That is what makes a renovation like this last.”