Glen Oaks Golf Course turns 100 years old this spring

FARMINGTON HILLS — The historic Glen Oaks Golf Course is turning 100 years old this spring and on May 14, Oakland County Parks will be celebrating the milestone.

The Farmington Hills landmark has been a pillar in the community for generations now and it only feels right to celebrate such an important fixture.

“It’s a place where now we have generations of golfers and neighbors… to not only play, but generations of families have been married there and have had different events,” Erik Koppin, the chief of park operations and maintenance for Oakland County Parks, said. “We continue to make the next generation of (club) users year after year.”

Nearly everyone in the Farmington Hills area has played golf or experienced at least one event at the venue and it doesn’t matter how old or young you are.

“Whether it’s golfing, special events, wedding, anniversary party, birthday party, wedding showers, it’s really a hub to celebrate life’s biggest events,” Koppin said. “It’s been that way for 100 years now and it’s pretty incredible.”

Koppin said that this time of year there’s seemingly a wedding happening almost every weekend and that the dedication to making the venue a destination for all events is what makes it so special to the community.

A birthday party that was recently scheduled for a 100-year-old resident in the area highlights the impact of Glen Oaks. Generation after generation have grown up with this venue in their community.

“It’s really neat that someone thinks this is the place to do it,” Koppin said. “The main piece of it is still in place. It’s really a place that we take a lot of pride in managing and operating.”

“It’s not just golf, it’s a destination place,” Oakland County Parks historian Carol Bacak-Egbo said. “A lot of the people who stop in never played golf there. Their memory is of being there for an event. That’s what makes something in a community.”

A lot of the events over the years have been held in the clubhouse and the banquet center. The evolution of these host buildings have been part of what makes Glen Oaks so special.

“Having that venue there, nobody can pass that building and not say, ‘What is that?’ It’s eye-catching,” Bacak-Egbo said. “To open it up to the community… that’s why we expanded that banquet room. … It was doing so well as a destination spot.”

The origin of the facility is obviously still golf, and the course’s roots are what has gotten it through even the toughest of times.

“The golf club stayed afloat,” Bacak-Egbo said. “It survived when other things during the depression didn’t survive. That’s kind of how it became a pillar in the community.”

On May 14, Glen Oaks will host a celebration in honor of the course having its doors open for 100 years. The event will focus on the history of the landmark and teach guests more about how the golf course was designed. There will also be an exquisite buffet prepared by Oak Management.

“It’s so much history packed into one structure,” Bacak-Egbo said.

Bacak-Egbo will present and teach and share information about the history of the course during the May 14 event.

Glen Oaks is a fantastic facility and golf course, but the reason why it has become so important to the Farmington Hills community is because it brings people together.

“For me, it’s all about people. I always think about the number of people who have walked into that building,” Bacak-Egbo said. “The fundamental story of a structure is never the stone, but the people. … The people who have been connected to that building.”

Those who have questions about the program can call or text (248) 221-8040. For information on events, visit OaklandCountyParks.com.