Barton Hills Country Club

The Donald Ross design opened in stages -- nine holes in 1919, extended to a full 18 by 1922 -- and plays to a par of 70 across roughly 7,085 yards on land shaped by the Huron River valley. The course has been touched by several later architects (William Diddel, Bill Newcomb, Arthur Hills) over the decades, but a 2012 Ron Pritchard restoration deliberately returned the layout toward its Ross-era character, reintroducing native grasses and firm-and-fast playing conditions while adding tees to serve a wider range of player abilities. The long, stroke-index-1 par-four 3rd (493 yards), back-to-back par fives at the 9th and 10th, and a heavily cross-bunkered closing par-four 18th are frequently cited highlights. The course's selection to host the 2026 U.S. Senior Women's Open is a real, current marker of its competitive standing.

Barton Hills operates as a private, member-owned (equity) club with membership by invitation and application; named categories found include Resident, Young Professional (ages 21-37, converting to Resident membership and its full initiation fee at 38), and Social. Owning a home in the Village of Barton Hills does not include or require club membership -- village governance (a public Board of Trustees) and club governance (a private member-owned club) are legally distinct, and roughly 45% of village residents were reported as club members in 2020, meaning a substantial share of homeowners are not members. A prospective buyer should treat club access as a separate application process from any home purchase in the village.

The Village of Barton Hills is a small, forested, estate-lot community about ten minutes northwest of downtown Ann Arbor, distinct from and independent of the City of Ann Arbor. Homes are relatively few (roughly 140), large, and set on generous wooded lots along the Olmsted-planned road system, with styles spanning midcentury modern to Colonial Revival built mostly between 1922 and 2000. Because the village is so small and single-purpose, the golf club and the residential community read, in practice, as one continuous identity rather than a club with an adjacent but separate neighborhood.

Beyond the golf course, the club offers a pool complex, tennis programs, a fitness component, a ballroom for events, and dining -- a full-service private club experience for a community of this size.

Barton Hills sits along the Huron River northwest of downtown Ann Arbor, within Ann Arbor Charter Township, roughly a 10-minute drive from downtown and the University of Michigan.