The Cardinal at Saint John's, Plymouth, Michigan

Key facts

• The Cardinal, which opened in 2024, is one of America's most beautiful courses, a tribute to Golden Age design sculpted by visionary architect Ray Hearn.
• Hearn has utilized Michigan's rolling landscape to create a winding course that's already been nominated for a USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Award for Best Public Golf Course.
• There are all kinds of stunning features for the golf purists, including the deep, Willie Park Jr.-style bunkers which could really test the players.

At a Glance

• The Cardinal, which opened in June 2024, is the crown jewel of Saint John’s Resort and incorporates Golden Age green contours and classic bunkering while preserving the century-old trees
• Michigan-based golf architect Raymond Hearn completely reworked the former site of a 27-hole layout on the west side of Detroit to create a new layout
• Hearn said the land was a “perfect setting for me to draw on my inspiration from previous Donald Ross, Tom Bendelow and Willie Park Jr. projects” and cited one of his favorite courses, Park’s Old Course in Sunningdale, England, as an influence
• Since opening last summer, the Cardinal has been nominated for a USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Award for Best Public Golf Course
• The Cardinal is the first championship course to open to the public in Metro Detroit in more than 20 years Saint John’s Resort is owned by The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit that has supported nearly 300 organizations worldwide with more than $150 million in grants and donations
• Two of the signature holes include the par-3 3rd (a challenging shot over water, with bunkers guarding the sides and behind the green) and the par-4 6th (rolling fairways and strategic bunkering)

The full story

Some courses become legendary over time. It takes years of intense competition and clutch moments for them to earn their greatness.

And other courses? They’re just built that way. Right away, and the Cardinal at Saint John’s is most definitely one of them. Framed by centuries-old trees and practically flooded with shimmering lakes, this brand-new course in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth is championship by design.

The Cardinal has been chosen to host the LIV Golf Team Championship decider in 2025, so let's take a closer look at what players and fans can expect.

What happened before we got here?

Well, the Cardinal itself only opened last June, but the wider resort goes all the way back to the 1940s, when a Catholic seminary was built on the land.

The Archdiocese of Detroit took over the property in the 1970s and to balance the books, they built a golf course, which quickly became a favorite of Michigan's amateur golfers.

In 2021, the property was purchased from the Archdiocese by the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, which set about a huge revamp to turn the property into a lifestyle estate. Central to the project was a brand-new golf course, designed to host the cream of the professional game as well as local enthusiasts.

The Pulte Family engaged famed architect Raymond Hearn to oversee the new course. Hearn is an expert in renovation projects, and he and his team used all their experience to remodel St John’s. The ancient woodland has been lovingly preserved, while a host of brand-new features have been added, drawing on St Andrews and other world-famous golf venues.

Since opening last summer, the Cardinal has already been nominated for a USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Award for Best Public Golf Course, and the wider Pulte project has received widespread praise: 100% of the profits from Saint John’s are donated to local and international charities.

How does it play?

Hearn is a great innovator, and he’s given the course a real Golden Age look and feel, with subtle traps that play tricks with your eye. Take the Willie Park Jr.-style bunkers, which seem to be part of the green itself when viewed from the tee, but actually lie short. Concentration and risk-reward management will be crucial here.

That said, there are scoring opportunities all over the course. Generous fairways, bump and run avenues… the Cardinal plays tough, but it plays fair too.

Who does it favor?

The course is relatively short - it spans just over 7,000 yards in all - so it doesn’t look like a track where you can drive the green too often. Rather, it looks the kind of place you’ve got to work your way round, thinking carefully about your lay-ups.

And you’ve got the extra dynamics of the Team Championship, with the pressure of eliminator golf and the added drama of match-play, which turns every hole into a win-or-lose nail-biter.

How can I be there?

For tickets to the 2025 LIV Golf Team Championship finale in Michigan, click here.