Sylvan Glen Golf Course celebrates 100th anniversary

TROY — Golf is often a game taught and passed down from one generation to another. It is rare for so many generations to have been able to share the same course.

Community leaders from around the Troy area gathered together July 26 to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Sylvan Glen Golf Course on Rochester Road.

“This is a very exciting moment for Troy and our history and also when looking at everything we’ve overcome in the last few years,” said Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who represents Michigan’s 11th District and was present at the celebration. “To be here with our mayor and City Council recognizing the 100th anniversary of one of the crown jewels of our city, at a place that so many people enjoy through all seasons and through all generations, has meant a lot to me.”

Troy purchased the Sylvan Glen Golf Course in 1971. Previously, it was a private club. It is managed by Troon Golf Management.

Troy Mayor Ethan Baker said that the course has played a special role in the city of Troy’s growth over the last century and still serves as a refuge for people to this day.

“I think this course has done amazing things for Troy over the last century. Most recently, it’s a place that allowed thousands of Troy residents to get outside and have some recreation with friends and family during the pandemic,” he said. “It was a private club when it started out in 1922. I always joke that Troy was up north when they would have started. We were up in farmland for most people in the Detroit area. In some respects, this course helped put Troy on the map.”

Stevens presented an official congressional declaration of recognition at the celebration to mark the course’s anniversary. She said the course has played a huge and personal role in many families from around the Troy area.

“This is a place where I spend time with my family, particularly Camp Ticonderoga, which is my father’s favorite restaurant. We have a lot of great memories here as a family,” said Stevens. “When the mayor told me Sylvan Glen would be celebrating 100 years, I immediately thought I would need to get this into the Congressional Record, because I am very interested in the archives of our country and the utilization of our House record to tie it back to the communities we represent.”

Baker remarked that Troy residents have had to fight in the past to make sure the course remained a resource the public could use when hard financial times hit.

“Back in the recession of 2009, we were in danger of losing some of these great facilities, and we were fortunate that our predecessors on council found a way to keep it open,” he said. “We’re happy with the partnership we have with the course managers who have done a great job taking care of the course since that time.”

Trent Altieri, the general manager of Sylvan Glen Golf Course, said that the course staff and managers were eager to help celebrate the historic moment in the course’s lifespan.

“There was a lot of excitement leading up to this anniversary,” he said. “I was reaching out to all of our senior golfers and getting a feel of how they grew up here and how the course has changed. We have a lot of new, younger golfers too, so we have a variety of people coming out to take advantage of the course in this community. … We changed our logo so it includes something that says ‘established 1922’ so you get an idea of its history just on our signage. It’s cool to be at a 100-year-old golf course and knowing that there’s a lot of history here.”

He added that the course will host a special day of free golf to help commemorate the occasion.

“To celebrate, on Aug. 13, we’re having an open day of golf where anybody can play,” said Altieri. “We will also have some giveaways with some items from the course featuring our new logo. We also will have some course competitions that day, such as longest drive and closest to the pin. We’ll also have some older clubs out here so people can try out some vintage clubs, and we’ll probably have some competitions (such as seeing) who can hit the longest drive with the older clubs.”

Those interested can book their tee time online for the Aug. 13 event in the same way they would normally book a tee time for the course. The website is www.golftroy.com. People can also reserve times by calling (248) 619-7692.

Altieri believes that Michigan residents’ love of golf, coupled with having a solid course in the middle of a densely populated community, are the key reasons the course has endured decade after decade.

“I think the state of Michigan is big on golf. We have the top five most golf courses in the United States,” he explained. “Since we have a shortened season, you have people trying to squeeze in all the golf they can, and having a course right around the corner helps them do that. Not to mention that we just have a lot of golfers in the area. Especially since COVID happened, more people were eager to get outside in a socially distanced way.”

Baker agreed that the location is among the things that make the course special, noting that this is aided by the love and care those playing on the course have poured into it over the years.

“The concept of having the course being in the middle of a 32-square-mile built-out city, and having this truly nature-filled 180 acre space that is essentially a preserve with wildlife and birds and streams in the middle of that city, is very special,” remarked Baker. “It is a peaceful place in the middle of our city.”