| Indianwood Golf and Country
Club has climbed from the depths to rise again to prominence as one of
America's great country clubs.
Under the leadership of owner Stan
Aldridge, Indianwood has climbed from the edge of non-existence in 1981 to the
current magnificent facility which has hosted two U.S. Women's
Open Championships.
For two decades the club was allowed to
flounder and slide into disrepair. From the heights of its creation
by designer Wilfred Reid in 1925 to the purchase in 1981 by Aldridge,
Indianwood took a slow and long slide into oblivion. |
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The
history of Indianwood begins in the 1800's with the original land owner,
Frank Blair, of Blair Farm who lost the property to Union Trust Bank
during the depression. It was during the roaring 20's when Wilfred
Reid, who designed a number of golf courses in Michigan along with The
Olympia Club in San Francisco, took the piece of land and designed the
historic course. The work began in 1925 and, according to
historians, became one of the havens for the elite of Detroit to get away
from the daily grind.
 The
original barns on the property were the basis for the clubhouse.
Indianwood quickly grew with the installation of a landing field for
airplanes in 1928, and was the host of the Michigan Open in the same year.
George Von Elm became the first amateur to win the crown. Easter
Sunday, however, brought bad news for Indianwood as a fire destroyed the
main dining room and kitchen. Total damage - $25,000. |
The spotlight of
the golf world turned to the little village of Lake Orion in 1930 when the
Western Golf Association brought the third largest tournament in the world
(at that time) to Indianwood. The layout played to 6,806 yards.
 A field of 150 players teed up for a prize of $1,795 which was divided
among the top twenty players. The $500 winner's check went to Gene Sarazen. It was the only major event that year not won by Robert T.
Jones, Jr. for which he was eligible.
The Western Open program described Indianwood
in its early days: "Indianwood is a 'Country' club in every sense of the
word, sufficiently far from the city to be completely divorced from its
clamor yet near enough to be conveniently accessible by motor." The metropolis of Lake
Orion at the time was so small that the area phone numbers,
according to program advertisements, were two digits.
The clubhouse flourished
during the decade as people ventured away from the big city. A brief
caddie strike over wages brought Indianwood attention in the newspapers of
the area. The club became so successful that officials raised green
fees in 1938 - $1.00 on weekends and 75 cents on weekdays. |
 A major change in
Indianwood came in 1942 when businessman Carl Ruebelman bought the club
and converted it to a private facility with all the amenities. The
dining room and bar room were open 365 days a year, including snowy winter
months. Members had the opportunity to reserve the guest rooms in
the clubhouse.
The Michigan PGA Championship returned to
Indianwood in 1948 and 1949. Two big names in golf history - Horton
Smith and Ed Furgol - claimed the championships on Reid's design.
Smith, who served as president of the PGA of America during the early
50's, brought much attention to the state and is one of the inductees into
the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.
The 1960's and 70's saw Indianwood slowly
slide into oblivion in Detroit-area golf circles. The passing of Mr.
Reubelman and the circumstances following bounced the club around,
resulting in neglect to the clubhouse and course.
The dynamic turnaround for the club came on
February 20, 1981. Four writers were invited by golf consultant Jim
Dewling to visit Indianwood and meet its new owner. As the reporters
walked through the facility, one looked around and said, "Berlin 1945."
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 Indeed, it was a perfect description.
Beams hung broken from ceilings. There were holes and warped
sections in the floor. The look of a bombed-out building greeted the
writers.
Aldridge has a better idea and told the
writers of his goals. His intensions seemed ambitious, but the
challenge ahead would be met quickly.
"I don't know much about golf," Aldridge
said to the existing membership at the time, "but I pledge to make
Indianwood the best country club there is for members." In
retrospect, Aldridge has a soft spot for the historic club.
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| "Indianwood changed my life
completely," he said, "I played a little golf when I was young and my
uncles were members here when I was a child. We came here for
dinners on Sundays and we have pictures of us here when I was
eight-years-old. I bought a (production) plant in Lake
Orion back in 1975 and I used to drive by, look at the place and remember
what it once was." |
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 "We have a
clipping from the 1930's that stated Indianwood had been ranked as one of
the top 10 clubs in America. We're not sure who ranked them, but the
greatness has always been at Indianwood. We became caretakers with
the job of restoring the club to its original state and bringing back its
prestige."
Most golf course owners would sit back and
bring in others to do the job. Aldridge, however, is a man who puts
himself into a job with everything he has. After turning around a
number of companies, Indianwood became the center of his attention.
Ironically, the architect that Aldridge hired for the renovation was Bill
Zmistowski, the great grandson of Wilfred Reid (Indianwood's original
architect). |
The club renovation
became an Aldridge family project. Sue, Stan's wife, who is an
interior decorator was very involved in the renovation. Much of the
exterior beauty of Indianwood comes from the eye of Sue Aldridge.
 Daughter Kelley also played a major role in
the development and progress of Indianwood. This graduate from
Michigan State in Construction Management was the construction
superintendent of the 30,000 square foot clubhouse and locker room
addition completed in early 1989. The clubhouse was truly Kelley's
project. Her work with the beautiful stained glass (brought to Lake
Orion from Europe) and the intricacies of each segment of the addition
only brightens the spotlight shining on the club.
Sons Kirk and Kevin have also been involved at
Indianwood. Both have spent time on bulldozers on the new course and
have helped manage the day-to-day operations of the club. Kimberly
the middle child has been actively involved at Canterbury Village, another
of Aldridge's projects.
The two youngest members of the family also
have spent time at the club. Katie worked on the U.S. Women's Open
in 1994 and son Keith spent many summers helping at the club while away
from playing collegiate hockey at Lake Superior State University in
Northern Michigan. "We became
caretakers of a unique and unrecognized piece of history. We wanted
to make Indianwood more appealing so people could see it for what it was
originally and is now again. There is great pride for my family and
the membership to be part of history like this. We are all proud of
this grand old club." |
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