This transformation has been ongoing, and impressive. Saint John’s started as a seminary in the 1940s. Seminarians designed the first nine holes of the 27-hole Mission Hills course in the early 1970s.
The seminary closed in 1988 and was dormant until 1994 when it re-opened as a retreat center for youth and families. Then, over time, it was converted into a conference center and hotel. With Jerry Matthews joining the design effort the course reached 27 holes in the late 1990s, with the nines given biblical names – Matthew, Mark and Luke.
And now it’s a resort, and a very nice one to boot, with a golf component that sets an impressive tone for the entire development.
The evolution of Saint John’s was a slow one until William Pulte Family Management purchased the facility from the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit in 2021. Then a $50 million transformation began, turning Saint John’s into what it is today – a “humanitarian’’ resort that features a 118-room hotel with three restaurants – all very good, but distinctly different. The Five Steakhouse, the Grotto Wine Bar and Doyle’s Irish Pub all fit perfectly into the resort’s composition.
So does the golf operation – the 18-hole Cardinal course, the seven-hole Little Cardinal short course, the 18-hole two-acre putting course, Carl’s Golfland retail store and a four-season heated Trackman driving range and short game practice area.
June 22 was opening day for The Cardinal, Little Cardinal, putting course and Doyle’s Pub. That underscores the freshness of this revitalized resort. While there’s still some signs of construction the place – barely two months past its latest re-opening — is in full operation now.
The Cardinal is the first new public course to open in the Detroit area since Shepherd’s Hollow, in Clarkston, over 20 years ago and the Little Cardinal has become the area’s first short course.
All of it is based on an unusual and interesting humanitarian concept. All profits from the resort operation go to the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit that supports more than 200 humanitarian and educational initiatives both in the Detroit area and around the world. More
