Data center developer buys Rustic Glen Golf Club in Michigan

Related Digital, the developer building a $16 billion artificial-intelligence data center in Saline, Michigan, has finalized its purchase of the golf course next door. The company confirmed the deal for Rustic Glen Golf Club this week, ending months of local speculation about the 18-hole course's future.

What has Related Digital said about the course's future?

In a letter dated Aug. 18 to Rustic Glen's staff, Related Digital said its plan was "quite simple: to keep it as a great golf course and community amenity for members and the public to enjoy for years to come," and that there would be no layoffs tied to the sale. Prior owners Corey Byron and Keith Giffin, who bought the course in 2024, will stay on through the end of the year to help with the transition, according to the company and confirmed by Byron.

Byron and Giffin, Michigan natives who also own three other courses in the state, had listed Rustic Glen for $3.8 million in March, before the data center received final approval. The company's specific purchase price was not disclosed. Byron said the time demands of a separate project, a private club anchored by a Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner design in Alabama slated to open in late 2027 or early 2028, factored into the decision to sell.

What is the data center next to Rustic Glen?

The Barn is a data-center campus being built on farmland adjoining the course on behalf of OpenAI and Oracle. Saline officials initially voted down rezoning for the project amid community opposition, then reversed course after Related Digital and local landowners sued the township over what they called "exclusionary zoning." Oracle secured a 50% property-tax reduction that the company said would still generate $147 million a year for the township, county and schools, and Related Digital agreed to donate $14 million to the township and area fire departments. The Barn is under construction and expected to be complete in 2027.

Are other golf courses being sold for data centers?

Rustic Glen isn't an isolated case. In August 2025, Dauphin Highlands in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sold to a Dallas-based data-center developer for close to $50 million, roughly 10 times its assessed market value. Debates over converting golf courses into data-center sites are active in at least five other states.

A course selling for ten times its assessed value is a land story before it is a golf story.

The course's head professional and general manager, Scott Schimmoeller, said his early concerns about the sale have eased. "I've gotten good impressions about their intentions," he said. "From what I've heard, they are going to keep it as a golf course." He said the data center's footprint, which borders the driving range and the second and third holes, is large enough that he doesn't expect noise to be a significant issue for golfers, though he acknowledged the construction site itself is hard to miss.