Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont Country Club is a country club and the "oldest top-ranked golf course in the U. S."^[3], in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Plum and Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA. The Pennsylvania Turnpike separates the eastern seven holes (2–8) from the rest of the course.

Oakmont's course

The course, the only design by Henry Fownes, opened in 1903. It straddles the Allegheny River Valley and uniquely has virtually no water hazards, and, since 2007, almost no trees. With a USGA course rating of 77.5 and some two hundred bunkers it is generally regarded in the golf community as one of the most difficult in the United States. It features large, extremely fast, and undulating greens. All are original but the 8th, which was moved several yards to the left to make way for the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the late 1940s. Originally a links course, trees were added in the 1950s-1960s. Most were removed beginning after the 1994 U.S. Open, with between 5,000 and 8,000 eliminated during a 2007 renovation alone.^[4] Greens are planted with Poa annua.^[5] Par for members is 71.

The course is also noted for its slope. Most noted on holes 1, 3, 10 and 12, Oakmont's greens pitch away from the fairway.^[6]

One of Oakmont's most famous hazards is the Church Pews bunker, a large roughly one hundred by forty yard bunker that that features twelve grass covered traversing ridges which comes into play on the 3rd and 4th holes.

For many years Oakmont's bunkers were groomed with a rake with wider than normal tines, creating deep furrows. The rakes were last used in U.S. Open competition in 1962 and eliminated from the club in 1964.^[7]

Rankings

The course has been consistently ranked as one of the five best by Golf Digest 100 Greatest Golf Courses in America. In 2007 Oakmont was placed in 5th by the magazine.^[8] It is one of only a few courses ranked every year in the top ten of the publication's history. The top 50 toughest courses ranks Oakmont also at number 5,^[9] while GolfLink.com ranks it at #3 overall.^[10]

Oakmont scorecard

• The ninth hole plays as a par four for USGA Championships.

A hole-by-hole course map from GOLF magazine (June 2007) can be viewed here [1] Flyovers of the holes can be seen here [2]

Major championships held at Oakmont

Oakmont has been selected as host of the U.S. Open nine times, more than any other course. [3], and will host the tournament again in 2016. It has also played host to three PGA Championships, five U.S. Amateurs, three NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships and the U.S. Women's Open twice. In total championships hosted (21) it also far outranks any other course.

U.S. Opens

Photo galleries of the U.S. Opens at Oakmont from the USGA's official site can be seen here [4]

1927

Played from June 14-June 16 1927: Won by Tommy Armour, who defeated Harry Cooper in a playoff. Their 72 hole score was 13 over par. The par 72 course played to 6,929 yards (6,336 m) in 1927. [5] The average score for the field was 78.6 (+ 6.6) and the field recorded just 2 rounds under par. The total purse of prize money was $800.[6]

1935

Won by Sam Parks, Jr. at 11 strokes over par. The par 72 course played to 6,981 yards (6,383 m) in 1935 and the average score for the field was 80.55 (+ 8.55) and the field recorded 3 rounds under par. The total purse of prize money was $5,000.

1953

Ben Hogan won his second of three straight majors in 1953 at Oakmont by six strokes, coming in at five under par.

Questionable scheduling conflicts made it difficult to play all four majors that year, as the PGA Championship, then a match-play event, and the British Open overlapped in early July. Hogan won The Masters by five strokes and the British Open at Carnoustie by four strokes. The par 72 course played at 6,916 yards (6,324 m) in 1953 and the average score for the field was 77.12 (+ 5.12) and the field recorded 20 rounds under par. The purse was $14,900 and the champion earned $5,000.

1962

At the 1962 U.S. Open, an up-and-coming 22-year-old named Jack Nicklaus defeated the world's top player at the time, Arnold Palmer, in a Sunday playoff round in Palmer's home state.

Both competitors had completed the 72 holes with at 1-under par (283). It was the first professional victory for Nicklaus, and the first of his 18 professional majors. Palmer would win the next major, the 1962 British Open, and his fourth Masters in 1964, but never another U.S. Open. In 1962 par was reduced by a stroke to 71 course length slightly reduced to 6,893 yards (6,303 m); the average score for the field was 75.86 (+ 4.86) and the field recorded 19 rounds under par. The purse was $81,600 and the champion earned $17,500.

1973

Johnny Miller shot a final round 63 (-8) to set a record low score at a U.S. Open, and finished at five under par to win by one stroke.

Following an overnight rainstorm, Miller entered the final round in 12th place at three-over, six strokes behind the four co-leaders.^[11] Miller had carded a disappointing five-over 76 on Saturday, and his tee time on Sunday was about an hour ahead of the final pairing, which included Arnold Palmer.

Miller birdied the first four holes and hit all 18 greens in regulation, and used only 29 putts. Miller and four others were the only ones to break par during the final round in 1973. The par 71 course played at 6,921 yards (6,329 m) and the average score for the field was 75.45 (+ 4.45) and the field recorded 40 rounds under par. The purse was $219,400 and the champion earned $35,000.

Miller's low score (9 birdies with 1 bogey) led the USGA to set up the course at the following year's championship, now known as The Massacre at Winged Foot, in an extremely challenging manner; Hale Irwin's winning score in 1974 was seven strokes over par.

Johnny Miller's 63: - club selection and results - June17, 1973^[12]

1983

In 1983, Larry Nelson was six over par at 148 after the first two rounds. He then established the 36-hole record at the U.S. Open when he finished 65-67 to score a 4-under par 280, defeating Tom Watson by a single shot. Nelson's two-round total of 132 (10 under par) broke the previous record by four shots, established by Gene Sarazen 51 years earlier. Nelson's record performance, although not receiving level acclaim to Miller's 63 finish, has yet to be equaled.^[13] The par 71 course played at 6,972 yards (6,375 m) in 1983 and the average score for the field was 76.13 (+ 5.13) and the field recorded 27 rounds under par. The purse was $506,184 and the champion earned $72,000.

1994

In 1994, a 24-year-old Ernie Els outlasted Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie in another Monday playoff round to capture the U.S. Open, his first major and first victory in the U.S.

The three in the playoff completed the four rounds at five under par (279), but all were well over par during the playoff round, played in oppressive heat and humidity, as temperatures approached 100°F (38°C).^[14] Montgomerie shot a 42 on the front nine, ending with a 7-over 78 and was eliminated, but Els and Roberts were tied at 3-over 74, with Roberts missing a short putt on the 18th hole to win outright, so they kept playing. On the second extra hole, Roberts bogeyed and Els made a par to win the championship. The par 71 course played at 6,946 yards (6,351 m) in 1994 and the average score for the field was 74.25 (+ 3.25); the field recorded 62 rounds under par. The purse was $1.75 million and the champion earned $320,000.

2007

Ángel Cabrera of Argentina shot five over par (285) to defeat Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by a stroke.

A course renovation had deepened the bunkers and removed over 4000 trees that had been planted mostly in the 1960s, returning the course to its original links style appearance.^[15] The course was lengthened to 7,230 yards (6,610 m) and par was reduced by a stroke to 70, as the uphill 9th hole became a par-4. The par-3 8th hole played at 300 yards in Round 4, the par-5 12th hole at over 660 yards, and the par-4 15th at 500 yards. The average score for the field in 2007 was 75.72 (+ 5.72), with every hole averaging an over-par score.^[16] The field recorded just 8 rounds under par, only two per round. Cabrera had two of these sub-par rounds, shooting a 69 (-1) on Thursday and Sunday.

The weather was much more agreeable than in 1994: the high temperatures were 75-79°F for the first three rounds and 90°F for the final round, and there were no weather delays in any of the rounds. The total purse was $7.0 million and the champion earned $1.26 million.

Quotes from notable golfers

• USGA Sr. Director of Rules and Competitions Mike Davis: "There's a reason [the U.S. Open is] coming back to Oakmont. This really is the gold standard for championship golf. It doesn't get any better than Oakmont."^[17]
• Lee Trevino: “There's only one course in the country where you could step out right now — right now — and play the U.S. Open, and that's Oakmont.”^[18]
• Phil Mickelson: "It's really a neat, special place."^[19]
• Johnny Miller: "It's probably the best course in the world . . . This is the greatest course I've ever played."^[19]

On Oakmont's greens:

• Tiger Woods:"That golf course is going to be one of the toughest tests that we've ever played in a U.S. Open, especially if it's dry, it will be unreal because those greens are so severe."^[6]
• Arnold Palmer: "You can hit 72 greens [in regulation] in the Open at Oakmont and not come close to winning."^[19]
• Rocco Mediate said of the greens that they are "almost impossible"
• Sam Snead once commented that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont's greens but the coin slid off.^[6]
• Lee Trevino claimed every time he two-putted at Oakmont he knew he was passing somebody on the leader board.^[6]
• Johnny Miller said that Oakmont's are the greatest set of greens for testing a player's ability to putt.^[6]
• USGA Sr. Director Mike Davis: "[Oakmont's greens are the] scariest in golf."^[6]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

References

Further reading

• Ward-Thomas, P., Wind, H.W., Price, C., Thomson, P. (2002). World Atlas of Golf. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-60720-8. 

External links

• Oakmont's Official Site
• USGA's series on "America's Toughest Course Part I"
• U.S. Open video of all eight tournaments at Oakmont
• U.S. Open.com - 2007 U.S. Open Fact Sheet
• 2007 U.S. Open - course statistics - all rounds
• Oakmont Guide at GolfClubAtlas.com
• GCSAA.org - superintendents' fact sheet - 2007 U.S. Open
• Description of Oakmont's clubhouse