Oakmont CC, PA, USA   
Green Keeper: John Zimmers

In the 1960s, Oakmont Country Club underwent a massive tree planting campaign that completely changed the nature of the course. Oakmont almost became regarded as pretty parkland course, a description that surely had its founder Mr. Henry C. Fownes spinning in his grave.

Since the 1994 U.S. Open, however, all that has changed and the club board at Oakmont is to be congratulated for the single most impressive on-going restoration work with which the authors are familiar. Headlined by a tree removal program par excellent, five thousand plus trees have been removed and there are once again wonderful views across the much of the course, with no trees masking the great beauty of the landscape. Thanks to this successful ten year tree removal program, Oakmont once again possesses the barren landscape reminiscent of links courses. Importantly, Oakmont has been restored as the Charles Bronson of golf courses - no special effects are necessary.

No longer a parkland course, the authors find Oakmont to be one of the three or four most individualistic of all the great courses. Like Carnoustie and Royal Liverpool, there is something appealing in the course's apparent desire not to be appealing.

Other courses are longer, but for sheer intimidation, Oakmont is the one that gets the authors' worried, quicker than any other course. A hole is never over until the putt is sunk - and therein lies the rub. Unlike Augusta National, Oakmont maintains its greens at a blistering pace year around. Truly, when the US Open comes to town, they slow down the greens.

The desire to have a monstrously difficult course is nothing new. Architects have been given that command for most of this century - from Tillinghast at Winged Foot to Dye at PGA West to Doak at Wilderness Valley. The first such course was Oakmont Country Club. What separates Oakmont, however, is that it is the most natural and seemingly effortless of the world's notoriously challenging courses. It does not rely on acres of man-made ponds, deep bunkers or earth movement.

Given the clay subsurface, Fownes could not make deep bunkers as at Winged Foot, due to difficulties with both construction and drainage. Oakmont is justly known for its bunkers, but the visitor is often surprised to realize, over a drink after his round, that the bunkers are simply not that deep. What is striking are the numbers of them and their positions. The well-known furrows in the bunkers have been gone for over 50 years.

Amazingly little earth was moved in the construction of Oakmont. Without exception, each green is just set where it belongs, with no sign whatsoever of it having been forced into that site. This observation makes some of the more severe greens (e.g., the 1^st and 10^th) more understandable as each green just follows the dominant slope of the terrain (i.e., downhill, away from the player).

Then what earns Oakmont its fearsome reputation? Given there is no water, and out of bounds rarely comes into play, it is amazing how many spots around the green that a player can find himself D-E-A-D. Over the back on the 2^nd, right on the 6^th, short on the 10^th, right on the 13^th, the list goes on. The point is Oakmont is a position course, requiring the golfer to maintain a game plan at all times. Otherwise, the golfer can be made to look silly. Fownes noted to Walter Hagen, 'Surely it is not asking too much of a champion to expect him to play every shot.'

Oakmont never has relied on length as its primary defense. Although the course can now be stretched to over 7,100 yards (par 71) from the back tees, the overall impression is shorter. Consider, for example, that two of the three par fives (the 4th and 12^th) measure 565 and 605 yards and that two (the 8^th and 16^th) of the four short holes are 255 and 230 yards on the card, leaving a collection of par fours of modest length. Two of the longer par fours (the 1^st at 465 yards and the 10^th at 460 yards) play much shorter as the approaches are downhill to greens that run away. It features five par fours under 400 yards. A three wood and a short iron should in theory see you through.

Like Pine Valley, Oakmont is far more than just a penal course - this is position golf at its most exacting. Take the 2^nd green - it is the toughest green on the course and slopes fiercely from back to front. Any approach shot above the hole turns into a matter of survival. And yet, the best angle to the green is from the right hand side of the fairway, just where three bunkers encroach.

The Oakmont greens are justifiably legendary. They are not only kept on a daily basis ultra fast and firm, but they are among the most undulating in the world. Some (e.g., the 2^nd and 5^th) merely reflect the topography while others (e.g., the 9^th and 18^th) have apparently random rolls, plateaus and valleys.

The club and Green Keeper John Zimmers deserves much credit for the care of the course. Fownes once again would be proud of the presentation of the course. After travelling to the British Isles, Fownes had his team of 150 men and 25 donkeys cut down every tree in sight in an effort to recreate the unobstructed sweep of a links course. The Club is ensuring that vision remains true today. In addition, the club is also attempting to restore several of the greens to their original size and shape. The 18^th, for example, is being returned to its squared-off shape. If only more clubs would take similar steps.

Holes to Note

3^rd hole, 425 yards: The authors' favorite two shotter on the first nine, the tee shot is one of the more inviting on the course, although the famed Church Pews loom on the left. The approach, however, is what makes the hole, with the green on top of a hill, running slightly away from the player. One of very few uphill approaches with which the authors are familiar that has the target sloping away, making the approach all that much more precise - land too short and the ball comes back ten yards, leaving the player with little chance for a par; carry too far onto the green and the ball rolls over.

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