Oakmont once had a par of 80
With the U.S. Open kicking off, here are some quick hits on the tournament and Oakmont Country Club, the golf course it is being played over.
“It’s just relentless. There’s no hole you can just kind of plod your way around and make an easy par or have a decent birdie putt. There’s just no let up. From one tee to 18 green, it’s relentless. You’ve got some short holes, shortish holes, 2, 11, 14, 17, but they’re so demanding in one area.” Said Lucas Glover, who is in the 156-player field.
Rory McIlroy shot an 81 in a practice rounds on Monday and was in danger of shooting an 83. He said he didn’t play badly. He called the course “impossible.”
The founder of Oakmont, Henry Clay Fownes, who died in 1935, personally designed the golf course and went out of his way to make it as hard as possible, was a golf fanatic who eventually washed his hands of Oakmont late in life because the club had become “too social.”
Oakmont was built in 1903 before Pittsburgh was Pittsburgh. That’s because the city was called Pittsburg back then and only added an “h” in 1911.
Oakmont started as a 6,400-yard par 80 with a 560-yard par 6 and eight par 5s and as many as 300 bunkers. It now has 175. It recently underwent a “sympathetic restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. It’s now 7,372 yards long and plays to a par of 70.
“The 2025 U.S. Open scorecard yardage is only 118 yards longer than in 2016 [the last time the U.S. Open was played there], there are additional wrinkles: expanded green surfaces (an average of 1,200 square feet per green recovered by Hanse’s team in its restoration), fairway bunker positioning that better reflects current driving distances, and fairway contouring that embraces the Fownes philosophy,” according to USGA writer Ron Driscoll.
Oakmont’s greens are expected to run at 15 or more in the Stimpmeter but a significant chance of rain could slow them down. Members boast that they make the greens as fast as possible during member-guests to “bring tears to the eyes” of guests. The rough will be 5 inches long. This is the 10th time the U.S. Open has been held at Oakmont, the most for any venue.
Featured image of Oakmont Country Club courtesy of Google
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