‘Crime and Punishment’ are all over the news these days, but you rarely hear that phrase describing the philosophy behind designing a golf course.
‘A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost’
– was the mantra repeated by Henry Fownes when designing Oakmont back in 1904.
Fownes only designed one course – Oakmont – a one-off wonder and a masterpiece that embraces difficulty in every facet of its design.
It was built originally as an inland links-style course over 190 acres of the rolling Pennsylvania hillside along the Allegheny River.
The course, which is divided by the PA Turnpike, embraces difficulty and is littered with bunkers, over 300 of them, many semi-pots. The unique and signature ‘church pew’ bunkers on holes 3 & 4 are a measure of the eccentricity of the designer who was hell-bent on testing combatants to the absolute limit of their skills, abilities, and character to determine their worthiness for victory.
There is almost a religious penance mentality from that era in the philosophy of the design.
The ditches or burns as they are called in links vocabulary, snake their way around the golf course even more treacherously than the famous Barry Burn in Carnoustie or Swilken Burn in St Andrews.
The burns & bunkers are bordered by 5 inches of freshly grown rough to ensure it sits straight up hugging every ball that strays off the 15 to 20-yard-wide fairways. The rough is visually intimidating since the removal in 1990 of over 4000 trees, planted by committees in the sixties, bringing back that open-links landscape feel intended by Fownes.
But it’s the greens that bring the ultimate test of nerves to the fore. They are both strategic, treacherous and the fastest greens in golf anywhere in the world. They were so fast back in 1935, that it prompted Edward Stimpson to design the now famous stimpmeter to measure the speed of greens against other courses. Members’ greens run at 15 on the stimpmeter which have to be slowed down for the US Open! Just for reference Augusta would normally run their greens at 11-12 max.
They have been described over the years as putting on polished glass, with the ball gliding, drifting, and sliding away from the hole. Sam Snead quibbled after his defeat by Ben Hogan in 1953 that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont’s greens, but the coin slid off!
The list of previous winners at Oakmont: Sarazon, Jones, Snead, Hogan, Nicklaus, Miller, Els and Johnson is a testimony to the pedigree required to win at Oakmont. The only name missing is Woods, who narrowly lost to Cabrera in 2007.
What is also extraordinary about arguably the most intimidating course in golf, are the incredible scores that have been shot by the winners over the years. I remember vividly, as a young teenager with my father, watching Johnny Miller win the US Open at Oakmont shooting an incredible 63 in the last round that included 9 birdies!
Watching this brave, courageous, fearless and cavalier assault on the treacherous Oakmont was inspiring and reminiscent of Arnie and Seve at their very best.
Miller says ‘It’s probably the best course in the world . . . and the greatest course I’ve ever played’.
When the less charismatic Larry Nelson won his third major at Oakmont in 1983. He was 7 under for his last 14 holes in his third round and followed that with a final round of 67 to beat Tom Watson by one shot.
What does all this mean for the 10th US Open at Oakmont, now a Natural History Landmark?
You have to be smart and to survive, you must hit the fairways or you are dead from the get-go, you have to be patient – it’s a 72-hole gruelling marathon that will punish impatience and over-confidence, you have to be brave, but only at the right time, you have to be cunning to deal with the devious design and most of all you have to be fearless to win for she will punish cowardice ruthlessly.
It means that a great champion will emerge at the end of this week. Whomever it is better be well rested and prepared for the most gruelling test of golf in the world. It’s set up to break you and to deliver an over par winner, particularly if its dry. Let’s see who has the game, ‘cojones’, heart, skills and mind to get the job done.
If Tiger or Jack were here and at their best, you would pick them but father time has weighed in there. It’s the ultimate test for Scheffler V Rory, who are both a class above the rest. Can either of them drive it straight enough to win or will the soft fader Morikawa or disciplined Schauffele grind it out and beat them? And let’s not forget Justin Rose, who won at Merrion in 2013, on a similar penal course and proved at Augusta he has not let the old man in yet!
One way or the other it will be fascinating to watch Oakmont versus the field!
Roddy Carr – June 2025
Further Reading
