A first-hand look at why Oakmont is such a difficult course
OAKMONT, Pa. -- There are plenty of warnings as a golfer. Warnings of hazards, warnings of double-figure Stimp readings, warnings of lightning, of "Fore," and of snakes and alligators.
But few people warn you about a course. Oakmont is the exception.
On April 25, nearly two months before the start of this U.S. Open (coverage begins Thursday at 10 a.m. ET on FS1), I and six other FOX broadcasters landed in Pittsburgh to get a chance to play the meanest golf course in the United States, a course that Gene Sarazen once called "the greatest golf course in the world" and authors Adam Lazarus and Steve Schlossman of Chasing Greatness called "a field of nightmares."
That's a confusing couple of phrases about a top-10 golf course in the world, so it was up to me to find out for myself what was so special, what was so different, and what was so hard about Oakmont Country Club.
The course's own website calls the par-four first "one of the hardest holes in golf."
I found it all out in a two-day stretch. I found out so many things about a golf course that, much like Chumbawamba and Blind Melon, were one and done by their artists.
In a nutshell, I'll say this about Oakmont; it is a beautiful, incredibly designed golf course that forces you to stay focused for the better part of five hours the entire time if you want to avoid disaster. In an era where our attention spans last as long as a funny Vine video, that can be tough, but Oakmont doesn't care. It's your job to stay in the moment. If you don't, your scorecard is to pay.
I might not be a professional golfer these days, but I can still get it around, and the moment you don't take every shot, lay up or otherwise, totally into account, your round (or this week, your championship) is doomed.
It happened to Arnold Palmer on the ninth green in the 1962 U.S. Open. It happened to Tiger Woods on the famed third in 2007, and for a guy that was so locked in on how he plays his own game, rarely deviating, Oakmont got to Jim Furyk when he was trying to win a second U.S. Open, coercing him into trying something he never tries, not just once in that final round back in '07, but twice.
The eighth is a nearly 300-yard par 3 that will surely give golfers fits this week.
It's a golf course that tricks you into thinking it's easy, and frankly, all the things that make a golf course tough are invisible at Oakmont.
No trees (anymore). No water. No real out of bounds for a single digit handicap or pro. For most of the year, the wind isn't a factor, and the word "dogleg" only comes up a couple of times a round. Oakmont is like a spouse that wants the best for you but isn't scared to blast out your indiscretions on Facebook the moment you do something wrong. If you screw up, it's your fault, not theirs.
The first hole at Oakmont is one of the toughest opening holes you'll ever play, the 18th is one of the meanest finishing holes on the planet, and in between you have five par-4s under 400 yards, a 300-yard par-3, and a par-5 that might be the most strategic golf hole I've ever seen or played.
At Pebble Beach and Winged Foot you can relax on the sixth. At Augusta National it's the par-5s that offer you birdie opportunities, and at St. Andrews, 18 always gives players a chance to get one back before a pint or two at the Dunvegan. But Oakmont is 18 singular holes all built, rebuilt and rethought to make a player keep his attention from the time that peg goes into the grass until the ball hits the back of the hole.
Bunkers protect the fairway and green around one of the meanest — and most scenic — finishing holes in golf.
You made a par? Congrats, you're back in the ring, partner, and don't forget that headgear, because you have 17 more rounds to go.
The design isn't just amazing, it's unbelievable. Two yards can be the difference between a birdie and a double, and that isn't because you can't find your ball, it's because you can't even attack the flag. Having a wedge in your hand means nothing, because the greens are so fierce that even good shots can bounce into a spot that'll make you rue the day you were taught the game.
And all that said, it's one of the most amazing places that golf has ever been played. It really is. Myself and Joel Klatt, the face of FOX Sports' college football broadcasts, changed our flights the day after playing Oakmont so we could go play a few more holes in between media and member groups on a day where the wind felt like we fell asleep and woke up at Scotland's Machrihanish. We canceled dinners and radio hits and hotels for another chance to be brutalized, because the idea of golf is totally encapsulated at Oakmont.
Think about how we golf. We all start the day with expectations. We want to break 90, break 80, or shoot our career best. We all get to the golf course with hope, knowing in the back of our heads that 99.9 percent of the time we are going to fall short.
The U.S. Open trophy will be someone's well-earned reward after a weekend of tough golf.
Oakmont is that. It's dangling immortality in front of you, allowing you to jump off the ledge and grab it as long as both parties are clear on the consequences.
Oakmont isn't stuffy because bullies aren't stuffy. Bullies tend to walk around knowing they're the baddest in the school yard, and Oakmont knows that nothing compares to what it offers. And bullies can lose. Ask Gene or Bobby or Ben or Jack. Reach out to Johnny, Larry, Angel or Paula. Someone always takes the belt from the bully, but nothing about that idea is simple or easy.
It's a place that a true golfer would love to join because it's the pinnacle of not only what 18 holes should be, but because it tries so hard to maintain what was first thought out when the club was built back in 1903.
You know how everyone thinks a 300-yard par-3 is ridiculous? Well it isn't when you think that the hole was initially built for players to hit drivers or three-woods when that mad genius H.C. Fownes thought up this course, allowing a friendly run-up area of some 80 yards if you pick the right line. When Oakmont was built, drivers flew 230 yards. Now, they go 300. Instead of rolling back the ball, Oakmont has decided to showcase the longest par-3 in major championship history, knowing that Fownes would be proud of that decision.
You know how bad shots aren't penal at a lot of venues, even those that host major championships? Oakmont doesn't believe in that. If you hit a bad golf shot, you not only can discard the idea of making a birdie, but you have to play the rest of the hole perfectly just to have a look at par.
Personally, I thought it was brilliant. I didn't want to leave. I enjoyed the challenge so much and could barely sleep after an initial round hoping that another round was sooner than later. Boxers lose their nervousness when that first punch lands. Football players will slap an opponent on the helmet after a big hit knowing that's the other player's job and it's worth some love to tell them they did it well. Oakmont is the same. It's Rocky, it's Lawrence Taylor, it's Shaquille O'Neal. Dare to challenge it, but understand that you'll be bloody at the end, win or lose.
