Oakmont Different, Yet Still The Same

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Oakmont, Pa. – Throughout its fabled history, the Oakmont Country Club course’s identity has been tied to its famed “Church Pew” bunkers, greens as slick as a NASCAR pit area and the penalizing rough.

That hasn’t changed after the first round of stroke play in the 103rd U.S. Amateur.

A banner promoting the U.S. Amateur was hung in the winter on the old bridge that connects the course together. (John Mummert/USGA)

However, there is one difference from the last time the Amateur visited Oakmont in 1969.

In an effort to bring its link-style heritage into full view for everyone – albeit in time to celebrate its Centennial anniversary this year – Oakmont dignitaries had many trees removed. More than 3,500 to be accurate. The process started in the early 1990s.

“Competitors at this year’s Amateur will see a course that has undergone an almost 180-degree transformation back to the links-style course it was 100 years ago,” said Bill Fallon, Oakmont’s General Chairman for the Amateur.

The most visible change to the H.C. Fownes design can be traced to holes eight and 16, both moderate par 3s. When the 1994 U.S. Open was at Oakmont, both greens were encircled by an abundance of pine trees, with some spruce blended in. With all of those trees gone, the depth perception of each green from their respective teeing grounds is noticeable. Now No. 16 sits atop a knob.

Looking at the course as a whole, the vantage points are remarkable. There are pockets where seven or eight holes can be seen from one spot.

"In all my years of doing championships,” said Tom Meeks, the USGA’s Director of Rules and Competitions, “I have never seen a course look better.

"Every great course in the country has this [tree] problem.”

Meeks said he advises other clubs to form a committee and visit Oakmont to see what they did.

There were reasons for the ongoing project. From an agronomics standpoint, older trees tend to limit grass growth in surrounding areas. It thus eliminates sunlight and air, staples for grass.

Hole playability issues were also studied. Many trees fell victim to this, which led to aesthetics questions.

"In the past, you couldn’t see from one hole to the next,” said Meeks.

The vastness of the project has, in effect, overshadowed other course upgrades. A 15-foot wide secondary bridge to help usher players and the gallery to the second through eighth holes was built parallel to the antiquated 10-footer after an anonymous club member offered up the money.

Perhaps the most important transformation came on six teeing areas, all which were lengthened. The first, fourth, seventh, 12th , 15th and 18th holes picked up anywhere from 30-70 extra yards because of it.

The alteration was most evident on the 479-yard par-4 seventh hole. Under the old setup, players normally hit driver and wedge to get to the green. On Monday, competitors used driver and 4- or 5-iron.

Finally, Oakmont recaptured some of its greens size-wise. Over time with mowing, some greens tended to shrink. Now, “they took the greens and extended them back,” said Meeks. “By doing that, we picked up a couple of new hole locations.”

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. For questions or comments, e-mail him at kklavon@usga.org .