DARNAY: My First-Hand Account of Oakmont’s U.S. Open-Ready Bite

OAKMONT, Pa. — The 125th playing of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club is just over one month away.

We know the U.S. Open is always challenging for golf’s elite talent, but just how hard are conditions going to be at Oakmont next month? I got a chance to find out at Tuesday’s media play day.

The world’s best golfers will soon be converging on Western Pennsylvania to compete at Oakmont as the club hosts what’s regarded as golf’s toughest test for a record 10th time. While the heralded cathedral of the game is known for the challenges it presents and how it can — and likely will — bring even the best in the world to their knees, what’s it like for your everyday, average golfer to play a course that’s set up for America’s national championship?

During his opening remarks as part of the U.S. Open’s media day on Tuesday, USGA President Fred Perpall said “the U.S. Open is really hard and Oakmont is really hard.” He’s right.

“The DNA is tough here, everything about it,” USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer said. He’s right.

With firm fairways, thick rough, deep bunkers, and lightning-fast greens, Oakmont packs a punch that quite simply, is a step above what most other courses can even think of providing.

THICK ROUGH

Oakmont Country Club President John Lynch said that the membership has three requests for the USGA when it comes to setting up the U.S. Open next month, one of those things being rough that is at least five inches thick.

The thick and penal rough at Oakmont Country Club is expected to be grown to at least 5″ thick for the upcoming U.S. Open.

On Tuesday, the rough was around four inches thick and it was just as penalizing as you can imagine — thick and punishing in a way that the heavy grass just grabs the face of the club, often causing a total loss of control when trying to hack the ball out of it.

Henry Fownes, the founder of Oakmont, was famous for, among other things, the saying that “a shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost.” That truth is painfully evident at Oakmont.

Because of Oakmont’s thick rough, lots of shots were poorly played and definitely were irrevocably lost on my account.

During my round, I spent a lot of time in the rough, often relying on a higher-lofted iron just to try and get the ball back into the fairway and advanced closer to the hole.

DEEP BUNKERS

With 175 bunkers, hazards and obstacles scattered all across Oakmont’s property, chances are you’re going to spend some time trying to get your way out of the sand.

Oakmont even has some world-famous bunkers, notably the ‘church pew’ bunkers that sit between the third and fourth holes.

The famous church pew bunkers, located between the 3rd and 4th holes at Oakmont present a unique challenge.

“I’d say if you get into these church pews, you better pray hard,”  Bodenhamer said.

As fun as it would be to say I was able to hit out of the church pews, I was lucky enough to be on a little bit of a heater of finding fairways off of the tee at the time and avoided needing to say my prayers on Tuesday.

On the whole, I call it luck more than strategy, but only found myself in three bunkers during my round, clearly choosing to punish myself via the rough over the sand.

My tee shot on 13 found the sand, my approach shot on 15 ran off to the left of the green and into a bunker, and an errant approach shot on 5 found a greenside bunker as well.

FIRM AND FAST FAIRWAYS AND GREENS

When the U.S. Open gets underway next month, Oakmont’s members would love to see the winning score of the tournament be above par. The membership prides themselves on the difficulty of the course and how it can challenge even the best players in the world.

Bodenhamer said the USGA can’t guarantee an above-par winning score at the end of the four rounds, but adds that if conditions are firm and fast, the recipe for a happy membership is there.

You want to talk about fast greens? Lightning slick surfaces, often leaving you in awe of the way putts roll and break over the undulating and firm green complexes.

The downhill approach shot on Oakmont’s 1st hole leads to a tilted green that slopes away from the fairway, one of the more daunting shots on the course.

Since Oakmont hosted the 2016 U.S. Open, the property underwent extensive renovation work to bring the property back to some of its roots with a majority of that work — led by renowned architect Gil Hanse — centered around the greens, which were expanded by a total of around 24,000 square feet.

Bodenhamer said the USGA is likely to start out the tournament with greens rolling above 15.0 on the Stimpmeter, and likely back them down a bit from there.

While I did have six three-putts (41 putts overall), which kind of feels like the norm at a place like Oakmont, the high mark of pride on my card Tuesday — no 4-putts, thanks in large part to Lance and Eddie, a pair of brothers caddying for my group.

CATHEDRAL OF THE GAME

Walking Oakmont’s 18 holes, as a golf purist, feels like standing on sacred ground in many ways.

Being able to use the same locker room, walk the same fairways, and roll some of the same putts as some of the greatest to ever play the game of golf just has a special feeling.

“We go to America’s greatest venues, plain and simple,” Bodenhamer said.

Hitting an approach shot on the 18th fairway at Oakmont gives you instant flashbacks to memories of players like Dustin Johnson winning major championships from those exact spots.

I’ve always known that Oakmont was one of America’s great venues, but now having had a chance to walk the hallowed grounds and play the course, I have a new level of respect and admiration for the combination of difficulty and history Oakmont presents.

Charles Price, one of the all-time great golf writers, once said that at Oakmont, a player can have the time of his life – or spend four hours of torture.

I like to think that my experience at our cathedral of golf here in Western Pennsylvania was a perfect blend of the two.