DARNAY: Oakmont’s engaging challenges keep you captivated from start to finish

OAKMONT, Pa. — It’s been well documented how challenging and difficult Oakmont Country Club presents, especially when done so ahead of the return of the U.S. Open to the club for a record 10th time.

With firm and fast conditions, thick rough, and deep bunkers, the course will certainly test the world’s best players in search of America’s national championship, but I think it’s fair to say that not enough is mentioned about how engaging Oakmont is.

During a presentation by the USGA on Tuesday for the tournament’s media play day, there was a lot of talk about how there will not only be a physical test of skill, but also the need to overcome mental challenges in order to win a U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Jeff Hall, the USGA’s managing director of the tournament said he believes Oakmont offers the most demanding mental test among any venue that hosts the U.S. Open. After having a chance to play the course myself, I truly believe he’s right, and I don’t think I necessarily need to play other courses to form that opinion.

The 3rd hole at Oakmont Country Club presents trouble on both sides of the fairway, demanding an accurate tee shot.

As an avid golfer, I’ve been blessed to travel to different parts of the country and the world and have been able to tee it up at places like the remote coast of Oregon, the firm sand dunes of Scotland, and the wet marshlands of the Carolinas — but nothing prepared me for how mentally engaging playing a round at Oakmont was.

Having played courses like Bandon Trails, Chambers Bay, Wolf Creek, and Western Gailes, the golf at those places was extremely stimulating from a visual perspective and often intimidating with challenging tee shots, but there were lulls between those moments.

At Oakmont, it was all gas and no brakes for four hours.

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt recently said Oakmont is his favorite golf course he’s ever gotten to play, describing it like “wrestling a grizzly bear” and I think that’s a good way to describe it.

Every tee shot, every approach shot, every chip and pitch, and every putt comes with the need to be mentally focused on the shot at hand with no downtime before the next challenge presents itself.

Right out of the gate on the first tee, you’re presented with trouble and needing to pick your spots. There’s no stepping up and swinging big and hoping for the best. Thick rough and a long ditch on the left. Bunkers on both sides of the fairway. Out of bounds off to your right if you really end up with a wicked slice out towards Hulton Road.

The 1st hole at Oakmont Country Club is one of the most difficult opening holes in all of golf.

From there, things don’t ease up. As you move your way through the next three holes, another ditch and the church pew bunkers are staring you down as you hit your tee shot.

Approach shots at Oakmont, even when striking a solid tee shot and finding the fairway, require thinking ahead to avoid bunkers and avoid leaving yourself in treacherous positions for short pitch and chip shots.

Miss the green on approach? You’re likely going to either be in a deep greenside bunker or even worse, buried in thick rough, unable to get much spin onto a putting surface that slopes away from the fairway, all the while trying to leave the golf ball below the hole for an uphill putt.

A wedge shot on the 5th hole at Oakmont Country Club rolled off of the green and into a bunker, presenting a difficult up-and-down challenge,

Even when the course does seem to ease up even a little bit, like a shorter Par 4 #11, as soon as you step off the green, you’re reminded that your upcoming tee shot is a monster Par 5, the longest on the course (and longest in U.S. Open history.)

USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer said Tuesday that the organization’s metric these days is that they want the players to get all 15 clubs in their bag dirty, specifying that one of those clubs includes the one between their ears. At Oakmont, there’s no turning the brain off.

A drive to the middle of the fairway on the 9th hole at Oakmont Country Club still left a challenging second shot on the hole that plays as a Par 5 for members, but a Par 4 during the U.S. Open.

Oakmont is so wildly engaging in a way that it keeps you focused from shot to shot, you have to remind yourself to take it all in and enjoy where you are. During my round on Tuesday, I’m pretty sure I used 13 of the 14 clubs in my bag, but definitely used the 15th one between my ears more than any other.