OAKMONT, Pa — Hundreds of men flooded Oakmont Country Club as the sun was peaking its head over the top of the property Tuesday morning. Not a single one was gearing up to play. Grounds crew, maintenance staff and championship officials were putting the finishing touches on practice round conditions, two days away from the main attraction.
Not a single blade of grass was out of place as mowers gave fairways a quick trim, rakers made sure the rough (not the sand) was configured to their liking and gas blowers swept away any evidence of such. The golf course shimmered as the sun shot off a layer of early morning dew, the property as beautiful as ever inside the ropes.
But let’s not forget this beauty is not without its beast.
Out of the famous green clubhouse and rolling down the hill, the par 70 does not extend a warm welcome to those attempting to conquer it. No. 1 serves as the most difficult hole at the 2016 U.S. Open, yielding a scoring average of 4.45; this is no friendly handshake or pat on the back that will send players on their way. Instead, it is a mean mug, a look into one’s soul with a realization of, “Oh, crap. I might have to fight someone today,” engulfing competitors.
There will be fighting, surely, from the property and by the players. Internally, they will have to come to terms with breaks good and bad. Externally, they will have to deal with all of this while playing one of the most difficult golf courses in the United States with the pressure of the U.S. Open weighing on them.
From down No. 1 where the green slopes away — where players may have a chance to run one onto the green if a misfire is had off the tee — to a saunter over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Six lanes of highway separate the opener from the meat of the front nine. Chaos below caused by 18 wheelers. Chaos above caused by 18 holes.
A reprieve from the madness does exist on the par-4 2nd, but then another added factor is introduced on the next. That’s what Oakmont boils down to as steps are pieced together — variable upon variable are as well. There is no solving for just one; this is a complex equation with X, Y and Z needing to be worked out before moving onto the next.
Video clips of the tall rough makes the rounds on social media, and surely it represents a significant penalty for missing, but deep bunkering, uneven lies, tight run-offs, blind shots, laughable green complexes, wind, rain, an evolving golf course and added length are included in each problem. The par-4 3rd might be the best example of what this place requires, one a teacher would put on the chalkboard for the class to figure out together, one that may take the whole period to arrive at a solution.
Listed at 462 yards on the official scorecard, the hole calls on players to squeeze a drive between a rock and a hard place. On the left is the famous church pew bunker that spans 100 yards long in the meat of the landing zone. Why mess with that when a ball not settling in the alley is a surefire layup?
Patrick McDonald
Well, because the right is not much better, which kind of sums it all up. Deep bunkering and deeper rough litter the far side and give players without a line of sight to the putting surface that sits at one of the highest points of the property. Options are available, but anything other then a split fairway is going to erase any previous work.
Up the hill, a complex complex awaits. The green is protected by a false front that will give players a sliver of hope before rejecting approach shots 40 yards below the surface. It is flanked by another deep greenside bunker on the left and that thick rough surrounds the rest. All of this before the actual contours of the putting surface are discussed, quite dramatic and severe.
Patrick McDonald
This is just one hole. One hole early in players’ rounds with many past it. And it’s perfectly representative of Oakmont: an unrelenting test. It comes at players hole after hole — all over the course of five hours — over and again. It asks questions to which there may simply be no answers. Guesswork will be required on this examination, no matter the level of preparation put in by players.
It features the longest par 3 in championship history, and oh yeah, the longest par 5 as well. It has produced a scoring average of 2 over or higher in every single U.S. Open round played on site since the 1920s. It yielded one bogey-free effort in 2016 and a winning score of 5 over in 2007.
It’s a beautiful beast.
And oddly enough for how much thinking is required to navigate this place, who this ultimately favors does not require the same level of thought. It’s who one would expect to be there come Sunday of a major championship — a stoic man who has done no wrong the last handful of years and a player who will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of his greatness are the two that come immediately to mind.
There will be others, of course. No championship is without its fair share of surprises. This is a golf tournament after all — an outdoor sporting event where weird things will happen.
But this week, at Oakmont, it’s more than just that. It’s a fight of will, a survival of the fittest, a true U.S. Open test where some will fail and some will be happy when that bell finally rings.
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