Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont's course

The course, the only design by Henry Fownes, opened in 1903. With a crew of 150 men and under two dozen mule teams, Henry Fownes spent a year building Oakmont on old farmland, ideal for a links-style course.

The course straddles the Allegheny River Valley and uniquely has virtually no water hazards and, since 2007, almost no trees. With a USGA course rating of 77.5 and 168 bunkers, it is generally regarded in the golf community as one of the most difficult in the United States. It features large, extremely fast, and undulating greens, while the rough is tough and thick. All of the greens are original save for the eighth, which was moved several yards to the left to make way for the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the late 1940s. Originally a links course, trees were added in the 1950s-1960s. Most were removed beginning after the 1994 U.S. Open, with between 5,000 and 8,000 eliminated during a 2007 renovation alone. Greens are planted with Poa annua, and par for members is 71.

The course is also noted for its slope. In particular, on holes one, three, 10, and 12, the greens pitch away from the fairway.

One of Oakmont's most famous hazards is the Church Pews bunker that comes into play on the third and fourth holes. The bunker measures approximately 100 by 40 yards (91 by 37 m) and features 13 grass-covered traversing ridges that resemble church pews.

For many years, Oakmont's bunkers were groomed with a rake with wider than normal tines, creating deep furrows. The rakes were last used in U.S. Open competition in 1962 and eliminated from the club in 1964.

Rankings

The course has been consistently ranked as one of the five best by Golf Digest 100 Greatest Golf Courses in America. In 2007, Oakmont was placed in fifth by the magazine. It is one of only a few courses ranked in the top 10 every year of the publication's history. The top 50 toughest courses ranks Oakmont also at number five, while GolfLink.com ranks it third overall.

Oakmont scorecard

A hole-by-hole course map from Golf Magazine (June 2007) can be viewed here [1]

Flyovers of the holes can be seen here [2]

Major championships

Oakmont has hosted the U.S. Open 10 times, more than any other course, most recently in 2025. It has also hosted three PGA Championships, six U.S. Amateurs, two U.S. Women's Opens, and three NCAA men's championships (1916, 1930, 1937).

U.S. Opens

The first U.S. Open at Oakmont was won by Tommy Armour, who defeated Harry Cooper in an 18-hole Friday playoff. Their 72-hole score was 301 (+13); the par-72 course played to 6,929 yards (6,336 m) in 1927 (the first and ninth holes were both par 5). The average score for the field was 78.6 (+ 6.6) and the field recorded just 2 rounds under par. The total purse of prize money was $800 ($14,828 in 2025 dollars).

Won by Sam Parks Jr. at 11 strokes over par. The par 72 course played to 6,981 yards (6,383 m) in 1935 and the average score for the field was 80.55 (+ 8.55) and the field recorded 3 rounds under par. The total purse of prize money was $5,000 ($117,415 in 2025 dollars) with a winner's share of $1,000 ($23,483 in 2025 dollars).

Ben Hogan won the second of his three straight majors in 1953 at Oakmont by six strokes, coming in at five under par.

Scheduling conflicts made it impossible to win all four majors that year, as the late rounds of the PGA Championship, then a match play event, and the mandatory 36-hole qualifier directly preceding the British Open overlapped in early July. Hogan won The Masters by five strokes and the British Open at Carnoustie by four strokes. The par-72 Oakmont course played at 6,916 yards (6,324 m) in 1953, and the average score for the field was 77.12 (+ 5.12); the field recorded 20 rounds under par. The purse was $14,900 and the champion earned $5,000 ($179,300 and $60,168 in 2025 dollars).

At the 1962 U.S. Open, an up-and-coming 22-year-old named Jack Nicklaus defeated the world's top player at the time, the 33-year-old Arnold Palmer, in a Sunday playoff round in Palmer's "backyard".

Both competitors had completed the 72 holes with a 283 (–1). It was the first professional victory for Nicklaus, and the first of his 18 professional majors. Palmer won the next major, the 1962 British Open, and his fourth Masters in 1964, but never another U.S. Open. In 1962, par was reduced by a stroke to 71 (the first hole became a par-4) and the course length was slightly reduced to 6,893 yards (6,303 m); the average score for the field was 75.86 (+ 4.86) and the field recorded 19 rounds under par. The purse was $81,600 and the champion earned $17,500 ($868,515 and $186,262 in 2025 dollars).

Quotes from notable golfers

USGA Sr. Director of Rules and Competitions Mike Davis: "There's a reason [the U.S. Open is] coming back to Oakmont. This really is the gold standard for championship golf. It doesn't get any better than Oakmont."

Lee Trevino: "There's only one course in the country where you could step out right now — right now — and play the U.S. Open, and that's Oakmont."

Phil Mickelson: "It's really a neat, special place."

Johnny Miller: "It's probably the best course in the world . . . This is the greatest course I've ever played."

On Oakmont's greens:

Tiger Woods:"That golf course is going to be one of the toughest tests that we've ever played in a U.S. Open, especially if it's dry, it will be unreal because those greens are so severe."

Arnold Palmer: "You can hit 72 greens [in regulation] in the Open at Oakmont and not come close to winning."

Rocco Mediate said of the greens that they are "almost impossible"

Sam Snead once quipped that he tried to mark his ball on one of Oakmont's greens but the coin slid off.

Lee Trevino claimed every time he two-putted at Oakmont, he knew he was passing somebody on the leader board.

Johnny Miller said that Oakmont's are the greatest greens for testing a player's ability to putt.

USGA Sr. Director Mike Davis: "[Oakmont's greens are the] scariest in golf."

Stimpmeter

The stimpmeter, a device for measuring the speed of greens, was developed by Edward Stimpson (1904–1985), an accomplished amateur player from Massachusetts, shortly after attending the 1935 U.S. Open at Oakmont.