Number 11: Oakmont Country Club

Ceiling: 98.5

Rating: 93.5

Trend over Time: 5

Oakmont will be the first course as we make our way down the stretch of my top 25 courses with an egregiously high ceiling. The piece of property is just so good for golf. Rolling hills, turf conditions that allow for tighter and faster fairways than you could ever imagine in Pittsburgh, and greens that will make a man cry. Oakmont is THE US Open venue. If we’re talking about what truly embodies a US Open, it’s Oakmont. It’s one of those places where you immediately feel how special it is upon arrival. The locker room, which is literally prohibition era as the locker’s have “hidden” alcohol lockers in the bottom, is one of the first special things you’ll experience. The putting green connects with the already massive 9th green and gives a sense at the horrors you will be faced with all day. Finally, the first tee is one of those that’s just freaking cool being seemingly tucked inside the clubhouse.

Culture:

Challenging. High octane. Virile. Those are the words that describe the culture around Oakmont. They know it’s hard, they like it hard, and if you think it’s too hard, they are particularly pleased. While many of the courses in my rankings have been “subtly difficult” and require “strategy” to be played right but are still “charming” places to play golf. Oakmont calls bullshit on all that. It’s hard as hell to hit the fairway. If you do, it’s still hard to hit a good approach. If you don’t, you’re screwed. And finally when you get to the green the fun is literally just beginning. And perhaps never ending. I competed at Oakmont in the 2021 US Amateur which was a tremendous experience and recall starting off beautifully on the back nine reaching -2 thru 7 holes. From there, I recall not being disappointed with how I played coming in which would result in 4 pars and 7 bogeys. I shot 75 and don’t recall anyone breaking 70. Back to what I said before, the membership would be elated to read my last few sentences…

Competition:

I almost don’t need to write anything here. This is the US Open venue. Period. If the US Open was like The Masters and had a single venue, it would just have to be Oakmont. The club has hosted 9 US Open’s and 6 US Amateurs and has 4 more US Opens on the calendar. Part of the reason it is so great for the US Open is the predictability of the championship you will get. The winning scores in the last 7 US Opens at Oakmont, dating back to 1953, have been -5, -1, -5, -4, -5, **+5, and -4. To me, -5 or so is the perfect US Open winning score. We all love even par or worse, but realistically the pros are so good that it has to get a little bit ~silly~ to see that kind of scoring. If a course can be reasonable and produce low to mid single digits under par, that’s ideal. And that’s Oakmont.

Architecture:

So, this is where I explain why I have a consummate top 5 course at 11. So many of the holes and features at Oakmont are just wonderful. The greens, while being difficult, are as good as anything I’ve seen in the States. Where I take issue is a few of the tee balls and the strategy they inform. Starting at 10, 12, and 15, with the amount of slope, firmness, and speed in the fairways, you essentially can’t hit the fairway. And that, as I was told, is “just how it is.” To which I ask, “Uh, why?” We can change things that don’t work… Second, a few of the fairways are so tight and the bunkers are so deep that the best play is to hit to an adjacent hole, even if in the rough. The 11th for example, I am 99% confident it is the superior play to hit to the 10th. Gil Hanse is in the finishing stages of a restoration project focused around the bunkering and returning them to the way H.C Fownes intended them to be. They have lost their way a bit thanks to, cough cough (the FAZ). Oakmont is brilliant. It has been a top course for over 100 years and will always be. It just needs a slight change of clothes to get back to its intended and rightful place.