Oakmont’s 10th record championship

OAKMONT, PA. When Henry C. Fownes (pronounced “phones”) began the search for the property that would ultimately become Oakmont CC his goal was a simple one – create a test of golf that would thoroughly punish any shot not executed with total precision. He clarified matters succinctly when saying — “Let the clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artist stand aside. A shot poorly played, should be a shot irrevocably lost.”

Fownes found a piece of land – 191 acres – just north of Pittsburgh in the small community of Oakmont. The club was founded in 1903. The course was hand dug by Fownes and a team of 150 men, and when the course officially opened for membership in the autumn of 1904, the total yardage was 6,406 yards and played to a par of 80.

From its earliest time, Fownes sought a prominent place for Oakmont when the matter of key championships were determined.

Oakmont has hosted twenty national events — with the US Open returning this week for a record 10th time (see full list below). The club has long embraced its reputation as “The beast” — doing what its founder believed was needed in order to elevate one legitimate true contender from a pack of exposed pretenders.

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Henry Fownes died of pneumonia in 1935 and his son William C. Fownes, Jr., who was born in 1878 and named for Henry’s brother, oversaw much of the course’s evolution. W.C. was an outstanding figure in golf history — winning the 1910 US Amateur.

When the 1935 US Open was hosted there – local club professional Sam Parks was the only player to break 300 for four rounds of play. The rigors of Oakmont were front and center and the reputation of “The Beast” was now set in motion.

However, low scores are possible – Johnny Miller’s then record final round 63 in winning the 1973 US Open only bolstered the reputation of Oakmont in demonstrating “The Beast” could be conquered. Ten years later Larry Nelson came from seven shots back after two rounds and set the US Open scoring mark with rounds of 65-67 to claim the title by one shot over 1982 winner Tom Watson.

Through the years Oakmont has gone through various transformations. Up through the 1953 US Open — the club employed the use of heavy steel rakes – weighing about 50 pounds each — with four-inch tines to rake the bunker perpendicular to the hole and create deep furrows. Balls would settle into those ridges and, with the mounds of sand in front and behind the ball, the only way to make clean contact would be to pitch out sideways.

Players in the 1953 event pushed back against the usage of furrows in all the many bunkers at Oakmont and a compromise was reached when only the bunkers greenside were prepared in such a manner. By the 1962 US Open the usage of furrowed bunkers was eliminated in its entirety.

The second most important transformation came prior to the playing of the 2007 US Open. Over the course of time hundreds of trees had been planted on the property. The original Fownes vision was for Oakmont to be a stark canvass with no trees cluttering the landscape.

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Oakmont’s leadership opted to remove countless trees prior to that championship but that caused an internal membership scrum nearly fostering litigation being pursued. The end result — Oakmont’s appearance was returned to its original vision.

This year’s championship has a number of key storylines. At the top of the pecking order is the return to dominance of world-ranked-number-one Scottie Scheffler. Since the Masters in April, he has won three of his last four starts — including the PGA Championship in May and in his last appearance when joining Tiger Woods as the only two players to defend one’s title at this year’s Memorial event.

Scheffler’s game may be ideally suited for Oakmont as the 28-year-old has shown the capacity in bogey avoidance in his play. A past weakness in his putting stroke seems to have moved to his rear-view mirror.

Right behind Scheffler will be the focus on Rory McIlroy. The 35-year-old ended his major-less drought in dramatic fashion when winning at Augusta and thereby joining the most elite fraternities as the sixth member of the career grand slam club.

McIlroy’s play was off kilter at last week’s RBC Canadian Open in missing the cut badly. There’s been focus on McIlroy’s equipment as his driver was ruled nonconforming during the PGA Championship. McIlroy went silent with the media during the event at Quail Hollow and one can only speculate which golfer will be at Oakmont. Did the win at the Masters satiate his appetite for additional major wins or will his form return to prominence this week?

Oakmont has certainly been the venue for a number of the greatest golfers to command the stage. But “The Beast” has also denied other key golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods from adding their respective names to the roster.

Palmer lost an epic playoff to Nicklaus in the 1962 US Open courtesy of ten three-putt greens. Watson was five strokes ahead with one round to play in the 1978 PGA Championship and was tied for the lead going into the final round of the 1983 US Open. The eight-time major winner faltered in both.

Woods was tied for the lead in the 2007 US Open as late as the 10th hole in the final round but could not finish strong and eventually shared the runner-up position with Jim Furyk as Argentinian Cabrera became the first winner of the championship from South America.

How the weather fares always is an element of uncertainty. Oakmont, like other championship venues, is susceptible to low scoring when turf conditions are softer because of wet conditions. At the 2016 US Open – such a “benign” situation happened and Dustin Johnson’s 72-hole score of 276 (four-under-par) reflected that. Miller’s record score of 63 in 1973 was also aided because of a slightly softer venue.

Yet, when dry conditions prevail the ultimate in scoring difficulties emerges with “The Beast”. That happened in the 2007 US Open when a winning score of 285 (five-over-par) was produced by Cabrera.

Oakmont is the personification of an honest judge — no bribes accepted. The evidence comes strictly from one’s game. A final verdict rendered simply from that undeniable reality. Bear also in mind — no appeals are possible. Each golfer stands alone knowing full well that anything but the surest of executions will suffer dire consequences.

The fortunate winner will delight in having his name join the roster of the game’s finest players who have won at Oakmont.

Rest assured the spirit of the Fownes – both father and son — will be watching over this year’s US Open. Oakmont is once again in the forefront of championship golf. Since its inception in 1903 Henry Fownes wanted all competitors to know “The Beast” will never yield to the least.

The 156-golfer field begins play Thursday.

Oakmont, once again, commands center stage with this year’s 125th US Open.

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