Oakmont - the toughest test in golf

The USGA typically have two goals for their biggest event. 1. Golfers use every club in their bag and 2. Have the winning score somewhere around par and definitely less than double digits under par. Two weeks ago in the US Women's Open at Erin Hills they achieved both. It wasn’t your typical US Open venue given the wide fairways, but a premium was put on approaching the firm, sloping greens from the proper angles because at times they were ball repellers. 

World No. 1 Nelly Korda was supreme from tee to green, but a cold putter meant numerous birdie attempts over the weekend failed to drop. Ultimately it was Sweden's Maja Stark who stood alone at the top by weeks end. The skill and guise for which she mapped her way around this expansive property was simply better than everyone else. With shots to play with, Stark made a strategic bogey 6 on the 72^nd hole to seal a 2-shot victory and her maiden major title. 

Next up for the USGA is Oakmont this week for the men's version, and I can personally attest to how difficult this beast of a course is. Put simply, it's the hardest golf course I've ever played. At the 2007 US Open, I shot 15 over par and finished T23! The cut was +10 and winning score +5 by Argentina’s Angel Cabrera. Laughingly, the members were telling us they usually have the course set up tougher for their weekday comps… yeah right. 

What makes it so hard? It’s long, the fairways are narrow, rough brutal, and the greens have no rhyme or reason to them. This week they'll be running somewhere between 14-15 feet on the stimp meter. Think of putting on Lino floors with plenty of slope and you get the picture. Aaron Baddeley, one of the best putters in the world, held the 54-hole lead in 2007. On the first green Sunday he putted his ball off the back edge of the green on his way to a triple bogey 7. He never recovered. 

It's hard to explain to golfers how tough this place is. There's just no let up. Every hole can grab you at any moment and the discipline it requires to take your medicine when you're in the rough or out of position drains you from the get go. You walk off 18 feeling like you've gone 12 rounds with a heavyweight... and you have. I achieved one of my goals in '07 by not making a double bogey all week. Not sure how many 6-10 footers I made for bogey, but it was quite a few! The media has been asking the players what an 18 handicapper would shoot, and I think Jason Day was about right with 150... if they finish.

Golf course architect Gil Hanse completed a renovation to Oakmont recently, adding some length and offering more hole locations on the tabletop greens. How the current generation of players navigate the course will be fascinating to see because it requires every facet of a player’s game to be firing. You need length and accuracy off the tee, the ability to shape your irons (and drives), and if you have an off putting week, forget about it.  

It's a historic venue with winners to match. US Open champions from Oakmont include Hogan, Nicklaus, Miller, Nelson, Els, Cabrera and Dustin Johnson. It’s a serious golf course for seriously good players. Not surprisingly Scottie Scheffler goes in as favourite but Bryson, Rory, and I think Ludvig Aberg are the others with the best chance. In any case it will be a brutal test and depending on weather, who knows, we'll probably see an over par winning score again. 

Cheers,

Nick