#5 - Oakmont - From Generation to Generation

Have you ever gone to sleep knowing that the next day would be one that you would remember for the rest of your life? As I crawled under the heavy Marriott quilt, and my head sunk into the extra fluffy pillows, dreams of church pews and lightning fast greens filled my mind. I spent most of the next morning at Mechanic Coffee Company, clacking away at my laptop, as Dad and Joe made the 6 hour pilgrimage from New Jersey to Pittsburgh. Around noon, we made our way down the brick-laid Allegheny River Boulevard to the gates of Oakmont Country Club.

Golf is passed down from generation to generation. My great-grandpa Herb passed the game on to my grandpa when he was a kid. My Grandpa Donald passed it to my dad when he was 8. When I was 7 years old, my Dad took me golfing for the first time. As he taught the game to my brothers and me, he would take us out to the course late in the afternoon to play a few holes before the sunset. We slowly fell in love with the strategy, discipline, beauty, exhilaration, and frustration of this beautiful game. But at the time, we were always just excited to spend a few hours of time with Dad.

Even though Dad set up the round at Oakmont, which opened around the time my great grandpa was born, it felt a little like we were including him in our adventure. The club was heavy on memorable moments. We were enchanted by the old-school locker room, where we loaded our gear up next to Penguins great Mario Lemieux’s locker. The unique putting green, an extension of the 9th green, introduced us to Oakmont’s notorious greens. I will never forget hole #1, where Joe and Dad putted from 50 yards off the green, or the church pew bunker between hole #3 and hole #4. We experienced the grind of the relentless course, concluding with arguably the greatest inland 18th hole in the world. After the round, our host, Dave, took us for a tour of the clubhouse, with trophy cases from all of the major championships, and the indisputably cool SWAT room. Yet what I will remember most is the few hours, in this incredible place, that I was able to spend with my brother and my Dad.

It is often discussed that families of children with special needs experience grief. Sharla Kostelyk writes, “maybe you imagined being at their baseball games cheering from the sidelines or pictured moments snuggled up on the couch together reading a favourite story. You may even have projected things far in advance such as their wedding day or high school graduation. No doubt you also imagined what you would be like as a parent and what you would teach your child.” This grief does not diminish the love for the child as they are. Slowly, families and parents will come to learn that while some of these dreams are gone, some of them can still be realized. Ultimately, the mission of The Quest is to create opportunities for moms and dads and sons and daughters to have those precious hours together on the golf course.

If you have not already pledged to support The Quest in this mission, I encourage you to do so here. Alternatively, you can make a one-time donation here, and remember to follow us on Instagram if you haven’t done so already. On to the recap…

Hole #1 - Par 4 - 441 Yards

The round at Oakmont kicks off with a narrow par 4 that plunges dramatically down to the green. A short or errant drive leaves a blind approach. From the tee box, most of the course is sprawled out ahead.

Dad pulled his drive left and into the rough, leaving him to blast it blindly down the hill. See where he ends up in the video below.

Joe with a short put for bogey. Nothing is guaranteed on these greens.

Hole #2 - Par 4 - 325 Yards

The next hole is a short par 4 with danger everywhere. Risk/reward off the tee as a driver will leave you inside 100 yards to a tight green. An iron off the tee means you are probably aiming to the middle of the green on your approach, and looking for a par.

After pulling my drive left, I had the ball below my feet in the ditch. For my highlight shot of the day, I picked it clean and landed on a small sliver of green, about 15 feet from the hole. I would go on to make par.

Joe missed the green long leaving himself with a downhill bunker shot that ended up at the front of the green. He two putted for a routine bogey

Hole #3 - Par 4 - 390 Yards

The number 1 handicap hole on the course features one of the most iconic hazards in golf. Only Joe landed in the legendary church pew bunker.

Joe came up short on the uphill approach to a false front green.

From the elevated green, you have a clear view of the church pew bunker that comes into play on hole #3 and hole #4.

The view from the 3rd green

I stuck my approach to 20 feet and made par. Joe made bogey.

Hole #4 - Par 5 - 538 Yards

The medium length par 5 brings the church pew bunker back into play off the tee. The hole twists right, then back to the left at the green.

In case you forgot that you are in a steel town, this smokestack looms large on the horizon throughout Oakmont.

Hole #5 - Par 4 - 349 Yards

Another short par 4, requiring a blind tee shot toward and aiming pole. We all pulled woods and got into good positions near the end of the fairway, leaving around 100 yards to the pin.

I blocked my approach into the right greenside bunker. Joe and Dad secured pars.

Hole #6 - Par 3 - 168 Yards

A medium length par 3 with no room for error on when the pin is up front, as it was today.

Joe made the first birdie of the day. I stumbled my way to a 4.

Hole #7 - Par 4 - 370 Yards

The 7th hole is relatively straightforward off the tee.

Attacking the pin is out of the question here. Aim for the center of the green and take your par. A bad approach by Joe led to a bogey.

Hole #8 - Par 3 - 225

This long par 3 can extend to over 300 yards. A massive bunker protects the front left.

Hole #9 - Par 5 - 462 Yards

This blind tee shot hides a fairway that is surrounded by trouble on both sides. I found the right side bunker, from which I was forced to chip out.

The approach into the 9th green is protected by a bunker front right. The people milling around on the putting green makes going long slightly dangerous. The putting surface is no bargain either with severe undulation.

Hole #10 - Par 4 - 440 Yards

The back 9 starts similarly to the front 9, with a downhill par 4 heading west, away from the clubhouse. The right side is protected by 4 consecutive, deep, bunkers. The left side has 2 bunkers that will swallow up errant drives.

Finding the bunkers at Oakmont usually sticks you with a wedge out (and a bogey or worse)

Not a good start to the back 9, as Joe made bogey, and Dad and I had double bogeys.

Hole #11 - Par 4 - 328 Yards

The right distance off the tee leaves a short approach to a sand surrounded green.

Two good shots and two putts for par for Joe and Dad. I drove my 5-wood through the fairway, and found the sand trap on my second shot. Bogey for me.

Hole 12 - Par 5 - 562 Yards

This long, downhill, par 5 was one of our favorite holes. It switches back slightly from left to right, and then back to the left again. The strategically placed bunkers guarantee bogey if you find one, which is not the case on most par 5s.

After driving the ball into a right side bunker, then finding the ditch running down the left side, I was saddled with another double bogey. This hole really showed its teeth. Meanwhile, Joe striped his drive and needed 5 quality shots to make par.

Hole #13 - Par 3 - 153 Yards

The green of this par 3 is the real challenge. Sloping dramatically from back right to front left. The greens at Oakmont are so challenging that it actually led to the invention of the stimpmeter (the tool used to measure green speeds) following the 1935 U.S. Open at Oakmont. On this day, the greens were rolling around a 13, which the Oakmont members declared slow!

Hole #14 - Par 4 - 340 Yards

For a short par 4, Joe and I took different paths to double bogey. I went up the left side, finding a fairway bunker, a greenside bunker, the SAME greenside bunker, and then a 2 putt. Joe took it down the right side, finding a fairway bunker, clipping the grass to find a second fairway bunker, and then a 3 putt. YIKES!

Hole #15 - Par 4 - 434 Yards

Much like the 9th hole, the swell at the beginning of the fairway hides some of the danger lurking beyond. The comb shaped bunker running down the left hand side spells trouble. Meanwhile, the fairway slopes from left to right, leading to a difficult approach for those who do find the short grass. After proclaiming the greatness of Merion’s closing 4 holes, Dave told us to sit back because Oakmont had something to say. #15 Oakmont > #15 Merion. Oakmont +1.

The downslope in front of the green calls for running a shot up to the green. Joe and I both made par.

We took 4 unique routes to par on hole #16. It couldn’t compete with the quarry hole at Merion. All square in the final 4 holes.

Hole #17 - Par 4 - 296 Yards

I am still arguing with myself about whether Oakmont or Merion has a better 17th hole. This seemingly drivable par 4 is dramatically uphill, with a field of bunkers between tee and green. The safe shot is right of the bunkers, but that means your approach will have no room for error due to a deep greenside bunker known as “Big Mouth.” I gave the slightest of edges to the long par 3 at Merion, but ask me again tomorrow and I might have changed my mind already.

No matter what you do off the tee, your approach will be to a sliver of green, protected by an abyss of a bunker. Finding it could mean double bogey or worse.

As promised, Joe found “Big Mouth” and made a double. I picked up a hard earned par.

Hole #18 - Par 4 - 430 Yards

The only negative thing you can say about #18 at Oakmont is that it signals the end of the round. Any error here spells disaster, as shown by double bogeys for Dad and Joe. I escaped with a bogey only because of a miracle up and down from the right greenside rough. The 18th at Merion doesn’t measure up. Of the final 4 holes, 2 were better at Oakmont, and 2 were better at Merion.

Oakmont boast a more impressive trophy case than anywhere else.

If you don’t know about Johnny Miller, read about his dominant performance in the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont, or watch it here. Miller is an Oakmont legend.

The Oakmont SWAT Tournament

Maybe the coolest thing we learned about Oakmont is the existence of the weekly SWAT tournament, which has been running since 1955.

These books hold the records of the SWAT going back to its inception. It includes the names of some of the most accomplished golfers in the history, alongside everyday golfers.