The US Open’s Return To Golf’s Almost Hardest Test

When the U.S. Open returns to Oakmont Country Club from June 9–15, it will mark the tenth time the championship has been hosted at one of golf’s most grueling tests. Nestled just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Oakmont’s reputation precedes it—steeped in history, unapologetically difficult, and purpose-built to humble even the best in the game.

What makes Oakmont such a formidable challenge? Start with its famously fast and firm greens—often measuring over 14.5 on the Stimpmeter—paired with penal rough over five inches long, severe elevation changes, blind shots, deep bunkers, and abrupt slopes. None of this is incidental. Every element of the course was designed to test the limits of precision and mental endurance.

The Industrialist Who Engineered Golf’s Greatest Trial

Oakmont was the brainchild of Henry Clay Fownes, a steel magnate who parlayed his industrial fortune into a second act in golf. After building and selling his steel business, Fownes retired early due to health issues and immersed himself in the game, even competing in five U.S. Amateur Championships.

But Fownes didn’t just play golf—he sought to redefine its challenge. In 1903, he and a group of investors purchased more than 190 acres of rolling Pennsylvania terrain. By 1904, with the help of 150 workers, Oakmont opened at 6,406 yards, playing to a par 80—an anomaly even by early 20th-century standards.

It would be Fownes’ only design, but his vision was singular: to build the toughest course in America. He famously declared, “A poor shot should be a shot irrevocably lost.” His design philosophy leaned into punishing terrain and unpredictable contours. Long before modern agronomy, Fownes was manipulating green speeds, dropping golf balls on slopes to test severity, and pushing boundaries on what was playable.

Oakmont’s Evolution—and Softening

Over the decades, Oakmont became synonymous with difficulty. In the 1977 U.S. Open, green speeds reached 9’8″ on the Stimpmeter—nearly two feet faster than Augusta National at the time. And yet, despite its pedigree and punishing design, Oakmont ranks only third in modern U.S. Open scoring difficulty, behind Winged Foot and Olympic Club.

Still, Oakmont proved it could bare its teeth. In 2007, Angel Cabrera won the U.S. Open at 5-over-par—evidence of the course’s bite. However, in every other U.S. Open hosted there since 1953, scores have dipped under par. That’s led to some quiet grumbling among purists and Oakmont members alike: has the course softened?

Ahead of major championships, it’s said Oakmont intentionally slows down greens and trims back rough. But the most striking concession came in the bunkers.

The Infamous Oakmont Rakes—and a Lesson in Player Power

Oakmont’s original bunkers were filled with coarse, rocky sand dredged from the nearby Allegheny River. But what truly made them infamous was how they were maintained. Groundskeepers used custom rakes with 3–4 inch deep ridges, creating a playing surface more akin to a Ruffles chip than the smooth bunkers seen on Tour. These ridges buried the ball, reduced spin, and made clean contact elusive—particularly on Oakmont’s lightning-fast greens.

Players balked. After the 1953 U.S. Open, professionals lobbied for change. The six-inch-thick revetted rakes were retired, and over time, Oakmont’s sand was replaced with finer, more standardized material. The bunkers, while still challenging, lost their most punishing edge.

Can Oakmont Reclaim Its Crown?

Statistically, Oakmont is no longer the hardest U.S. Open course. But it holds a blueprint for returning to that title. Its pedigree remains unmatched: elite green speeds, long rough, and the architectural DNA of a course designed with zero margin for error.

Should Oakmont lean into its roots—reintroducing its original bunker strategies, tightening fairways, and dialing greens back up to their brutal maximum—it could once again embody Fownes’ vision. A place where every shot counts. A shot not just missed, but lost.

In an era when golf technology, analytics, and athlete conditioning have elevated player performance to new heights, Oakmont remains one of the few places where the course still has the final word