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second course, Valley, is also in the World list at No 82, as parts of this links occupy the same massive sand hills as the Dunluce. Oakmont looks entirely different to- day compared to when Els triumphed there 31 years ago in an 18-hole play- off (plus two extra holes) with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts. It was tree-lined and forested. Following that Open some tens of thousands of trees, mostly planted in the 1960s, were re- moved over the next two decades. When Dustin Johnson won the 2016 US Open at Oakmont, the treeless layout was unrecognisable from that where Els had had his breakthrough success. “The removal of Oakmont’s trees is a total reversal of the sentiment that trees belong on a golf course, because Oakmont’s heritage didn’t rely on aerial hazards whatsoever,” says Golf Digest’s Ron Whitten. “Other clubs are more content to retain some trees for safety MEASURING GREEN SPEEDS The Stimpmeter, which measures the speed of greens, was invented in the 1930s by Eddie Stimpson, yet only in the 1970s did the USGA take an interest in green speeds following improvements in greens mower technology that included thinner bedknives making it possible to mow as tight as 3.175mm compared to 5mm before. Greenkeepers lowered their mowing heights, increased topdressing frequency, and micromanaged fertility inputs, which led to smoother, more consistent speeds. The USGA designed a modified Stimpmeter, known as the Speed Stick, which decreased the friction created when the ball rolled down the ramp. The USGA took green speed measurements in 1976-77 on 1500 courses, and the average speed was 6.5 feet. Oakmont’s measured 10, Augusta National 8. Golf clubs started to use rollers on their greens. It has been documented that rolling in place of mowing can lead to faster green speeds while promoting healthier greens at a lower cost.
The Erin Hills public facility in Wisconsin will host the US Women’s Open.
we possibly can to the brink of death without crossing that line.” The sheer difficulty of Oakmont was last showcased during the 2016 Open, in the shape of notorious bunkers, 180 of them, deep drainage ditches and ankle-deep rough. Not to mention some blind approaches to greens. A big number can happen on any hole – Els began the 1994 playoff with a bogey on No 1 and triple-bogey on No 2. Two of America’s leading course architects, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, have made bunker modifications and expanded the size of the greens in prepa- ration for the 2025 US Open. The US Golf Association has already awarded Oak- mont three additional Opens between 2033 and 2049, reinforcing its title as the host of the most US Opens ever. Both Els and Johnson experienced controversial rules decisions during the final round of their victories. A storm of criticism was levelled against the USGA from the public and top players in the days following Johnson lifting the trophy in 2016. On the fifth green he had been informed that he might be assessed a one-stroke penalty for causing his ball to move, but that the ruling would only be made at the end of the round. CONTROVERSIAL US OPEN RULINGS
or aesthetic reasons, which is fine. But the lesson of Oakmont is that every club should reexamine its landscape. Most would find many of their trees superflu- ous and, as at Oakmont, the character of their layouts would improve once those trees are removed.” What is fascinating about Oakmont and its traditional hosting of the US Open once every decade is that the win- ning scores remained almost identical for more than 50 years between Ben Hogan shooting 283 in 1953 and Angel Cabrera posting 285 in 2007 (the scor- ing average was 75.7). Its penal design has stood the test of time through six decades of vast change in equipment and golf balls. In between Hogan and Cabrera, the Oakmont champions were Jack Nicklaus in 1962 (283), Johnny Miller in 1973 (279), Larry Nelson in 1983 (280) and Els 279. Johnson lowered the total to 276, but for the record only four players broke 280 that year. Oakmont is known for having the game’s swiftest putting surfaces, quicker than Augusta National on the flat sections. And these are 100% Poa Annua greens, rolled and double-cut every day in summer for members who relish putts running at 14 on the Stimp- meter. “We hand-water the greens and do so as little as possible,” said course superintendent Michael McCormick. “We want to push the turf as close as
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