Had a difficult assignment this week. I had to play Oakmont.
I know, I know, it was tough but somebody had to do it and thanks to the generosity of our Sports Director, Jeff Hathhorn (a much better golfer than I am incidentally), I was that somebody.
The occasion was Media Day for the upcoming US Amateur, which will be contested at Oakmont (with medal rounds also at Longue Vue) August 9-15. So in order for us reporters to get an idea of what it’s it like - after chatting with USGA and Oakmont officials plus a meet-and-greet with Pierceson Coody (the second-ranked amateur in the world and the grandson of 1971 Masters winner Charlie Coody) – we got to play the course.
No, we did not play the same layout the world’s top amateurs will play. The championship tees will be somewhere around 7500 yards, maybe more, and our invitation indicated only low single-digit handicappers should play from there. Fine by me. You can look it up.
Most men played the blue tees at 6600 yards. As a proud 65-year old, I chose to play the white tees at just under 6200 yards; plenty for me and what I typically play. By comparison, the whites at Pheasant Ridge and Pittsburgh North are 6200, 6100 at LakeVue North. Heck, the back tees at Moon GC are 5800.
Of course, none of my usual haunts have the bunkers or the rough that I would encounter that day and while I extol the virtues of the greens at Moon GC in my commercials – and they are fast and firm for a public course – we’re talking about Oakmont! You know, the place where they actually make the greens slower for the US Open, which is only a partial exaggeration.
As if that wasn’t enough reason to be nervous, I was following greatness. Bob Pompeani was playing in the group just ahead of me!
Plus, with a shotgun start, we started on the 17th hole, the uphill par 4 with the big mouth bunker guarding the front of the green.
But I hit a decent drive to within 100 yards and confidently popped a shot over the bunker to within 12 feet of the cup. Naturally, I missed the birdie putt.
Nonetheless, a par at Oakmont? Great way to start.
Appropriately enough, however, things quickly went downhill.
Two holes later on number 1 I duffed my tee shot about 60 yards then couldn’t get out of the rough until my fourth shot (which I should have done two shots earlier; fellow hackers know that feeling).
But that actually set up a really cool shot. Facing 60 or 70 yards downhill with extremely short fairway grass the play is to putt the ball!
Problem was I had to hit so hard that I pulled the ball and it rolled well off-line. Still, I nearly made the long putt so it turned out that triple-bogey was one of the best experiences.
It also turned out that was one of only two fairways I missed. It actually kind of drove my playing partners - Ryan Recker of WTAE-TV, Paul Schofield of The Trib and Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade - nuts that I kept hitting fairways. I never found a fairway bunker (because I can’t hit it that far but don’t tell anybody).
In all, there are 175 deep bunkers at Oakmont,
Trouble is, probably 60 of those bunkers are greenside and that cost me a couple of triple bogeys, including the Par 5 fifth hole – the all-too familiar snowman. But then – golf being the enigma it is – it went the other way.
Pars on numbers 5, 6, and 8 (a 209 yard par 3!) and I should have parred 7 and 9. I guess I could blame a rain delay at that point for going a bit off the rails over the final seven holes but I can’t. It’s called Operator Error although, believe it or not, I did make three putts over that stretch to save two bogeys and one double so it could have been worse.
In fact, Oakmont’s celebrated greens weren’t really a problem, for two reasons. First, they were softer than usual because of the recent rain and then the rain during the round. But the main reason my putting was actually good for a change - our caddies, in this case Danny and Eric. If you are lucky enough to play there just do what your caddy tells you, or at least try to. Your putting, and your game, will be better for it.
After the round, when I ran into Oakmont’s Head Professional Devin Gee (who was halfway to winning the Falling Rock Classic at Nemacolin, by the way) and told him how much I enjoyed it he asked, “How many birdies did you make?”
I just laughed, “Birdies? I had four pars! I’ll take four pars at Oakmont any day!”
Can’t wait to try it again. Hint, hint.