Oakmont Country Club restoration is complete; course ready to host 2025 U.S. Open

It has been said that if the United States Golf Association needed to hold an event pronto, they would put in a call to Oakmont Country Club, and the course would be ready.

After more than 18 months of bunker restoration, Michael McCormick, the club’s grounds superintendent, declared the course ready to host.

The USGA doesn’t have to call Oakmont. It already has the course booked for the 125th U.S. Open on June 12-15, 2025.

It will mark the 10th time for the U.S. Open at the historic club designed by Henry C. Fownes and opened in 1903.

So when 2024 champion Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McElroy, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson and others show up, what can they expect?

Members of the media got a sneak preview of the course Monday and saw what has been done by Gil Hanse, a well-known golf course architect. Hanse’s focus during the project was to reshape and rebuild bunkers close to the style that Fownes intended.

There were 24,000 square feet of green expansions throughout the golf course. The largest was 2,500 square feet on No. 3.

“All the work on the golf course proper is 100% complete,” McCormick said. “We are performing some work around the perimeter of the property that, ultimately, is aimed at enhancing the player and spectator experience.”

McCormick said an event could be held today if needed, with minor adjustments.

“We are ready to rock. We just got to grow the rough up a little bit,” McCormick said. “You know, the nice thing about the U.S. Open at Oakmont is from a fine-turf playing surface perspective — greens, approaches, fairways and tees — we really don’t do anything much different.

“However, next spring we’ll start growing the rough up. The rough will certainly be a lot more penal than what the membership sees daily.”

Scott Langley, senior director of player relations at the USGA, escorted the media around the course and talked about its unique aspects.

Langley said his role at the USGA is serving on the golf course setup team for the men’s and women’s Opens and overseeing a team that brings to life a lot of player-related stuff outside the ropes.

“I really enjoy being part of a team to set up the golf course for the U.S. Open,” Langley said, “and we are really excited to be here. This is such a quintessential U.S. Open venue, preparing to host this event.

“Fownes and his sons built a hard enough course to test their own games, much less those players in the U.S. Open. Oakmont has always been built to be brutal. There is no place better than Oakmont.

“Fownes always said, ‘A poor shot played should be a shot irrevocably lost.’ ”

Langley said Oakmont is a course that makes players think and gives them options.

Also, the work on the greens opens them up for more pin placements. On No. 13, before the work, there were two options. Now there are six, including a spot deep right on the back of the green.

Langley said Hanse found old photos of what the course and greens used to look like.

Other changes included replacing the irrigation system, adding about 200 yards in length to the 7,255-yard course and restoring greens to their original size.

“Gil did a tremendous job in restoring what Oakmont has historically been, back in the Fownes era,” Langley said. “It is going to be a brutal but fair test. The greens will be kept on the faster side.”

McCormick said one of the most special things about Oakmont is the green surfaces.

“Actually, the type of grass we have on them are probably the closest things you’ll ever see to 100% Poa annua greens,” McCormick said about Poa sod, which is unique to Western Pennsylvania. “And that Poa is very perennial type growth habit, where it’s very tight and allows us to mow extremely low heights.”

Oakmont is famous for the its “Church Pew” bunkers, which stretch for 100 yards and are 40 yards wide between the third and fourth fairways, the “Big Mouth” bunker on No. 17, as well as its firm and fast greens and high, thick rough alongside the manicured fairways.

McCormick said the changes will continue to test the best players in the world.

After the 1994 U.S. Open, the club membership decided to remove more than 10,000 trees from the course, returning to Fownes’ original design in 1903. The club planted 5,000 trees in 1953. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.