Oakmont a major chapter in golf history annals

More than a century after a crew of approximately 100-150 men and a few dozen teams of horses cleared a patch of Pennsylvania pastureland that would become Oakmont Country Club, the famed Henry C. Fownes' design is preparing to play host to its record eighth U.S. Open. A major feat, indeed.

By Brett Avery, PGATOUR.com Contributor

Play this game long enough at the highest level and sooner or later you'll run into Oakmont Country Club.

Or, more likely, Oakmont will run over you.

Of the courses at the apex of competition in the United States, few courses were born with the dual expressed desires of being as hard as possible and being the site for as many championships as practicable.

So it would appear, little more than a century after the Henry C. Fownes design made its debut in 1904, that Oakmont has fulfilled both ends of the bargain.

This year's 107th U.S. Open is its record eighth, breaking the tie with Baltusrol Golf Club. That mark alone would be plenty to brag about for most courses.

Tack on five U.S. Amateurs, three PGA Championships, three Intercollegiate Golf Association of America championships (the forerunner to the NCAA), a U.S. Women's Open and a passel of regional and state tournaments and Oakmont becomes a championship host nonpareil.

Oakmont was a dusty little town of about 2,000 when the golf club opened after months of work by anywhere from 100 to 150 men and a few dozen teams of horses to clear the pastureland and shape the course's features. The course covered 6,406 yards and played to a "bogey" score of 40-40--80 (par not yet having been devised).

According to an October 1904 story in the Pittsburgh Gazette on the opening day, cited in a club history, Fownes "its president, who has practically unaided supervised every detail of its development, and so well has his efforts been directed that the course is the faithful expression of golfer's ideals."

The story noted "something like 13,000 feet of pipe has been laid, furnishing water to every tee and green." It also summarized what became Oakmont's hallmark: "The greens are so varied as to offer every kind of play and the fair greens [fairways] present good lies if the player keeps straight on the course."

The 1916 IGAA was the club's first national championship and Princeton won (it would take all three IGAAs there, the last played in 1937). S. Davidson Herron, an Oakmont member and part of the Tigers' squad, would make the second round. Three years later, Herron became a USGA rarity: a national champion on his home course. Herron, 20, marched through five opponents including Robert T. Jones Jr. in the U.S. Amateur final, 5 and 4.

Gene Sarazen made his mark in the 1922 PGA, the event's fifth playing and the match-play era. Sarazen became the first man to win the U.S. Open and PGA in a season, breaking an all-square deadlock at the 26th hole with Emmet French, the distinguished Ohio club pro, to earn a 4-and-3 triumph.

The club hosted another Amateur, in 1925 with Jones repeating as the winner after taking the title the previous September across the state at Merion Cricket Club. Two years after that, in 1927, Oakmont's march of U.S. Opens was born with Tommy Armour edging Harry Cooper in an 18-hole playoff, 76 to 79. It was the last time an Open winner failed to break 300 for four rounds.

From there the list of championship events is eclipsed only by the quality of the victors:

1935 Open: Sam Parks Jr. (the pro at nearby South Hills CC was the only player to break 300)

1938 Amateur: Willie Turnesa (escaped bunkers at 13 of the final's 29 holes)

1951 PGA: Sam Snead (winning 9 and 8 in the semifinals and 7 and 6 in the final)

1953 Open: Ben Hogan (the Masters champ would then take the British Open title)

1962 Open: Jack Nicklaus (in an epic playoff against hometown favorite Arnold Palmer)

1973 Open: Johnny Miller (he of the record 63 in the final round)

1978 PGA: John Mahaffey (coming from seven behind Tom Watson to defeat him and Jerry Pate in a playoff)

1983 Open: Larry Nelson (covered the final 36 in 10-under-par 132, spurning Watson)

1992 Women's Open: Patty Sheehan (in a playoff against Juli Inkster)

1994 Open: Ernie Els (needing 20 holes to drop Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie)

2003 Amateur: Nick Flanagan (the Australian became the first foreign-born champ in 32 years)

In case you're looking beyond the horizon, the Women's Open returns to Oakmont in 2010. With the next one after that it would tie Atlantic City Country CLub as the most frequent host. Ditto another Amateur in order to tie Merion Golf Club with half a dozen.