Week 7: The 7th at Oakmont

[George Pazin]

I spent even less time on 7 than 5, so I'm going to need some help here!

From the website:

Green   479
Blue    370
White   357
Red    274



A good drive on this longish par 4 leaves a long iron to another severe green that slopes left to right.  To miss this green left is disastrous.  Par is a great score on this difficult par 4.

What the diagram doesn't show: you drive from down in a valley (though not from the upper back tee, which I didn't see used in '03), up to a ridge, meaning either the drive or the second shot is blind, depending on how far you hit it. The fairway melds into the relatively narrow entrance to the green in a pretty cool fashion, imho.

I'll try to post the yardage guide thing later, but in the meantime, I hope some others can chime in with more info.

[peter_mcknight]

As a point for historical reference, the 7th played at 395 yards during Miller's amazing 63 at Oakmont in 1973.  In 1983, it was the only hole lengthened when it gained 40 yards.  In fact, the 7th between 1962 and 1994 was the only hole that gained more than 10 yards during the time frame.

Today, the gains have been as follows:
Hole 4--50
Hole 7--40
Hole 8--30
Hole 9--par reduction from 5 to 4
Hole 12--60
Hole 15--30
Hole 18--40

[Steve Burrows]

Here's an image of the 7th green complex from about 75 yards out.

[SPDB]

From Larry Lambrecht's site http://web.mac.com/larrylambrecht/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
(you can contact him directly to purchase any of his shots)

[George Pazin]

Thanks for the extra info and photos.

Here is the yardage scan:



Here is the overhead, to see where hole 7 fits into the puzzle:



One thing I'll point out about the Lambrecht photo that Sean posted is that the valley is deeper than it appears on the photo. I think it's one of the few drives where you're carrying more than just rough. Those trees help to shield the noise from the PA Turnpike, which is just right of the hole.

[Garland Bayley]

The yardage book seems to assume you are going to drive it at least 285. Does the hole play significantly downhill?

[George Pazin]

No, you're actually down in a valley, hitting up to a ridge, though I think it is a bit downhill after the ridge. At least, you are unless you're playing the tips. There is a back tee that sits further up the hillside, I don't know how much use it gets.

The yardage guide I'm using is created by a gentleman who does it for the PGA tour, and various other big tournaments, such as the US Open and, in this case, the US Am. That's why he's assuming people will drive it 285, I guess. I have a normal yardage book somewhere, but I can't find it at present.

[Garland Bayley]

Given the yardages
Green 479
Blue 370
do the members ever play the Green tees? The hole must play vastly different from the Blue tees than how it plays from the Green tees.

[Chris_Clouser]

George,

To me the hole looks much more interesting from the 370 yard tees than from the backs.  From the back, the bunkers are out of range for almost all but the guys who really think they have to hit it as far as possible off of the tee.  

For me at the 370 yard tee a real challenge is given.  I can try to either place the drive in the fairway between all of the bunkers, lay up or try and clear the bunkers with a bomb on the left side and open up the green.  Again the green and bunkers at that end of the hole impress.  There are some real strategic elements to this hole, but not from the tips.  From there it is typical poke it down the middle and hit to the green USGA fare.

Through seven holes I have come to the following conclusions about Oakmont.  Great greens and penal bunkering.  Some strategic interest on certain holes.  I am hoping that on the other side of the road that the strategy amps up.

[JohnV]

Garland,

There is a 434 yard tee also that is now the green tee.  There is a 501 championship tee.  The 501 is the only one that is significantly downhill.  434 is probably about level with the landing zone as I recall.

For those of you who might be new to the Tour yardage guides, J.I.C.Y.F.U stands for "Just in case you F*** up".

The back shelf is a bear to get the ball up on and if you do and the greens are firm, it will run off the back frequently.

[Garland Bayley]

...
For those of you who might be new to the Tour yardage guides, J.I.C.Y.F.U stands for "Just in case you F*** up".
...

Doesn't the tour believe in acronyms such as SOT (Stamp Out TLAs, where TLA is Three Letter Acronym)?

[Ryan Farrow]

[George Pazin]

Wow, thanks for all the photos on all the threads, Ryan, they really add a lot.

I like the look of the course so far (especially without the trees) except for the very predictable bunkering scheme.  Are there any holes which don't pinch the tee shot?  

Ciao

I guess that depends somewhat on how you define pinch. There are certainly flanking bunkers in the driving area on the vast majority of the non-par 3s. On some of the holes, the bunkers are a bit more staggered, but in general, there are always bunkers in the perceived landing areas.

If those were the only bunkers, it might bother me more. But there are tons of bunkers for everyone!

Looking at the overhead, 17 is one of the few without flanking bunkers, with the left side of the hole far more heavily bunkered than the right. But the far right is no picnic, either, though you would really have to mishit one to get it over there. And, of course, 17 does feature Big Mouth on the right greenside, which, like the Road Hole Bunker, influences play from the tee.

[Jordan Wall]

Wow, thanks for all the photos on all the threads, Ryan, they really add a lot.

They are really great pictures, Ryan.


Any idea what the yardage gap is from the tips compared to the blues, for the entire course?
7500 from the tips I thought, but I am guessing 6700 from the Blues..
 

[George Pazin]

According to the club website, it's 7255 from the greens and 6436 from the blues. I think there may be special Open tees that can stretch the course beyond the 7255 figure, but obviously they are only used for the Open and other such special events.

[JohnV]

There are a number of configurations of tees at Oakmont.

See the link here Oakmont   Listing for some more details.

The yardages here are from our measurements when doing course ratings.  We generally go to the tees as defined by the club for the various different markers.  Clubs sometimes create scorecards that differ from these numbers.