I thought I would celebrate the one week anniversary of getting to play Oakmont by sharing some of my thoughts and posting some pictures. Not often you get to play an amazing golf course in perfect weather with three great companions. I'm still excited over the whole experience.
Those that are easily offended by viewing photos taken during the course of play, move on to another post. I don't see how I can talk about what I liked about Oakmont without sharing some images. Photo prudes should know that I did ask permission of the guys I was playing with and did not delay play.
Here's my favorite photo from the day. I was changing shoes in the second floor locker room and was wowed by this view. You can just look at this and know it's going to be a special day.
We didn't start on 1, but I'll post sequentially. Got to play my approach shot from the edge of 9 fairway. You can see all of the nasty stuff my tee shot was pulled enough to avoid. Still blind & downhill, though.
Note how uphill the approach shot is on 3. With some distractions!
We started on 4. Took this from behind the green. Note how downhill the approach is.
When you step on 5 tee, you also get to see the famous Sahara bunker on 8. Don't spend much time thinking about it. There's plenty more to worry about first.
5 is a fantastic hole. Not that long, but the fairway slopes from right to left to a green that slopes severely right to left.
Even though this was my worst hole of the day (made triple), I loved it. This is the view from the end of the fairway. I didn't get many greenside photos because I didn't want to disrupt play.
The US Open tee on 8was WAY behind our simple little 220 yard hole.
The green on 9 was so much fun. This picture was taken after play was over. Look how much movement there is. If I played regularly at Oakmont, I could see putting games being a lot of fun. Sorry Mr. Fownes, but I think Oakmont was FUN.
There doesn't appear to be much room to miss on 11.
And there really isn't. This was from the left rough near the scary dry hazard.
Here's one of the greens that I have photos of. Yeah, I three putted 8 times. I should have avoided some of them, but if you're not in the right position on the green, you're going to struggle with your putting.
After playing smart on 17 tee, I still yanked my iron behind the bunkers on the left. Here's all I could see as I played my approach.
This was taken from the rear of 17 green looking back towards the tee. It's that hilly.
Here's another shot behind 18 green looking back down the fairway. This one was late in the day.
Oakmont was an incredible experience. I think it would have been a bargain at twice the price. I'm so glad that John V posted this opportunity for those of us that are less-connected. Hopefully we're also represented well enough that if anyone hears of other outings from their local golf associations they'll post it as well. Long Island anyone?
Oh, and lest I forget, there was at least one section that was extra firm and fast on the day we played. John K are you reading?
