While looking through The Confidential Guide, trying to see if there are any great courses which don't have good routings, I came across my review of Oakmont and thought I would reprint it here for those without a book.
This must be considered as one of the classic American courses because of its place in the history of American course design, but it was probably my least favorite of the classics untilt he most recent Open [1983], which cemented my fondness for it. It has all the charm of an S.S. commandant the way it is set up for a tournament, but the more everyone whined about it the more I grew to appreciate it: it kept the best players in the world in check without resorting to the water and out-of-bounds that modern designers employ. I've never understood why water to the right of a green is unacceptable, but rough and a tilted green that make it impossible to get up and down from the right are "unfair".
Hole-by-hole, I like the 3rd and 4th (though I dislike the Church Pews), the 12th, 13th, the 15th, and the 18th, and the 9th solely for its combination green and putting clock; but I hate the 1st hole as a par-4 opener, plus the 2nd, 8th, and 17th. I'm also disappointed that the club has placed such emphasis on excessively fast greens; their contour would hold plenty of interest wihtout it, but the attention they've given to speed has led other courses to overdo it, too. But you can't really hold that against the layout itself. 9. [10/94, which is still the last time I was there]
Other than wondering what I was thinking by implying that modern architects have used o.b. as a defense of par, I'll stand by that review.