Oakmont Country Club

[theclv24]

I figured the TGC folks deserve an update to go along with the HB folks. The latest WIP pics will always live here. (Edit: Fixed this link, is accurate now)

The HB thread details progress up until now.

This is the latest pic, of the 16 bunkers + church pews on the 4th hole.




In elevating the 4th green I realized that I would need to probably elevate holes 5 and 6 at the same time. I have since added all bunkers to 5 and 6, and also completed the heavy rough on 4-6. Elevation work on all 3 holes can now be done and I expect all three holes to be mostly finished in the next day or two. 

[Terry Grayson]

Man this looks awesome... Loved the PGA2000 version when we used to play tours on it! I visited those church pews a time or two! HA

Looking good man!!!! know it will be great.....

[joegolferg]

Good effort so far.

[theclv24]

Here's some new pics.


Much of the past week has been devoted to the area around holes 4, 5, and 6. There is a lot of land movement in this area, so it worked best to try and do elevations for all three holes at the same time. The 4th hole is complete except for the green contours, while the 5th and 6th holes still need bunker sculpting and green contours.

[Deleted]

Mr. Sandman .... yessss ....
come Play in my trap,
if you land in there I won't give a ____ ....
if you do by chance, I hope you're buried good and deep ....
so getting out far, will be a real treat ...

[joegolferg]

Looks spot on so far.

[bigned56]

looking great when can we
play it

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2016 7:56:25 GMT -5 bigned56 said:

looking great when can we
play it

Hopefully in enough time before the U.S. Open!  LOL

[bassman70]

Looking fantastic!

[Macs Power]

Oakmont is in my top 3. You are doing an amazing work, I can't wait to play it.
Designers make all this possible.

Thanks for the time spent and the hard work !

[theclv24]

Apr 1, 2016 7:56:25 GMT -5 bigned56 said:

looking great when can we
play it

When it's done!

Ok, for real, it's been a lot of work trying to get the area around 5, 6, and 7 correct. No hole is truly finished until the course is published, so there might be some tweaks required still at 5 and 6, but those two are mostly done. 7 is close to done, just needs some green sculpting and some planting around the perimeter. Bunker work is also part way done on the 8th hole. I would expect 7 and 8 to be finished in the next week or so, at which point I will have updated screenshots for the whole 5-8 area of the course.

After that, I would expect much quicker progress on the back 9. Still a few weeks out, but will be done in plenty of time for June.

[theclv24]

Proof that I am actually making progress. Holes 2-8 on the east side of the Turnpike are for the most part done.

5th Tee and 4th Green



5th Approach



6th Green



Back tee at 7th



7th Green, with west side of course and clubhouse in distance



8th Tee



Green at the massive par 3 8th

[DoubtfulObelisk]

Looks great! Can't wait to play it!
Is #8 as long as it is in real life? That'll be really fun in TGC with any sort of headwind...

[theduke21]

Sculpting looks great. Best part about oakmont is how the terrain allows you to look to your side and basically see every hole on the course. Creates an incredible atmosphere.

[theclv24]

Apr 6, 2016 21:49:57 GMT -5 DoubtfulObelisk said:

Looks great! Can't wait to play it!
Is #8 as long as it is in real life? That'll be really fun in TGC with any sort of headwind...

#8 currently with the tee smack in the middle of the back tee box, and with a front pin, is 281. It could probably be extended to 295, maybe 300 max.

For casual play, the tee almost certainly won't be on the back box. It will be somewhere where the strongest headwind won't prevent a driver from reaching. 

For US Open play, the setup will depend on what I find in testing with wind. I will say that I won't feel too bad about a tee shot that doesn't find the green. I will probably make sure, though, that a driver can reach the green in at least a 10mph headwind or less.

To provide a little more context on the hole, I've included the Golf Club Atlas description, as I find it to be apt:

Nearly all the great architects during the Golden Age of golf design included a long one shotter into their designs. Examples of very fine to excellent holes in the 220 to 240 yard range built during the 1910s and 1920s are too numerous to mention. In those days of hickory golf, such holes required either a three wood or driver. With time and the ceaseless march of technology, these same length holes now only require a mid to long iron shot for the game’s best. Many of the classic old courses don’t have the room to expand their holes but Oakmont does. And they took full advantage when they lengthened this hole to nearly 290 yards in preparation for the 2007 U.S. Open. The whining and howls of protest from the world’s best as to this rigorous challenge would have fallen on deaf ears to H.C. and W.C. Fownes; they intended a driver to be hit here and designed the hole accordingly. The green and its contours are (relatively speaking given that the greens often stimp above 13!) among the more modest on the course. At hundred yards in length, the Sahara bunker visually dominates but is shallow. Furthermore, on the direct tee to green line, there is forty-three yards of open fairway past the Sahara to the front of the open green.