By M. James Ward

OAKMONT, PA. — Henry Fownes, the founder and architect for Oakmont Country Club, clarified matters simply and directly when defining the golf club he created—“Let the clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artist stand aside. A shot poorly played, should be a shot irrevocably lost.”

Since the earliest days of competitive golf events—Oakmont, the Pittsburgh area-based club—has long been the gold standard in identifying the most complete golfers.

A record 10th U.S. Open comes to the immediate Pittsburgh area this week, June 12–15. The club has long embraced its reputation as “The Beast”—doing what its founder believed was needed in order to elevate one legitimate true contender from a pack of exposed pretenders.

Par and Yardage for the 2025 US Open

Oakmont Country Club will be set up at 7,372 yards and will play to a par of 35–35–70. The yardage for each round of the championship will vary due to course setup and conditions.

Oakmont Country ClubHole123456789TotalPar44454343435Yardage4883464626114082004852894723,761Hole101112131415161718TotalPar44534434435Yardage4614006321823795072363125023,611

Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating for Oakmont Country Club is 78.1 and its Slope Rating® is 150.

The 10th Hole of Oakmont Country Club in the Oakmont, Pennsylvania on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Fred Vuich/USGA

Henry Fownes died of pneumonia in 1935, and his son William C. Fownes, Jr., who was born in 1878 and named for Henry’s brother, oversaw much of the course’s evolution. W.C. was an outstanding figure in golf history—winning the 1910 U.S. Amateur.

When the 1935 U.S. Open was hosted there, local club professional Sam Parks was the only player to break 300 for four rounds of play. The rigors of Oakmont were front and center, and the reputation of “The Beast” was set into motion.

However, low scores are possible—Johnny Miller’s then record final round 63 in winning the 1973 U.S. Open only bolstered the reputation of Oakmont in demonstrating that “The Beast” could be conquered. Ten years later, Larry Nelson came from seven shots back after two rounds and set the U.S. Open scoring mark with rounds of 65–67 to claim the title by one shot over 1982 winner Tom Watson.

Over the years, Oakmont has gone through various transformations. Up through the 1953 U.S. Open, the club employed the use of heavy steel rakes—weighing about 50 pounds each—with four-inch tines to rake the bunker perpendicular to the hole and create deep furrows. Balls would settle into those ridges and, with the mounds of sand in front and behind the ball, the only way to make clean contact would be to pitch out sideways.

Players in the 1953 event pushed back against the usage of furrows in all the many bunkers at Oakmont, and a compromise was reached when only the bunkers greenside were prepared in such a manner. By the 1962 U.S. Open, the usage of furrowed bunkers was eliminated in its entirety.

The second most important transformation came prior to the playing of the 2007 U.S. Open. Over the course of time, hundreds of trees had been planted on the property. The original Fownes vision was for Oakmont to be a stark canvass with no trees cluttering the landscape.

Rory McIlroy smiles on the 11th hole during a practice round ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Chris Keane/USGA

Oakmont’s leadership opted to remove countless trees prior to that championship but that caused an internal membership scrum nearly fostering litigation to be pursued. The end result—Oakmont’s appearance was returned to its original vision.

Major Moments at Oakmont

1927: U.S. Open — Tommy Armour

1932: PGA Championship — Gene Sarazen

1935: U.S. Open — Sam Parks

1951: PGA Championship — Sam Snead

1953: U.S. Open — Ben Hogan

1962: U.S. Open — Jack Nicklaus

1973: U.S. Open — Johnny Miller

1978: PGA Championship — John Mahaffey

1983: U.S. Open — Larry Nelson

1994: U.S. Open — Ernie Els

2007: U.S. Open — Angel Cabrera

2016: U.S. Open — Dustin Johnson

2025: U.S. Open — ?

2025 Contenders

This year’s championship has a number of key storylines. At the top of the pecking order is the return to dominance of world-ranked number-one Scottie Scheffler. Since the Masters in April, he has won three of his last four starts—including the PGA Championship in May and in his last appearance when joining Tiger Woods as the only two players to defend one’s title at this year’s Memorial event.

Scheffler’s game may be ideally suited for Oakmont as the 28-year-old has shown the capacity in bogey avoidance in his play. A past weakness in his putting stroke seems to have moved to his rear-view mirror.

Scottie Scheffler strolls across the 11th green during a practice round ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. on Monday, June 9, 2025. Mike Ehrmann/USGA

Right behind Scheffler will be the focus on Rory McIlroy. The 35-year-old ended his major-less drought in dramatic fashion when winning at Augusta and thereby joining the most elite fraternities as the sixth member of the career grand slam club.

McIlroy’s play was off kilter at last week’s RBC Canadian Open as he missed the cut badly. There’s been focus on McIlroy’s equipment as his driver was ruled nonconforming during the PGA Championship. McIlroy went silent with the media during the event at Quail Hollow, and one has to wonder which golfer will be at Oakmont. Did the win at the Masters satiate his appetite for additional major wins or will his form return to prominence this week?

Oakmont has certainly been the venue for a number of the greatest golfers to command the stage. But “The Beast” has also denied other key golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods from adding their respective names to the roster.

Palmer lost an epic playoff to Nicklaus in the 1962 U.S. Open courtesy of 10 three-putt greens. Watson was five strokes ahead with one round to play in the 1978 PGA Championship and was tied for the lead going into the final round of the 1983 U.S. Open. The eight-time major winner faltered in both.

Woods was tied for the lead in the 2007 U.S. Open as late as the 10th hole in the final round but could not finish strong in eventually placing in a joint runner-up position to the Argentinian Cabrera.

How the weather fares is always an element of uncertainty. Oakmont, like other championship venues, is susceptible to low scoring when turf conditions are softer because of wet conditions. At the 2016 U.S. Open—such a “benign” situation happened and Dustin Johnson’s 72-hole score of 276 (four-under-par) reflected that. Miller’s record score of 63 was also aided because of a slightly softer venue.

Yet, when dry conditions prevail, the ultimate in scoring terror emerges with “The Beast.” That happened in the 2007 U.S. Open when a score of 285 (five-over-par) was produced by Cabrera.

Oakmont is the personification of an honest judge—no bribes accepted. The evidence comes strictly from one’s game. A final verdict rendered simply from that undeniable reality. Bear also in mind, no appeals are possible. Each golfer stands alone knowing full well that anything but the surest of executions will suffer dire consequences.

The fortunate winner will relish adding their name to the roster of the game’s finest players who have won previously at Oakmont.

The test ahead for the 156-golfer field begins Thursday.

Rest assured, the spirit of the Fownes—both father and son—will be watching over this year’s U.S. Open. Oakmont is once again in the forefront of championship golf. Since its inception in 1903, Henry Fownes wanted all competitors to know “The Beast” will never yield to the least.

Oakmont commands, rightly so, center stage with this year’s 125th U.S. Open.