Oakmont Country Club has long been viewed as one of the most challenging golf courses in America, if not the entire world.
And the difficulty is the draw, as the layout features a whopping 168 bunkers, including the famed Church Pews, ridiculously thick rough, and slick, undulating putting surfaces that often reach as high as 15 on the Stimpmeter, thus making even the best players on the planet look foolish at times.
Over the last 100-plus years, the USGA and the PGA of America have helped the southwest Pennsylvania club host the second-most major championships of any course in the United States. The leader in that category, of course, is Augusta National, but that's only because The Masters is the only major to be played at the same venue each and every year.
The 2025 U.S. Open marks the 10th time Oakmont has hosted America's national championship, the first instance dating back to 1927. The club already owned the record for most U.S. Opens hosted coming into the tournament, but has now extended its lead over Baltusrol by three.
Oakmont has also hosted three editions of the PGA Championship (1922, 1951, 1978), six U.S. Amateur Championships, and a pair of U.S. Women's Opens. So, it's obviously the real deal.
Formerly played as a par-71 for many of these big events, the course has been set up as a par-70 for each of the last three men's U.S. Opens (2007, 2016, 2025) and this week played to a total distance of 7,372 yards, give or take a few depending on the day.
That's a far cry from the layout Harry Fownes had in place when the club first opened on October 1, 1904. That said, though, a lot of it looks the same, especially after undergoing a thorough restoration under the supervision of Gil Hanse a couple of years back.
Naturally, plenty of distance has been added over the years, as the original yardage at Oakmont was just 6,406 yards. And the original par? That would be 80. I'll say that again. The original par at Oakmont Country Club was 80.
And just how is that possible, one might ask? Well, when a golf course features eight par-5s and even a par-6, the number rises fairly easily. Yep, I'll say that one again, too. Oakmont used to feature a par-6.
The course's official website doesn't specify exactly which hole that was, but one would think it would have to be one of the two par-5s currently in play at the U.S. Open, those being the 611-yard fourth hole and the 632-yard 12th.
It obviously didn't take too crazy long for the layout to change, as it played as a par-74 at the 1922 PGA Championship and a par-72 at the 1927 U.S. Open.
Nevertheless, it's still wild to think about Oakmont playing as a par-80. What's funny, though, is that while it would obviously be easier to shoot under par, there would still be a few players at this 2025 U.S. Open not in red figures.