U.S. Open’s Oakmont Country Club revels in the difficulty | Live From | Golf Channel

U.S. Open’s Oakmont Country Club revels in the difficulty | Live From | Golf Channel

CARETAKERS HERE LOOK BACK TO THEIR ROOTS. >> TO UNDERSTAND THE PHILOSOPHY OF OAKMONT YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING. REALLY LOOK WHY HE FOUNDED OAKMONT. HE WAS MISDIAGNOSED. HE THOUGHT HE HAD ONLY SEVERAL YEARS TO LIVE. HE WANTED TO BUILD THE HARDEST GOLF COURSE IN THE WORLD. LUCKILY HE ENDED UP LIVING ANOTHER 30 YEARS AND BECAME A GREAT PLAYER. HE PLAYED IN A NUMBER OF USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS. HE WAS THE FORCE BEHIND MAKING OAKMONT THE HARDEST GOLF COURSE IN THE WORLD. HE AND HIS SON WERE THE ONES DAY TO DAY OUT HERE ON THE GROUND CHANGING AND TWEAKING AND MAKING SURE THAT IT WAS THE TEST THEY FELT THAT IT SHOULD BE. >> THERE ARE GREAT STORIES OF WATCHING SOMEONE PLAY AND SEEING HIM HIT A SHOT WHERE THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE HE SHOULD BE HITTING THE SHOT FROM. >> THEY WERE NOTORIOUS FOR GOING OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND ADDING A NEW BUNKER IN. >> THROUGH THE GENERATION THE GOLF COURSE CONTINUED TO EVOLVE. THE GREEN LOCATIONS DID NOT CHANGE. THE ROUTING OF THE GOLF COURSE DIDN’T CHANGE. BUT THIS WAS ADDED OR TAKEN OUT AND THE SPIRIT OF THE DIVISION REMAINED THE SAME THROUGH THE 1940 WHILE THE FAMILY WAS STILL AT THE CLUB. THE MID-40 THE FAMILY LEFT THE CLUB AND THE COURSE STARTED TO GO A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. THE CLUB STARTED TO PLANT TREES IN THE 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. I THINK THEY MAY HAVE ADDED A LEVEL OF VALUE, BUT AT OAKMONT THEY TOOK AWAY FROM THEIR VISION. AS THE TREES MATURE YOU HAVE ALL SORTS OF ISSUES AND YOU CAN’T GROW GRASS UNDER THE TREES. >> WE HAD A LOT OF SITUATIONS YOU WERE IN BUNKERS BEHIND TREES. THE TREES WERE GROWING RIGHT BEHIND THE GREENS. >> I SAID WE WILL TAKE THEM OUT. THOSE WERE THE FAMOUS LAST WORDS. THEY DID. >> WE TOOK THEM DOWN AT NICE. THEY COULD TAKE THEM DOWN AND YOU DIDN’T SEE ANY SAW DUST. THEY HAD IT VACUUMED UP. THE ONLY SOUND LEFT WAS THE SOUND OF THE TREES COMING DOWN. THE SAWS GOING OFF. >> WE TOOK ENOUGH TREES DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM THEY WOULD NOTICE. THEY WERE LINING THE FAIRWAYS. NEXT DAY THEY WERE NOT LINING THE FAIRWAYS. >> I THINK THAT WAS REALLY THE FIRST STEP IN TRANSFORMING THE GOLF COURSE BACK TO WHAT HENRY BUILT. >> EVERYBODY WAS PRETTY SATISFIED WITH WHAT IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE AND HOW IT PLAYED, OTHER THAN GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE BUNKERS. THERE WERE GREEN COMPLEXES WE WANTED TO TWEAK A LITTLE BIT. THE GUYS CAME TO ME SAYING DO YOU THINK THAT GILL WOULD HELP US. I SAID I KNOW HE WOULD. >> I AM THINKING I WONDER WHO THAT IS. IT IS BOB FORT. >> YOU ARE SHAKING. I DIDN’T KNOW THIS WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY. INCREDIBLY EXCITED AND PROUD. >> WHENEVER YOU HAVE A MEMBERSHIP WITH THE THIRD OR THE FOURTH RANKED GOLF COURSE IN THE COUNTRY, IT IS PERFECTLY NORMAL TO BE SKEPTICAL WHEN A GUY WALKS IN AND SAYS I CAN MAKE IT BETTER. >> I THINK THAT WE BELIEVE AND THAT THE DELIVERY WAS SUCH WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS ON THE BEST VERSION OF WHAT WE BELIEVE THE PHONES BUILT. I THINK THAT RESONATED WITH THE MEMBERSHIP. THE ONLY TIME I EVER HEARD THE MESSAGE FROM ANY MEMBERSHIP IN THE WORLD. IT BETTER NOT BE EASIER WHEN YOU’RE DONE. >> AT OAKMONT THE WORD CHANGE CAN BE A SCARY WORD. >> SOMEBODY SAID DO WE WANT TO MESS WITH THE MONA LISA. >> I WAS NERVOUS. WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS. WE ARE GOING TO DO THAT. I THINK THAT WE WERE ALL NERVOUS. REALLY. YOU CAN DO ALL OF THE CHANGES. >> THERE WAS NEVER A QUESTION OF WERE WE GOING TO SHUT DOWN THE GOLF COURSE. THAT WASN’T A CONVERSATION. >> GOLF COURSE CAN’T CLOSE. I THINK THAT NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. NOBODY STARTED A PROJECT OF THIS MAGNITUDE. YOU NAME IT. WE DID EVERYTHING AND DIDN’T CLOSE THE ENTIRE GOLF COURSE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. >> WASN’T THE BEST FROM A LO GIFT CAL STANDPOINT, BUT 100% APPROPRIATE. TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE. >> IT WAS AN AMAZING EFFORT. I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY BODIES THAT WE HAVE OUT HERE AT ONE POINT IN TIME. YOU TALK ABOUT THE SCALE OF A PLACE LIKE THIS AND HISTORIC CHARACTER AND NATURE OF IT. IT IS ONE OF THE BETTER PROJECTS WE WORKED ON. >> COMING THROUGH GIL’S RESTORATION, IT IS BRILLIANT. NEVER MET A CLUB WITH THE DNA THAT REVELED IN THE DIFFICULTY. THAT GOES BACK TO THE FAMILY AND THE GREAT CLUB AND IT IS UNIQUE IN AMERICA. >> IT IS RARE PEOPLE TEAR UP AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE AND LET YOU DO FULL OPEN HEART SURGERY ON IT. YOU HOPE IN YOUR HEART OF HEARTS WHEN YOU GIVE IT BACK TO THEM THEY ARE GOING TO BE HAPPY. EVERY INDICATION THEY ARE. >> BUILT THE GOLF COURSE IN 1903. 150 GUYS. HORSES, MULES, PLOWS. NO MACHINERY. HOW COULD YOU BUILD THIS MASTERPIECE WITH BASICALLY NO TOOLS. HE WAS A GENERATIONAL DESIGNER AND ARCHITECT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT. IT IS SO COOL TO SAY LOOK AT THE PICTURES. WE ARE LITERALLY BACK TO WHERE WE WERE. >> I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO LOOKING BACK A DECADE FROM NOW AND FEELING,

The U.S. Open takes pride in being one of the most difficult tests of golf for elite players every year and no course embodies that mentality more than renovated Oakmont. #GolfChannel #Golf #USOpen #Oakmont
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U.S. Open’s Oakmont Country Club revels in the difficulty | Live From | Golf Channel
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