I guess I didn't realize it about Oakmont, but it appears to have very few trees on many of the holes. Am I seeing this correctly?
You can thank Mike O for that . . . he tried to style his Winnebango in the style of Swiss Family Robinson. Got pulled doing 35 in a 70 . . . put the crack pipe under the seat . . . LIT . . . unfortunately. Them were some damn good marshmellos though.
Hey folks---thank my brother who happened to be getting in some hours in a Cessna. Realized he was over Oakmont and handed his camera to the right-seater who snapped a couple of photos. These were taken 12/31/06, prior to our very cold spell for 6 weeks. Just now getting out of the overcast/rain cycle and we hope to see the sun within the next 2 days.
You are correct Trig, they have cut down several THOUSAND trees to get the course back to its original look. And thanks for connecting me with the guy who was able to put these up on the site.
I'm currently getting hammered with patients this morning but tonight I will give you an orientation to both photos. Hopefully I will get up the nerve to go flying with my brother in a few more weeks when things "green-up" and try to get some more photos. Later, Dave
Sorry Trig---didn't realize the email address you gave me was yours!
To orient you to the pictures I'll start with the one on the right--The 1st hole runs from top left to middle left and runs right along the road. The players and spectators then walk across the 2 bridges that go over the PA Turnpike to holes #2 through #8 which are on the bottom of the page. Can't see #2 which is on the left or #3 which runs left to right and out of view on the bottom. Can just see a piece of #3 green. Then can follow #4 from right to left, etc. Of interest, the green you see just below the 2 bridges is #8, which will be a 285 yard par 3. Not sure I have that shot yet. Go back across teh bridge to #9 which runs along #1---usually a par 5 but will be a par 4 for the Open. The huge #9 green you see serves 2 purposes---the front 1/2 is for #9 and the back 1/2 is the practice putting green.
The left photo actually shows the public course, Oakmont East, which sits next to Oakmont CC and is owned by them . They use it for parking during big tournaments like this. It also happens to be the place where yours truly played his first rounds of golf as a 15 year-old. If you can locate the pedestrian bridges in the picture you can get some idea of the overall layout of the place. Literally sits in the middle of a residential area---traffic is horrific.
I've played there twice, but that was back when all the holes were tree-lined. The superintendent spent several years taking down thousands of trees. Would love to play it again. Anyone coming this way to see it??
Hope to get some better pictures when the weather breaks and I can load-up on some Xanax and go flying with my brother. Dave
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