Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont — Henry Fownes creating America’s benchmark for frontal difficulty

The course occupies an open plateau northeast of Pittsburgh, visually bisected by the interstate highway and railroad. The terrain is sparsely wooded, exposed to the wind, and remarkably firm.

Oakmont was founded in 1903 by Henry C. Fownes, a Pittsburgh industrialist, who designed the course himself. His son William subsequently oversaw its evolution. The club quickly became a major championship venue.

Fownes employed sloped fairways, deep bunkers, ditches, and extremely fast greens. The famous Church Pews bunker exemplifies a punitive yet perfectly legible architectural style.

Oakmont offers almost no respite. The greens are large, fast, and heavily contoured, while approaches from the rough become very difficult to control.

The club is private, austere in its sporting identity, and entirely focused on the quality of the course and its competitions.

Founded in 1903; designed by Henry Fownes; multiple U. S. Open host including 2025 and 2033.

U.S. Open; U.S. Amateur; PGA Championship — U.S. Open : 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007, 2016 et 2025