Ultimate springtime golf fitness tips for "real" golfers

By Tim McDonald,
National Golf Editor

For those of you unfortunate enough to live in the North, you must be salivating at the thought of the spring golf season.

Hold on, Tiger. You ain't the man you used to be. You can't just jump up and go straight to the golf course after a long winter of sloth and mold.

Now, you will find any number of charlatans willing to sell you their total golf fitness regimens. These sleazoids always assume you're a golfer interested in a cleaner, healthier way of living and golfing. I've seen you out on the course, and I know that's not the sort of thing you're "into."

So here is my total golf fitness regimen for the "real" golfer:

• For God's sake, you have to strengthen your core! This involves eating really hard food, like jawbreakers. Eat a bag of those and have your neighbor punch you in the gut to see if your core is all it can be.

Options: Month-old fudge, Purina Dog Chow, pine bark.

• You also have to really work your obliques, I mean really work the hell out of them. Here's the perfect exercise for that. Lie flat on your back with knees bent slightly wider than your hips. If you have really fat hips, you're either going to have to really stretch your knees like in a cartoon, like The Elastic Man from India, or just skip this exercise. In fact, if you have really fat hips, just skip playing golf, nobody wants to see you out on the course.

Now, you slim-hipped people reach your hands to the ceiling like you're crying out for the Lord Jesus Christ to spare you from your miserable existence. You can hold light hand-weights, or not. What do I care? Lift your head and chest toward the ceiling and rotate to reach both hands just outside of your fat, right knee. Repeat on the left side. Now, take a breather. Ask Christ for forgiveness.

• Breathing exercises: Breathing properly and deeply is critical, especially for those tense moments on the course when normally you would start crying.
This deep-breathing exercise involves attending your local adult movie house, or calling up one of those sites on your Internet browser. Follow your instincts. It's either that or follow mine, and then you're looking at jail time.
• Horizontal abduction/adduction: I can't give you much help here, because I always get "horizontal" confused with "vertical," and I have no idea what adduction is. Who came up with that word, anyway? It's a stupid word and should be eliminated from the English language, if it's even English.

• Standing hip rotation: Don't do this. It makes you look like a girl.

• Alcohol fitness: How many times have you lost $2 Nassaus because while you were getting hamboned, your playing partners were just holding up that bottle of Jack Black pretending to drink?

Well, no need to waste good liquor. You can still drink and maintain your competitive edge. You just need to build up a tolerance. Stand upright in a dark closet, with a wide stance, and suck it down. Keep drinking until your wife leaves you.

• Aerobics: Ha! Don't make me laugh. This is golf!

• Putting: Don't bother to practice putting. Putting in golf is overrated. I play golf maybe 200 times a year and I've yet to meet anyone who can putt. You either make it or you don't. If you miss, just keep putting until the ball goes in the hole. Simple.

• Seniors: As we age, our bodies react differently, so seniors must prepare for golf differently than young punks. An important thing to remember is that there is an inverse relationship of increased ear hair to laughably short drives off the tee.

So keep those ear hairs trim and neat. If you're proud of your thick mane of ear hair, don't sweat it. If you're short off the tee, you're probably small in other areas, and I think you know what I'm talking about.

• Excuses: A healthy psychological outlook is a must for Better Golf. If you can convince yourself that the snap hook you hit into the weeds over there is not your doing at all, you'll retain the confidence needed to excel in the game.

The first time you smack one of your all-too-typical lousy shots, turn to your playing partner and snarl," "Will you stop that!" Look at him, looking all hurt and everything. Who would have thought golf fitness could be so much fun?

• Torque development in the downswing: This is so important, I can barely contain myself. This is vital to any golfer who has ever wanted to improve his score. You could even say it is absolutely critical in terms of reaching your full potential as a golfer and knowing what it is to be truly human.

• Alignment and posture: Face the target squarely and stand erect, with your rump jutting out slightly. Feels a little silly, doesn't it? Can you think of another situation in life where you would position yourself in such an odd manner? I can't.

PA Toyota Dealers agrees to major sponsorship

The Western Pennsylvania Toyota Dealers will be the presenting sponsor of four WPGA championships 2008-2010, two individual titles and two team competitions. They include the Amateur and Senior Amateur as individual titles and two foursomes championships-Fred Brand and Semple Brothers Century. Toyota's overall support of Association activities will be $10,000 annually.

"We're delighted with Toyota's support and the overall results of our first year in securing sponsors," commented WPGA Executive Director Jeff Rivard. Toyota has a history of supporting various golf competitions, including the Pennsylvania Toyota Dealers sponsorship of Pennsylvania Golf Association championships. Among programs at some of these WPGA events will be the display of Toyota vehicles by local Toyota auto dealers association.

The Amateur, along with the West Penn Open, is the area's oldest championship, starting in 1899. The defending champion is Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, who won the 2003 USGA Mid-Amateur Championship. It will be played June 23-24 at Bedford Springs Resort's Old Course with qualifying sites at Cedarbrook, Iron Masters, Seven Oaks and Lakeview. The Senior Amateur, originated in 1929, is scheduled for Sinking Valley on June 11, north of Altoona. Don Erickson, III, DuBois, won last year's version. The Fred Brand Foursomes, started in 1954, has been played at Longue Vue Club in Verona since 1983, was won by Dave Ruffaner and Rob Voltz. It's scheduled for April 24.

The Semple Brothers, one of the Association's newest championships started in 2004 as a stand alone competition, started in 1996 in conjunction with the Brand. It began on its own at Allegheny in 2004. Last year's winners are Peter Dellovade and Eric Swart, who will defend their title on May 8.

BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Combining classic style with modern technology and agronomics, Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club will unveil this season its r

The Old Course at Bedford Springs Resort has been selected to host the 108th West Penn Amateur Championship, scheduled for June 23-24, 2008. The tournament starts with a field of 78 playing 36 holes the first day, with a cut to the low 32 and ties (or within seven shots of the lead) for the second day. Nathan Smith, from Pinecrest, Pa., is the defending champion. On-line registration and more details are available at www.wpga.org.

ESPN Qualifiers To Challenge Old Course

The ESPN National Golf Challenge is to stage a regional finals qualifying tournament at the Old Course on Sunday, May 18, 2008. The winning twosome teams from the gross and net competition qualify to play in the nationals in Las Vegas on Oct. 24-26. The ESPN Challenge is open to the public. Call 814-624-5637 or visit www.espngolf.com for more details.

Old Course Ranked No. 1 In The State

Golfweek magazine has listed the Old Course at No. 1 among classic public-access golf courses in Pennsylvania, as part of the publication’s annual “Golfweek’s Best” series. It was the first time the renovated Old Course, which reopened last June, was eligible for the rankings, and ranked No. 4 overall among the classic (build before 1960) and modern public-access courses in the state.

Bedford Resort Partners, Ltd. is the owner and developer of the Bedford Springs Resort project. The Resort is managed by Benchmark Hospitality International, an independent hospitality management company based in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, operates resorts, conference centers, hotels and condominium resorts both domestically and internationally. For locations of Benchmark Hospitality properties and for additional information, visit Benchmark's Website at www.benchmarkhospitality.com.

PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY GOLF TEAM TO CALL PRESTIGIOUS ACE CLUB HOME

PHILADELPHIA, PA?The Philadelphia University golf team has reached an agreement with the ACE Club for the course to serve as the team's home venue beginning with the 2008-09 academic year. Director of Athletics Tom Shirley made the announcement today, adding that the Rams will use the course for practice only this spring with the team's 2008 schedule already completed.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for our golf program, providing our student-athletes with an elite golf course to call home and one that is just minutes from campus," said Shirley of the agreement. "I would like to thank (ACE Club Vice President and General Manager) Kris Fair as well as (Membership Director) David Sands for their hard work in making this a reality. Our president, Dr. Spinelli, as well as Jim Hartman, Assistant Vice President of Finance and Administration at Philadelphia University, as well, for their tireless work in getting this done."

The ACE Club, formerly known as Eagle Lodge Country Club, is located in Lafayette Hill, Pa. and measures 7500 yards to the furthest tees and plays to a par of 72. The course hosts the annual Exelon Challenge each summer, a four-man PGA pro event that featured Jim Furyk, Padraig Harrington, Charles Howell III and Retief Goosen last year.

"Our team is very excited to play at the ACE Club," added first-year Head Coach Tony Berich. "The course is without question one of the top tracks in the golf-rich Philadelphia area and we are very fortunate. As far as our team playing the course, the challenging length and design set forth by Mr. Player will ready us for our matches like no other course could. We would like to thank Dr. Spinelli, Tom Shirley and Mr. Hartman, along with everyone at the ACE Club, for the opportunity and we are very excited to get started."

The Rams capped their fall season by participating in the Dominican College Invitational on October 14-15 and will begin play in the spring with a quad match at Island Green Country Club, hosted by Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) foe University of the Sciences on March 28th. "Our fall didn't go as planned in terms of results, but the team has worked extremely hard over the winter and with our lineup set, we should be significantly better this spring."

Temple Golf Tees It Up Under New Leadership In 2008

PHILADELPHIA - When first-year head coach and former letterwinner Brian Quinn was teeing it up for the Cherry and White, Temple was recognized as one of the top teams in the Mid-Atlantic region. Quinn has plans of returning the Owls to regional and even national prominence with a simple plan.

"We want to run a first-class program," Quinn said. "We're going to do things the right way. The guys will look professional and hopefully they will play like professionals."

A four-time All-East and All-Atlantic 10 selection as a senior in 1990, Quinn led Temple to three NCAA appearances and spent 16 years as a professional golfer. Currently the director of instruction at BQ Golf Academy, Quinn is certainly qualified to guide TU back to its spot among the conference and region's best.

The Owls had one of their best fall seasons in recent memory, even as many players worked hard to adjust to swing changes. Temple finished second in a pair of events (Bucknell and Mount St. Mary's), laying the groundwork for an even-better spring season.

Temple will be led by redshirt junior Paul Amess, who paced the Owls with a 74.9 stroke average last spring and was second on the team this fall with a 74.6 average. A big-hitter off the tee, Amess posted a pair of top-five finishes in the fall. He is equally skilled in the classroom, posting a 3.9 GPA as a finance major, earning Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area honors.

"Paul is my definition of a student-athlete," Quinn said. "He has the potential to play golf for a living. His biggest strength is how far he hits the golf ball and his touch around the greens. I'm real excited for Paul's future here at Temple and beyond."

Junior Adam Pifer is looking forward to a successful spring season after revamping his swing. He was inconsistent in five events this fall, finishing with a 78.4 stroke average, but showed signs of returning to his 2006-07 form. The Telford, PA native led the team with a 75.1 average a year ago.

"Adam had a tough fall and you can blame that totally on me," Quinn said. "He needed to make some swing changes and I look for him to be ready to go this spring. He loves golf and has a great work ethic. Once he feels a little more comfortable with his swing, he's going to have a really good season and a real future in golf."

Sophomore Eric Plisko played his way into the team's top scoring average (74.3) this fall. The smooth-swinger led the team in two events and had a team-best three top 20 finishes. The Sugar Notch, PA native posted a five-over score of 73-70-72=215 at The McLaughlin.

"He has the simplest golf swing you'll ever see," Quinn said. "Eric hits it far and is the best iron-hitter on the team. He's another guy that could have a career playing golf."

Redshirt freshman Sasha Bozic and true freshman Andrew Mason both made quick adjustments to collegiate golf. Bozic finished with a 76.3 average this fall, including a ninth place finish at the Mount St. Mary's Fall Classic (77-72=149, +5).

"Sasha is a really good kid," Quinn said. "He has all the ability in the world and he's going to be a real good college golfer. His technique is better than 99% of the people that play golf."

Mason was brilliant at times, picking up two Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors. He burst onto the scene with an eighth place finish in his first event, the Bucknell Invitational, with a 71-76-71=218 (+8). After going through some swing changes, he returned to his early season form with a ninth-place showing at Mount St. Mary's (71-78=149, +5).

"Andrew is only going to get better," Quinn said. "He has a ton of ability and one of the best moves through the ball you will ever see. The sky is the limit for him."

Junior Kevin Busteed competed in three events with a 78.8 scoring average this fall. His best career performance came last spring at the Treasure Coast Classic, when he shot a 72-71-72=214 (+1).

"Kevin's made some nice changes with his golf swing," Quinn said. "He has worked very hard on his technique and I'm looking for him to be much more consistent. Kevin doesn't realize how good he really is."

A pair of freshmen, Mike Boyd and Joseph Kim, will most likely redshirt this season.

"My dream is for three or four of them to win a golf tournament," Quinn said. "At the end of the day, golf is an individual sport. We play it as a team, but if each of them plays to the best of their ability, then we'll do pretty well as a team."

The Owls will take on one of their most challenging schedules of late, beginning with the three-day SIU-Edwardsville Cougar Classic, played at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL.

Temple then visits historic Williamsburg, VA for a matchup at the William and Mary against some of the top teams on the East. Following a weekend off, the Cherry and White heads north to the Yale Spring Opener, a former staple on the spring slate.

After trips to Princeton and Mount St. Mary's, TU visits Charlottesville, VA for the Virginia Cavalier Classic. Several teams from last year's tournament were ranked in the top 100 nationally by golfstat.com.

"Our schedule is a lot more difficult than what they are accustomed to playing," Quinn said. "But it will make them better players."

The competition will prove as a tune-up for the 54-hole Atlantic 10 Championship on May 2-4 at Orange County National in Winter Green, FL.

Two-time defending champion Charlotte, who spent time as the consensus #1 team in the nation this fall, is picked as the top team. The 49ers joined Rhode Island as the two A-10 teams to make the NCAA Tournament in 2007.

"I'm excited for the season to start," Quinn said. "We're going to be a lot more successful than people think."

Ice-Tee Golf Tournament in the Pocono Mountains

For one winter day, the snow and cold will no longer be obstacles for golfers. The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau has announced the 19th Annual Ice-Tee Golf Tournament. Scheduled for February 24, participants will tee it up for nine holes of golf atop frozen Lake Wallenpaupack.

"Golfers are extremely passionate about the sport and rarely miss an opportunity to get out and take a few swings," says PMVB Executive Director Carl Wilgus. "While the fairways and greens of Pocono Mountain courses and resorts are filled with golfers throughout the spring, summer and fall months, I'm looking forward to seeing the hearty bunch who'll brave Mother Nature to enjoy nine holes on Lake Wallenpaupack."

Cost to participate in the Ice-Tee Golf Tournament is $15 in advance or $20 on the day of the event. Prizes will be awarded. For more details, call 570/226-3191 or visit www.hawleywallenpaupackcc.com.

Sorenstam wins season-opening SBS Open for her 70th LPGA Tour title

KAHUKU, Hawaii (AP) -- Annika Sorenstam waited 17 months to collect a T-shirt from her sister and a bottle of wine from a friend with No. 70 proudly displayed on them.

"It's probably dusty," she said. "I'm ready to collect it now."

Sorenstam won the season-opening SBS Open for her 70th LPGA Tour title and first since September 2006, birdieing two of the last three holes Saturday for a 3-under 69 and two-stroke victory.

"It's great to win tournaments and there's some tournaments that mean a little bit more and they come in a special time, and I would say this is one of them," she said.

The 37-year-old Swedish star, coming off an injury-shortened season where she failed to win last year for the first time since her rookie season in 1994, finished with a 10-under 206 total. It also was her second straight win in Hawaii.

"We've talked so much about '07, it's time to talk about '08," she said. "My clubs did the talking this particular week."

Rookie Russy Gulyanamitta (68), Laura Diaz (70) and Jane Park (70) tied for second. Angela Park (69), the 2007 rookie of the year who was assessed a two-stroke penalty, and Japanese rookie Momoko Ueda (71) tied for fifth, three strokes back.

Sorenstam dropped to a knee and shook her fist as she calmly sank a 24-foot downhill putt on the par-4 17th that ended any suspense.

"That was huge," said Sorenstam, who has won 47 times when holding the lead going into the final round. "That's one of those putts I'm going to remember for a long time."

She then waved both arms in the air and hugged her caddie after putting for par on the 18th hole.

"It's been a while," caddie Terry McNamara said as they hugged.

Sorenstam was limited to 13 events last year because of neck and back injuries and had six top-10s finishes, but couldn't add to her trophy collection.

In the first event of 2008, the world's former No. 1 looked like her old self -- relaxed, focused and dominant.

"This means so much to me," she said. "Last year was not a year I wanted to remember inside the ropes. I was determined to come back."

Sorenstam smiled as she walked the fairway on the par-4 16th after hitting a wedge to 4 feet, which she dropped for the outright lead that she wouldn't lose.

Sorenstam said she was a little hesitant and trying to protect her lead until she reached the turn when she told McNamara, "Let's play some golf."

She first went up by two strokes on the par-4 10th by sinking a 14-foot birdie putt, but quickly lost a stroke when her long birdie putt whizzed 8 feet passed the cup on the next hole. She three-putted for her only bogey of the day.

Ueda and Jane Park each birdied to tie Sorenstam for the lead at 8 under. Jane Park made a long putt on No. 15. Seconds later, Ueda rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 14, drawing a roar from the sizable Japanese gallery.

However, no one could keep pace with Sorenstam.

Sorenstam was playing at Turtle Bay for the first time and beginning her season a month earlier than usual. It was her first appearance in Hawaii since winning the 2002 LPGA Takefuji Classic at Waikoloa.

Gulyanamitta, who earned just $4,411 in her previous 17 events, jumped around the 18th green after sinking a long birdie putt. She made $75,867 Saturday.

Like Sorenstam, Diaz also was hungry for a win. She hasn't hoisted a trophy since 2002. Diaz shared the lead with Sorenstam until a double bogey on No. 7 dropped her into a crowd.

Angela Park (69) was assessed a two-stroke penalty for slow play on the par-4 10th that gave her a triple bogey and cost her a shot at the lead and about $60,000. Park then birdied three of the next four holes to get back within a stroke of the lead before Sorenstam's late birdies.

Park said she wasn't holding up play. "I really don't think it's fair especially because I was in contention. I don't think it's fair at all."

Rules officials said Park's second, third and fourth shots on the hole all exceeded the time limit. Park disagreed and was visibly upset, in tears after her round.

"I was so mad out there," she said. "I was flying through the course on the back nine. I was so frustrated."

Without the penalty, Park would have finished 9 under, alone in second place for $100,458. Instead she earned $40,872.

Conditions were unusually calm on Oahu's North Shore. Even the normally roaring Pacific Ocean was peaceful. It was also balmy, forcing the players to find shade anywhere they could.

Ueda used an umbrella. Sorenstam hid under the ironwood trees.

Sorenstam and Erica Blasberg (74) were co-leaders heading into the final round at 7 under. Blasberg was playing in the final group for the first time in her career.

Her troubles started when she pulled her drive near the water hazard and had to pitch out on No. 7 for bogey. Blasberg tied for eighth with Cristie Kerr (73), In-Kyung Kim (71) and Yani Tseng (69) at 5-under 211.

Defending champion Paula Creamer closed with a 69 to finish at 4 under. She hit 18 greens in regulation but putted 34 times.

"I was grinding it out there," she said. "I saw the leaderboard and I think I got a little anxious."

Quinney makes an ace, but Mickelson keeps the Northern Trust Open lead

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. (AP) -- Phil Mickelson lost his cushion, but not the lead Saturday at the Northern Trust Open.

Mickelson watched Jeff Quinney make a hole-in-one on the fabled sixth hole at Riviera that erased a four-shot margin, but saved par on the 18th hole for a 1-under 70 to stay in the lead and move one step closer to adding this trophy to his West Coast collection.

Quinney made a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 67 that set up what appears to be a two-man race in the final round.

Mickelson, whose 15 victories on the West Coast Swing have come in every city but Los Angeles, was at 11-under 202. He missed the green to the right on the final hole, chipped 7 feet by and saved par.

"I thought it was a good, solid round," Mickelson said. "It should be an interesting and tough day tomorrow."

Quinney delivered the best shot, and maybe the worst.

Along with his hole-in-one that he could hear, but not see, Quinney bladed a wedge over the green on the par-5 11th that led to a two-shot swing in Mickelson's favor, then spent the rest of the gorgeous afternoon trying to catch up.

Quinney was at 203, four shots ahead of everyone else.

John Rollins fell back with consecutive bogeys and had to settle for a 69 that left him at 6-under 207. Scott Verplank, who opened his round with a four-putt from 30 feet on the fringe, shot 71 and was another shot back with Stuart Appleby (69) and Vaughn Taylor (71).

"Other than Tiger, he's probably the next best front-runner," Verplank said of Mickelson, who is 21-7 with a 54-hole lead. "He's awful good. So I'm going to have to play exceptionally well, and probably then would need a little bit of help."

Mickelson also had a one-shot lead last year going into the final round, losing in a playoff to Charles Howell. There were five players within three shots of the lead a year ago, but only Quinney, a former U.S. Amateur champion who has not won on the PGA TOUR, appears to be in his way this time.

"He's going to bring a lot to the table," Quinney said. "I have to bring my best to the table."

Quinney did not sound the least bit concerned about a four-shot deficit to Mickelson, saying after his second round that Riviera is not the type of course where one has to shoot 64 to make up ground.

Then, he looked as though he might do just that.

Quinney birdied the first hole with a long chip across the green on the par 5, then gained another shot when Lefty three-putted for bogey on No. 4. Quinney then holed a 20-foot birdie putt to reduce the lead to one-shot going into the sixth hole, famous for having a bunker in the middle of the green.

He thought that's where his 7-iron was headed. But it landed just to the side, rolled down the slope and into the cup.

Back on the tee, Quinney had already turned away and was looking over his shoulder when he heard the crowd erupt, the sure sign that he had made ace. He ran toward his caddie, unsure whether to hug or high-five, and it turned out to be a clumsy celebration.

"We need to get that organized," he said.

That gave him the lead, but only for as long as Mickelson hit 8-iron to 5 feet and made birdie, putting both at 10 under.

They matched birdies at No. 10 -- Quinney with a wedge to 2 feet, Mickelson by driving to the front of the green -- and neither showed signs of backing down. But everything changed with one swing.

Mickelson was on the par-5 11th green in two, Quinney just short of the bunker. Quinney caught two much ball, however, and it sailed over the green. He chipped back to 15 feet and did well to escape with bogey.

Even so, it was a two-shot swing after Mickelson made birdie, and Lefty kept his margin.

Mickelson had the 54-hole lead at Riviera last year, only this time the odds are even more in his favor. Five players were separated by three shots last year, while this appears to be a two-man race.

"Daylight is up front, first and second," Appleby said. "If I can shoot a good round tomorrow, 4 or 5 under, that would be a good score. Now, what's that mean for the tournament? Does that threaten the top? Probably not. It's not really an open tournament."

Divots: Pat Perez isn't any more optimistic about the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship than he was last week, when he thought he was playing Tiger Woods in the first round and didn't want to embarrass himself. He was told Saturday morning he would be playing Phil Mickelson. "Yeah, that's much better, because he's playing like (dirt) right now," Perez said with typical sarcasm. J.B. Holmes will play Woods and had a different outlook. "I'm in," he said. "That's all that matters." ... Marc Turnesa was on his way home Saturday morning until John Merrick missed a 4-foot par putt, meaning 78 players made the cut at 3 over. Turnesa then shot 67 and moved up to a tie for 29th at 1-under 212.

Nittany Lions Host Tournament To Benefit Habitat For Humanity

The women's golf team will be hosting the third annual Team Build Golf Tournament on April 12, 2008 at the Penn State Blue Course. The tournament will raise money for Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes in New Orleans.

Participants may sign up individually or with a team. There will be a shotgun start at 9 a.m. and awards will immediately follow the tournament. The $75 entry fee includes golf, cart fee, range balls, snacks and prizes.

Oakmont Named Top 10 Golf Course in U.S. by Golf Magazine

Oakmont Country Club, PA, USA
Green Keeper: John Zimmers

Beauty and ...

...the beast: welcome to Oakmont.

In the 1960s, Oakmont Country Club underwent a massive tree planting campaign that changed the nature of the course. Oakmont nearly became a pretty parkland course, a description that surely would have its founders Mr. Henry C. Fownes and his son William Jr. spinning in their graves.

Since the 1994 U.S. Open won by Ernie Els, all that has mercifully changed. Starting with a presentation to the club board in 1995 by member Mark Studer, a path was charted whereby Oakmont was returned to the Fownes� founding vision of a raw links that examined a golfer�s game like no other.

Headlined by a decade long tree removal program that saw over five thousand trees removed, Oakmont has been restored to one of the world golf�s most individualistic courses. Like Carnoustie and Royal Liverpool, there is something appealing in the course's desire not to be appealing. It is the Charles Bronson of golf courses - no special effects are necessary.

Some clubs like Augusta National Golf Club show little interest in their founding fathers� vision for what constitutes good golf. This is most sad as such visions are often unique enough to have inspired the founders to create the course in the first place. Heading into the 2007 U.S. Open, the Fownes�s would be rightly proud of the test that Oakmont will present.

An avid golfer who qualified for five U.S. Amateur Championships, H.C. Fownes decided at the turn of the twentieth century to start a golf club. In 1903, Fownes found property well suited and oversaw the purchase of nearly 200 acres of pastureland above the town of Oakmont. The property was open in nature and remained so through the 1950s. Grantland Rice wrote in 1939 that he enjoyed the view of seventeen of Oakmont�s eighteen flags from the clubhouse porch (only the 16th obscured by a hill was out of view).

Henry Fownes and his team of 150 men and 25 donkeys constructed a course over the open farmland that resembled the unobstructed sweep of a links course. At the time of construction, the Haskell ball was making its presence felt and Fownes recognized that the gutta-percha days were quickly ending. Consequently, he built the course to handle this new technology. When it opened in 1904, Oakmont had a par of 80 and was over 6,400 yards in length, a very long course for its day. Much to the credit of H. C. Fownes� feel for the land, today�s holes occupy the same general playing corridors as his original routing. Well under one hundred bunkers were constructed and Fownes relied more on the natural landforms to present the challenge. The original scorecard shows the twelfth hole at 560 yards with a bogey of six (!) while the 225 yard sixteenth had a bogey of four.

Without doubt, the father ruled the club and its running up until near his death in 1935. However, his son W.C. Fownes Jr. was the one that saw to much of the design�s evolution (always with his father�s blessing) from when it opened until his death in 1950. For instance, by the time the U.S. Open was played here in 1935 (the winning score was +11!), the course had over 300 bunkers, largely courtesy of W.C. Fownes.

Even without furrows, the bunkers at Oakmont remain uniquely penal - and in play. The Church Pew
bunker originally had seven pews. Today, it has twelve and has grown 60 yards in length to over
130 yards and covers 26,000 square feet. The golfer above has no prayer
of reaching the third green, some 200 yards away.

W.C. Fownes is one of the great figures in amateur golf and one of the giants in the development of golf in the United States. An accomplished player (he won the U.S. Amateur in 1910), he also the playing captain of the Walker Cup team in 1922 and served as president of the United States Golf Association in 1926/1927. In addition, he served on the advisory panel at Pine Valley Golf Club and helped guide that club after George Crump�s death. However, his most important and lasting contribution to the game was through the continual refinements he made to his father�s design at Oakmont.

W.C. Fownes spent over four decades getting to know the course and observing how it played. If a particular bunker was rendered ineffective through time (such as the advent of steel shafts in the 1930s), he did not hesitate in working with the legendary Green Keeper Emil Loeffler to build another one further up the fairway to ensure the integrity of each hole was preserved. W.C. Fownes and Loeffler made a formidable team, both in the construction of bunkers and in imbuing the greens with some of the most imaginative interior contours for putting greens this side of the Atlantic. Loeffler in turn exacerbated the design�s merit by setting the standard for fast and firm playing conditions in the United States.

The checkered mowing pattern and the sheen of the grass fifteen yards and in toward the fifteenth green
speaks as to the firm, tight playing conditions that Oakmont seeks and that Zimmers provides.

Appreciating the unique commitment and attention to detail that the Fownes family brought to Oakmont, the club in the mid-1990s looked to the past for its future. Working from a 1949 aerial photograph (Loeffler died in 1948 and W.C. Fownes died in 1950), Studer and the club decided to bring back as many of their features as possible. The tree-clearing program was the most visible change. Not only did it open back up wonderful views across the rolling property, it re-introduced the full effects of the wind on one�s round. Oakmont once again possesses the barren landscape reminiscent of links courses that so impressed W.C. Fownes during his travels to the United Kingdom.

With the trees gone, fairway width was recaptured. Bunkers and ditches are once again perilously close to the edges of the fairways. Though the well-known furrows in the bunkers were gone within five years of William Fownes� death, Oakmont�s bunkers are justly famed. Fownes oft repeated quote of �a poor shot should be a shot irrevocably lost� is a clear sign that he thought a bunker should penalize. Indeed, it should be hazardous. However, given the clay subsurface, Fownes couldn�t dig the bunkers too deep into the ground due to construction and drainage difficulties. Therefore, he made the bunkers relatively small in size, more along the lines of the pot bunkers found in the United Kingdom. Getting a good stance can be problematic. Also, the dirt that was dug out was sometimes used to build up the wall of the bunker between the golfer and the green. Great such examples are the bunker 100 yards shy of the fourth green and the bunker 250 yards off the tee on the left of the fifth fairway. In such cases, the bunkers play much deeper than they actually are. The sheer number of bunkers - 312 bunkers at one point � speaks as to the challenge that was intended.

Crucially, great attention was paid to recapturing the greens� full size during the club�s restoration process by carefully analyzing the 1949 aerial. By doing so, many of the course�s most exacting hole locations were re-gained, including back right at the second and the front left at the ninth. The Oakmont greens are legendary as they are kept on a daily basis as fast and firm as any in world golf. The variety found within them is astonishing. Some of the most undulating (e.g., the second and fifth) reflect the topography while others (e.g., the ninth and 18th) have apparently random rolls, plateaus and valleys. Importantly, others (e.g. the third and eighth ) are relatively flat with more subtle breaks. Several (e.g. the first, third, 10th and 12th) slope front to back. Some are tilted right to left (e.g. the fifth, sixth and 13th) and some left to right (e.g. the seventh and 16th). Finally, a few are pitched in the traditional manner of back to front (e.g. the 11th and 17th). The golfer needs to be keenly aware of each green�s tilt and play accordingly; getting above a hole at Oakmont is a start toward ruin. One thing is sure: the all encompassing variety found within Oakmont�s greens makes modern greens with their typical back to front pitch look monotonously boring and poorly conceived.

This back right hole location on the second hole didn't exist in the 1970s as the putting
surface back then stopped just shy of the hole location pictured above.

Holes to Note

1^st hole, 480/440 yards; The opening hole reveals several of Oakmont�s unique characteristics. First, the five small bunkers along the immediate left of the fairway are below the grade of the land and their position is not readily known to the golfer. Second, the hole follows the flow of the land and if one�s approach shot is blind over the crest of the hill to the green well below, so be it - Oakmont never pretends that the game is supposed to be �fair� with perfect visuals. With its front to back sloping green, only the opening holes at Crystal Downs and Winged Foot West rival it as the hardest opener in golf. Third, John Zimmers and his crew deserve great credit and recognition for the area forty yards and in toward the putting surface. The approach areas across the course are as firm and fast as any of the links in the United Kingdom. Much of golf�s timeless appeal is found in playing the ball along the ground and the quality of the turf at Oakmont greatly enhances this crucial experience.

2^nd hole, 340/325 yards; Like Pine Valley, Oakmont is far more than just a penal course - this is position golf at its most exacting. Take the second green � it is the most fiercely sloping one on the course. Any approach shot above the hole turns into a matter of survival. The best approach to this angled green is from the right third of the fairway, just where a nest of six bunkers encroach.

The ditch on the left and the bunkers right pinch the fairway in 130 yards from the green. Ideally,
the golfer carries the bunkers off the tee and gains the best angle into the green.

3^rd hole, 430/390 yards; Though equally penal bunkers are down the right, the famed Church Pews looming left of the fairway capture the golfer�s eye. This innovative and thoroughly unique bunker complex remains every bit as penal today as it was when W.C. Fownes oversaw its construction in the 1930s. Its randomness - one day the golfer may draw a respectable lie/stance between the pews and the next, he may face ruin - has scared golfers away from it for decades. Though not as dramatic, the green complex atop a knoll is equally unique as it features one of the game�s very few uphill approaches to a green that slopes away. Precision is crucial - land too short and the ball comes back fifteen yards off the false front; carry too far onto the green and the ball rolls over. The back slope of the green complex wasn�t maintained as short grass in Fownes� day. However, given that short grass can now terrorize good golfers as much as rough, no doubt Fownes would approve.

Give H.C. Fownes plenty of credit for beautifully draping the third hole across some of the best
land on the property. The famed Church Pew bunkers didn't follow for years later.

The perfectly placed third green sits atop a knob.

As seen from behind, the front to back sloping third green helps feed balls onto this closely mown area.