
US Open '25: Decades ago under dark of night, Oakmont began removing trees and started a golf trend
Last month, Scottie Scheffler made mention of a trend in golf design that rubs him wrong — removing trees from courses.
This week, the world's best player and favorite to win the U.S. Open will play a course that did just that, but didn't become one bit easier the way some layouts do when the trees go away. Under the dark of night three decades ago, the people in charge of Oakmont Country Club started cutting down trees. They didn't stop until some 15,000 had been removed.
The project reimagined one of America's foremost golf cathedrals and started a trend of tree cutting that continues to this day.
While playing a round on YouTube with influencer Grant Horvat, Scheffler argued that modern pro golf — at least at most stops on the PGA Tour — has devolved into a monotonous cycle of 'bomb and gouge': Hit drive as far as possible, then gouge the ball out of the rough from a shorter distance if the tee shot is off line.
'They take out all the trees and they make the greens bigger and they typically make the fairways a little bigger, as well,' Scheffler said. 'And so, the only barrier to guys just trying to hit it as far as they want to or need to, it's trees.'
Scheffler and the rest in the 156-man field that tees off Thursday should be so lucky.
While the latest Oakmont renovation, in 2023, did make greens bigger, fairways are never wide at the U.S. Open and they won't be this week.
Tree-lined or not, Oakmont has a reputation as possibly the toughest of all the U.S. Open (or any American) courses, which helps explain why it is embarking on its record 10th time hosting it. In the two Opens held there since the tree-removal project was completed, the deep bunkers, serpentine drainage ditches and lightning-fast greens have produced winning scores of 5-over par (Angel Cabrera in 2007) and 4 under (Dustin Johnson in 2016).
In an ironic twist that eventually led to where we (and Oakmont) are today, the layout was completely lined with trees in 1973 when Johnny Miller shot 63 on Sunday to win the U.S. Open. That record stood for 50 years, and the USGA followed up with a course setup so tough in 1974 that it became known as 'The Massacre at Winged Foot' -- won by Hale Irwin with a score of 7-over par.
'Everybody was telling me it was my fault,' Miller said in a look back at the '74 Open with Golf Digest. 'It was like a backhanded compliment. The USGA denied it, but years later, it started leaking out that it was in response to what I did at Oakmont. Oakmont was supposed to be the hardest course in America.'
It might still be.
In a precursor to what could come this week, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott played practice rounds last Monday in which McIlroy said he made a 7 on the par-4 second and Scott said he hit every fairway on the front nine and still shot 3 over.
Nicklaus: Trees should only come down 'for a reason'
While Oakmont leaned into tree removal, there are others who aren't as enthused.
Jack Nicklaus, who added trees to the 13th hole at Muirfield Village after seeing players fly a fairway bunker on the left for a clear look at the green, said he's OK with tree removal 'if they take them down for a reason.'
'Why take a beautiful, gorgeous tree down?' he said. 'Like Oakmont, for example. What's the name of it? Oak. Mont. What's that mean? Oaks on a mountain, sort of. And then they take them all down. I don't like it.'
A lot of Oakmont's members weren't fans, either, which is why this project began under dark of night. The golf course in the 1990s was barely recognizable when set against pictures taken shortly after it opened in 1903.
Architect Henry Fownes had set out to build a links-style course. Dampening the noise and view of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which bisects the layout, was one reason thousands of trees were planted in the 1960s and '70s.
'We were finding that those little trees had all grown up and they were now hanging over some bunkers,' R. Banks-Smith, the chairman of Oakmont's grounds committee when the project began, said in a 2007 interview. 'And once you put a tree on either side of a bunker, you lose your bunker. So, you have to make a decision. Do you want bunkers or do you want trees?'
Oakmont went with bunkers – its renowned Church Pew Bunker between the third and fourth fairways might be the most famous in the world – and thus began a tree project that divides people as much today as it did when it started.
'I'm not always the biggest fan of mass tree removal,' Scott said. 'I feel a lot of courses that aren't links courses get framed nicely with trees, not like you're opening it up to go play way over there.'
Too many trees, though, can pose risks.
Overgrown tree roots and too much shade provide competition for the tender grasses beneath. They hog up oxygen and sunlight and make the turf hard to maintain. They overhang fairways and bunkers and turn some shots envisioned by course architects into something completely different.
They also can be downright dangerous. In 2023 during the second round of the Masters, strong winds toppled three towering pine trees on the 17th hole, luckily missing fans who were there watching the action.
'There are lots of benefits that trees provide, but only in the right place,' said John Fech, the certified arborist at University of Nebraska who consults with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
When Oakmont decided they didn't want them at all, many great courses followed. Winged Foot, Medinah, Baltusrol and Merion are among those that have undergone removal programs.
Five years ago, Bryson DeChambeau overpowered Winged Foot, which had removed about 300 trees, simply by hitting the ball as far as he could, then taking his chances from the rough.
It's the sort of golf Scheffler seems to be growing tired of: 'When you host a championship tournament, if there's no trees, you just hit it wherever you want, because if I miss a fairway by 10 yards, I'm in the thick rough (but) if I miss by 20, I'm in the crowd," Scheffler told Horvat.
AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed.
___
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
26 minutes ago
- USA Today
2025 U.S. Open Start Time Thursday, Tee Times, Pairings & ESPN+ Live Streaming Coverage
2025 U.S. Open Start Time Thursday, Tee Times, Pairings & ESPN+ Live Streaming Coverage The 2025 U.S. Open will happen June 12-15 at Oakmont CC (par-70, 7,372 yards) in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. Bryson DeChambeau is the defending champion. Ryan Fox shot -18 to win the RBC Canadian Open, with Sam Burns taking second place at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. We have what you need to know going into the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open, including player tee times, plus TV and streaming info. Watch the PGA Tour all season long without cable! Start watching now on Fubo. And catch PGA Tour Live streaming, plus tons of other live sports and programming, with ESPN+. Tee times and pairings Hole 10 Round 1 TV & streaming information You can watch USA Network and more on Fubo. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming.


Hamilton Spectator
27 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
One year from World Cup opener, FIFA leaves questions unanswered on tickets and security
NEW YORK (AP) — A year from the largest World Cup ever, there has been no announcement on general ticket sales, prices for most seats, location of a draw or security arrangements as FIFA has mostly avoided disclosing details of an event set for 16 stadiums across the United States, Mexico and Canada. There is uncertainty about whether fans from some nations will be welcome — 11 of the venues are located in the U.S., where all matches will be played from the quarterfinals on. Security is a concern, too. At the last major soccer tournament in the U.S., the 2024 Copa America final at Miami Gardens, Florida, started 82 minutes late after spectators breached security gates. 'That was certainly a reminder and a wake-up call if anybody needed it that those types of things are going to be used in terms of the ultimate assessment of whether this World Cup is successful,' said former U.S. defender Alexi Lalas, now Fox's lead soccer analyst. U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens from 12 nations exempted athletes, coaches, staff and relatives while not mentioning fans. Vice President JD Vance made what could be interpreted as a warning on May 6. 'Of course everybody is welcome to come and see this incredible event. I know we'll have visitors probably from close to 100 countries. We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the game,' he said. 'But when the time is up they'll have to go home. Otherwise they'll have to talk to Secretary Noem,' he added, speaking alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Back in U.S. for first time in 32 years The 1994 World Cup sparked the launch of Major League Soccer with 12 teams in 1996, and $50 million in World Cup profits seeded the U.S. Soccer Foundation, tasked with developing the sport's growth. MLS now has 30 teams, plays in 22 soccer specific stadiums and has club academies to grow the sport and improve talent. Next year's tournament will include 104 games , up from 64 from 1998 through 2022, and the 11 U.S. stadiums are all NFL homes with lucrative luxury suites and club seating. It also will be the first World Cup run by FIFA without a local organizing committee. 'The legacy initiative of 2026 is around how we ensure that soccer is everywhere in this county,' U.S. Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson said. 'How do we ensure that every American can walk, ride their bike or take public transit to a safe place to play soccer? How do we make it to where every school in America has soccer accessible to their students? And how do we make it to wherever every American can truly see themselves in the game?' Interest in soccer has vastly increased in the U.S., with England's Premier League averaging 510,000 viewers per match window on NBC's networks last season and the European Champions League final drawing more than 2 million viewers in each of the past five years on CBS. However, CBS broadcast just 26 of 189 Champions League matches on TV in 2024-25 and streamed the rest. MLS drew about 12.2 million fans last year, second to 14.7 million in 2023-24 for the Premier League's 20 teams, but MLS has largely disappeared from broadcast TV since starting a 10-year contract with Apple TV+ in 2023 . Apple spokesman Sam Citron said the company does not release viewer figures. In a fractured television landscape, different deals were negotiated by FIFA, UEFA, MLS, the NWSL, the USSF and the five major European leagues. 'You basically have over 2,800 game windows per season aired in the United States and so that requires distribution largely on streaming platforms like Paramount+ or ESPN+, but it's difficult for new fan adoption and it makes reach kind of challenging,' said Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, which holds controlling interests in AC Milan and Toulouse and owns a non-controlling stake of Fenway Sports Group, parent of Liverpool. 'Kids today are getting weaned on Premier League football and Serie A football, and when you watch that as a product, it's hard for MLS to compete.' 1994 World Cup set attendance record The 1994 World Cup, a 24-nation tournament, drew a record 3.58 million fans for 52 matches. Ticket prices ranged from $25-$75 for most first round games and $180-$475 for the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. FIFA, which has about 800 people working at an office in Coral Gables, Florida, says it will announce information on general tickets in the third quarter. It wouldn't say whether prices will be fixed or variable. Hospitality packages are available on FIFA's website through On Location. For the eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, including the final on July 19, prices range from $25,800 to $73,200 per person. Variable ticket pricing possible FIFA appears to be using variable pricing for this year's Club World Cup , played at 12 U.S. stadiums from June 14 to July 13, and some prices repeatedly have been slashed. Marriott Bonvoy, a U.S. Soccer Federation partner, has been offering free tickets to some of its elite members. Asked about Club World Cup ticket sales and team base camp arrangements, Manolo Zubiria, the World Cup's chief tournament officer, hung up four minutes and five questions into a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Brendan O'Connell, the publicist who arranged the interview, wrote in an email to the AP: 'The guest was not prepared for those questions.' FIFA's media relations staff would not make FIFA president Gianni Infantino available to discuss the tournament. Ahead of the 1994 World Cup, FIFA announced in May 1992 the draw would take place at Las Vegas on Dec. 18 or 19, 1993. FIFA has not revealed plans for this year's draw but appears to be planning for Las Vegas on Dec. 5. Regular ticket sales began in February 1993 for the U.S. soccer family and general first- and second-round sales started that June. Fans submitted lottery applications in October 1993 for games from the quarterfinals on. Teams could train away from World Cup cities While not detailing ticketing plans for next year's tournament, FIFA is spreading it beyond the host cites and lists about 60 possible base camps for teams to use, paired with hotels. Some are fancy — The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia — and some more Spartan — the Courtyard by Marriott Mesa at Wrigleyville West in Arizona. Thousands of arrangements must be coordinated. Major League Baseball is drawing up its schedule to ensure that the four teams whose ballparks share parking lots with World Cup stadiums — in Arlington, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia; and Seattle — won't play home games on the dates of tournament matches. Boris Gartner, CEO of La Liga North America, a joint venture of the Spanish soccer league and Relevent Sports, said the 2026 World Cup should be viewed as just another step in the sport's long-term growth in the United States. 'If you have a clear understanding of the market and the audience, a clear understanding of the value that these properties bring to media companies, and you mix content with a commercial strategy, with the right media distribution strategy, this is something that will continue to grow over the next two decades,' he said. 'If more people are watching the NWSL, more people are going to be interested in soccer that could potentially end up watching a Bundesliga game or La Liga game.' ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
TRUE MOVEMENT TECH ACQUIRES MANCINO MATS
Expanding U.S. Manufacturing to Build the Future of Active Play SAN DIEGO, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- True Movement Tech, a fast-growing leader in sport entertainment innovation and North American manufacturing, today announced the acquisition of Mancino Manufacturing Co., Inc a respected U.S. manufacturer of premium safety padding and equipment for gymnastics, cheer, martial arts, and other sports facilities. This acquisition reinforces True Movement Tech's longstanding commitment to local-first production while expanding its ability to serve movement and play businesses with high-performance, end-to-end solutions. Mancino Mats brings decades of expertise in safety padding, further elevating True Movement Tech's capacity to meet the demands of active environments where safety, durability, and performance are paramount. True Movement Tech President Joe Gram said: Across all sport and play markets, customers are demanding professional and trustworthy service that they can count on throughout the lifetime of their sport business. By joining with Mancino, we are adding a company with decades of experience and success in the safety padding space that - when combined with True Movement Tech's other offerings - allows us to deliver domestically manufactured sport products that are beyond what anyone else is currently capable of. With this latest addition, True Movement Tech now operates six complementary businesses—True Movement Tech, AirTrack™, Superior Trampoline Manufacturing, XR Sports, SDUNITED Training Center, and now Mancino Mats—creating a unified family of design, manufacturing, and installation experts. True Movement Tech is accelerating its mission to shape the future of active play and cementing its role as a trusted leader in the sports entertainment manufacturing industry. ABOUT TRUE MOVEMENT TECH True Movement Tech is a leading manufacturer in the active play and sports entertainment industry, specializing in the design, production, and installation of globally adopted and customer-loved attractions. True Movement Tech first became known when they transformed the trampoline market with their AirTrack Sport Courts and high-design AirBags now universally adopted across the trampoline industry. They have continued to evolve into a proven, reliable partner for business owners and brands from concept to installation to post opening service. True Movement Tech operates six complementary businesses: True Movement Tech, AirTrack™, Superior Trampoline Manufacturing, XR Sports, SDUNITED Training Center, and now Mancino Mats—together forming a global force of manufacturing and design experts. True Movement Tech is headquartered in San Marcos, CA. For more information, please visit: ABOUT MANCINO MATS For over 60 years, Mancino Mats has been a trusted name in American-made safety padding and sports equipment for gymnastics, cheer, martial arts, and athletic facilities. Known for its craftsmanship, product durability, and customer-first service, Mancino has earned the loyalty of coaches, gym owners, and athletic directors across the country. With deep industry expertise and a legacy of innovation, Mancino continues to set the standard for quality and safety in movement-based environments. Now part of the True Movement Tech family, Mancino Mats is proud to help shape the future of active play through expanded capabilities and continued U.S. manufacturing excellence. For more information, please visit: For questions or further inquiries please contact:info@ I 408-569-9504 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE True Movement Tech Sign in to access your portfolio