5 days ago
Here's what fans can expect as Oakmont gears up to host a 10th U.S. Open
Here's what fans can expect as Oakmont gears up to host a 10th U.S. Open
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2025 U.S. Open: Oakmont gears up to host its 10th championship
Oakmont and the USGA is looking to give the world's top players a tough challenge and fans a unique experience at the 125th U.S. Open Championship.
Oakmont Country Club will host its record 10th U.S. Open from June 12-15.
New fan experiences include expanded merchandise areas and a relocated fan experience venue.
The course will play longer and with higher rough than in 2016.
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania — Fans and the best golfers from around the world will soon flock to Oakmont, Pennsylvania, as Oakmont Country Club will host the 125th U.S. Open Championship on June 12-15 for a record 10th U.S. Open.
'When you fit, you can feel it,' United States Golf Association President Fred Perpall said. 'The U.S. Open and the USGA has fit so well here at Oakmont. It is hard to win a U.S. Open and playing Oakmont is really hard. With 175 bunkers and obstacles, it demands meticulous play and a lot of creativity.'
In 2021, the USGA named Oakmont an anchor site, which began a 25-year partnership between the two entities. After 2025, the country club will host the 2033, 2042 and 2049 U.S. Opens, the U.S. Women's Opens in 2028 and 2038, along with the 2033 Walker Cup match and the 2046 U.S. Women's Amateur.
Pinehurst and Pebble Beach also joined Oakmont as anchor sites, which in turn will help enhance the experience for both players and fans, with the tournament dates already being planned out over the next two decades.
The USGA and Oakmont have been hard at work to give fans and players alike a better experience in its first year hosting as an anchor venue.
'As an anchor site, we want to be a partnership to grow the game, invest in the location and invest back in the region,' USGA CEO Mike Whan told the Beaver County Times. 'We think of Oakmont as a 'cathedral' for the game of golf and with the number of tournaments that will be hosted here, it will be a site where players strive to reach and fans want to continue to come back to.'
This year, fans will experience 40,000 square feet of merchandise space from the main tent and satellite tent. It will also have a new fan experience pad by hole 11, which used to be located on the other side of the turnpike. The new location will house the USGA and museum experience, a small merch area, food and beverage options and big-screen TVs where fans can gather.
'The greatest thing that I can say about Oakmont and believe me it is as great as it can be, we know that Oakmont is going to continue to get better, the fans and players will notice it as well,' Whan said. 'The fans that have experienced Oakmont 10 times before, when they return for the next 10 times, they will continue to see the investments that are being made.'
When it comes to the course for this year's championship, it will continue to challenge the world's best golfers in unique ways.
The yardage is 153 yards longer than when Oakmont hosted back in 2016, adding a yard for each year since the previous championship held there. It will also have the rough sitting at five inches or higher, rivaling the height of seven to eight inches of rough at Oakmont in 1983.
But in the end, just as course designer Henry Fownes' son William made changes to make the course more difficult back in the early 1900s, he did so to find a balance between the strategy and the difficulty which the USGA and the country club still strive to meet each time the U.S. Open comes to Oakmont.
'We work closely with the team at Oakmont to prepare and present a stage for the 'actors' to go at it, but we don't get to write the script,' USGA managing director of rules and open championships Jeff Hall said. 'But when you look at the names on the U.S. Open trophy, specifically here at Oakmont, this course brings out the best because you have to play at a top level, you can't pretend your way around here. The venue, the way it is prepared, will bring the cream to the top. We want to provide a stage for the world's best players to do what they do best.'
With the U.S. Open just one month away, the world's top players will be in for a tough test and the fans will be treated to an entertaining four days of golf.
