Anytime a golf course goes through a renovation, there are typically two goals at play. One is that a club is keen to restore its course close to its original design or intent. The second is to ask more questions of the players playing the course. Give them decisions to make.
Gil Hanse’s recent renovation of Oakmont Country Club certainly fits that criteria. Expanding greens back the original sizes conceived by Henry Fownes, extensive bunker work to match the traps from early imagery and a host of other subtle and sometimes significant alterations.
One, specifically, comes at the start of the back nine.
The 10th hole at Oakmont, similar to the opening hole, plays downhill from the clubhouse towards Pennsylvania Turnpike beyond the green. It’s a difficult, 461-yard par 4. At the 2016 U.S. Open, it played as the fourth hardest hole.
At this year’s championship, it has a new look. You can see the obvious change here. On the left is how the hole played previously, a straight, downhill tee shot between bunkers.
However, Hanse and his team have added a ravine that runs across the entire fairway. The ravine cuts across the fairway at roughly 320 yards from the Championship tee. It gives the players a decision to make: How close are they willing to get to the ravine in order to get a shorter approach to one of the hardest greens on the course.
The USGA shared some footage of Scottie Scheffler playing his practice round on Monday morning. You can see here he chose to hit a fairway wood off the tee.
Typically, it seems players are looking to get their ball around 300 yards off the tee and leave an approach of about 160 yards to the green. Scheffler missed the fairway right and appears to have hacked a 7-iron (perhaps) towards the green. Likely a familiar way of playing a challenging hole this week.
But is there another option? Could you drive it over the ravine?
Justin Thomas was asked about that in his press conference Monday. He seemed surprised it was even a question.
“I haven't even looked at it.” he said. “I don't think it is [conceivable]. … I literally have no idea. I didn't even know that was possible.”
Clearly Thomas doesn’t watch Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube channel.
The reigning U.S. Open champion posted a video of his pre-tournament practice round at Oakmont, filmed two weeks ago. DeChambeau started his round on the 10th hole and explained to viewers just how cold it was, regularly grabbing for the handwarmers he had kept in his pockets. Despite the temperature, he pulled driver on the 10th tee and did this.
A little right but it carried the ravine. Yes, it travelled around 330 yards in the air and while it missed the fairway to the right, Bryson had just 115 yards to the hole, hit a sand wedge and made his birdie.
DeChambeau is currently the longest hitter in professional golf, averaging 331.9 yards off the tee this season on LIV Golf. Could this be an advantage he, and perhaps a handful of other long hitters, could exploit this week at Oakmont?
Xander Schauffele admitted he will not be one of those players.
“I think the play today would probably be a 3-wood of some sort and maybe a 9-iron or 8-iron,” he told the press on Monday. When asked if he would consider carrying the ravine, he laughed and said “The ravine? No. I think Bryson is the only one who would think twice about carrying it… I might be capable of one-hopping it, but I don't think my caddie is going to allow me to do that.”
Chances are you won’t see Schauffele or Thomas taking on the new ravine this week, but it’ll be interesting if the math works out for the 2024 champion and provides him with an edge to successfully defend his title.
