Oakmont ready ‘in a pinch’
Under one scenario, club would’ve played host to U.S Open this year
Like the Masters and PGA Championship, it appears the U.S. Open will not be played on its scheduled dates in June and will be postponed until later in the summer, possibly even the fall, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, according to a story in the New York Post, the United States Golf Association does not plan to move its national championship from the intended site — Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.
Winged Foot is located in Westchester County, one of the hardest-hit areas with the coronavirus, and there were reports the event would be still be held June 17-20 but at a different location.
According to Golfweek magazine, one of the alternative sites being considered was Oakmont Country Club, which is scheduled to play host to its 10th U.S. Open in 2025, more than any club in the country. While a backup plan was never discussed in earnest with anyone at Oakmont, there are two reasons why the possibility was not far-fetched.
For starters, USGA chief executive officer Mike Davis always has considered Oakmont to be the “gold standard” for U.S. Open venues, a course that, given a moment’s notice, would need little, if any, preparation to play host to a major championship.
Consider what Davis said before the U.S. Open was staged the most recent time at Oakmont in 2016:
“I really do believe this is the one golf course in the U.S. that, if we had to make a call one or two weeks before the U.S. Open and say we’re in a pinch, can you host the national championship, this place could do it,” Davis said. “This golf course is always seemingly in championship condition.”
Further proof that Oakmont is always at the forefront of the USGA’s consideration came a couple of years ago when the town of Brookline, Mass., was slow to agree to bring the 2022 U.S. Open back to The Country Club, which hadn’t staged the event since 1988.
As the delay grew longer, the USGA had discussed with Oakmont the possibility of giving the club the 2022 U.S. Open in addition to the one in 2025. That never came to fruition — The Country Club agreed to have the U.S. Open for the first time in 35 years — though Oakmont was given the 2021 U.S. Amateur.
Oakmont won’t have to do much to get ready for that event, either. Just cut the rough, slow the greens and use easier hole locations than the members are accustomed to.
Open for business
Like a lot of course owners in Ohio, Jimmy Hanlin is caught in a cloud of uncertainty of whether golf facilities in his state are allowed to remain open.
Even though Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has issued a stay-at-home order similar to Pennsylvania and other states, the Northeast Ohio Golf Association said courses are allowed to remain open after checking with the governor’s office.
So while some courses such as Firestone Farms and Reserve Run have elected to close, Hanlin has kept his two suburban Cleveland courses — Little Mountain and StoneWater — open for play. On Thursday, he said more than 130 rounds were played at StoneWater, located in Highland Heights. And not just because it was sunny and 70 degrees.
“They were slam-packed and people were happy,” Hanlin said. “I literally had people say ‘Thank you, Number 1, for going to all the trouble to make this possible by sanitizing and making sure we’re not in any danger, and, Number 2, thanks for giving us the opportunity to get out of the house. We’re just going nuts.’
“If you’re a non-golfer, you’re never going to see what golf can do for people and their mental health. But if you are a golfer, times it by 10. I literally saw relief in people’s faces like I never saw before.”
Hanlin hopes DeWine can clarify his order so all courses in Ohio can remain open and offer a mental respite through a difficult period.
According to the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, 29 states are allowing courses to remain open while eight others’ decision is “pending” clarification of an executive order.
“The danger on a golf course is much less than a grocery store,” Hanlin said. “People are touching things there, like cereal boxes, and putting them back. We’re able to wash things when people touch them . ... They’re not washing with Clorox like we are when people touch things.”
Horner’s next move
Jesse Horner has embarked on a new venture that is much different than the previous two clubs at which he worked. Horner, 57, was the first head golf professional at Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood City, spending 11 years there and helping to launch the spectacular upscale facility into what it is today — one of the best daily-fee courses in the state.
He left there to invest in Oakview Golf Club in
Slippery Rock, thinking he would stay there three to five years to help rejuvenate the former Armco Golf Club facility.
“It was 11,” Horner said. Horner doesn’t have to worry about pumping life into his new place — Cranberry Highlands Golf Course. He is the new director of golf, responsible for overseeing one of the top public courses in the Tri-State region that does approximately 32,000 rounds a year.
Cranberry Highlands was designed by Bill Love, whose credits include TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms, and opened in 2002. It is owned by the municipality of Cranberry and was named by Golf Digest as one of the best municipal courses in Pennsylvania.
“I’m looking at it as a big challenge,” said Horner, who formerly worked as an assistant professional at Sewickley Heights Golf Club. “To help them here, it was an opportunity to stay in Butler [where he lives] and I’m excited about the plans we have for the future.”
Like all courses in Pennsylvania, Cranberry Highlands is closed until at least April 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Horner already has hired Terry McGrath as his head professional and retained Jody Barrett as director of instruction.
“What I’d like to do is bring my experience to the operation, things I’ve learned working at Sewickley, a country club; working at Olde Stonewall, an upscale daily-fee facility; and working at Oakview, a semi-private club; those three mixes of businesses,” Horner said. “Now it’s a municipality. I’m just trying to bring whatever I can to make the operation a little more efficient and better.”