Which course is the hardest?
Lots of people say different courses around the world are the hardest but which one is actually the hardest course in the world? Yes, many pro golfers have played on lots of courses and they may be having a bad day and just say wow this was the hardest course I have ever played on but is it really? While doing a bit of research, many golfers think the Augusta National Course in Georgia is by far the hardest course but more people argue that the actually toughest course in the world actually is Oakmont Country Club in western Pennsylvania.
This course has hosted more U.S. Opens than any other club. There was a U.S. Open at this club for the following years: 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007, and in 2016. It is thought that the PGA would want the U.S. Open on this course because it is the toughest course in the world. Honestly, why would you not want this major tournament on this course. This would allow people to see who the best of the best golfers truly are, especially if they can play on a course of this rank.
The Course
The course itself has 210 bunkers, narrow, fairways, greens that curve away from you and so much more. People love the course so much because it gives everyone a challenge and a good time will be playing the round. The founders of the course truly believe that it has a championship tradition and there is nothing like it anywhere in the U.S. They take such great pride in having such a beautiful course that holds so many events that everyone should know the course by now.
Not only does the Oakmont Country Club offer their spectacular golf course but they also offer for people to have their wedding here as well and much more. They have multiple locations for the wedding of your dreams. The Fownes Room, named after the founders of the course is a beautiful room where one can have cocktails with friends and it even overlooks the #1 championship tee box. They also offer The Ballroom for weddings in which it can seat up to 250 people and The Oak Grove which is a ceremony site on the golf course with a couple of the championship holes in the background.
Expectations
Here at the Oakmont Country Club guests are expected to be and act classy. They want to keep the course professional at all times and to have proper etiquette because it is appropriate. For example, phone use must be limited to only in certain areas and the ringer must be placed to silent. At the course you are also not allowed to bring anything bigger than an Ipad to play at the course. However, when playing at this high class of a course you should already have the etiquette that is expected of you.
The next expectation is a proper dress code while playing golf and being present at the country club. The pepper attire would include turtlenecks or polo shirts with trousers or slacks for the men and dresses, skirts and polo shirts as well for the woman. Again, the whole etiquette and professionalism falls into play again in this scenario. They feel that if you are going to play on this course you must play the part and dress properly.
All of the indoor facilities are smoke free at the Oakmont Country Club as well. And lastly, the speed of play is also crucial while playing on this course. The players are expected to play a round of golf within four hours or less. This is so they can keep all the golfers flowing nicely and not have any traffic jams on the course. Although this is a walking course, you can request a cart if you do need so. However, if you do absolutely need a cart when playing it is strongly encouraged and recommended to follow all the directional signs on the course and to drive only on the cart paths. This is to ensure that the course and the greens stay in the great condition they are already in.
Other Courses
Like stated before, many pro golfers believe that other courses around the world may be tougher than Oakmont and a close second would probably have to be the Augusta National Course in Georgia. Like Oakmont, there are many different tournaments that take place here annually and the course is definitely a very hard course to play on. This club is also considered a for-profit not a non- profit because they take in so much money from The Masters tournament which is always held at this course. Because they are a for-profit they do not disclose any earnings that they make or anything like that because they are not classified as being a non-profit organization
When looking at the broad spectrum of things one may think that because of The Masters tournament being held here annually that Augusta would be the toughest course but it is still Oakmont. Yes, both courses are very hard and the best of the best players play at both of theses courses but there is just something about Oakmont Country Club that just throws every off almost every time. The Augusta National Course was also ranked number 10 by Golf Digest for the architecture of the course.
If you have ever seen pictures of The Augusta National Course it truly looks like you are playing in an oasis or even something from out of a movie. It really did take the founders and people who designed and created it a long time to figure out which hole was going to go where. Although, each course that is beautifully thought out takes time.
If anyone reading this article has played on either of these courses you can probably argue that both of them are very hard to play on. To finish, each course is going to have its own difficulty and every player also has a different playing level or stage at which they are in. Therefore, what may be super difficult for one person may be a piece of cake for the other.
