US Open rough and greens highlight unforgiving Oakmont course

The 2025 U.S. Open tournament begins Thursday, and already the conditions at Oakmont Country Club are making fans shutter. The rough at the course is tall, unforgiving, foreboding, and every other sinister word you can think of. The average golfer would probably lose every ball hit into the rough.

Luckily, the U.S. Open has spotters to prevent similar mishaps from happening to the pros, but that doesn’t mean the pros are not still taken aback by the rough’s sheer presence. After all, they still need to take shots out of that monstrosity.

We haven’t even gotten into the really tough parts of the course, such as the church pews, a series of islands of roughs scattered throughout a bunker on Hole 3. Those alone are enough to make a casual golfer run for the hills.

Between the roughs, the pews, and the insanely fast greens, this weekend’s U.S. Open could end up being full or more ups-and-downs than a rollercoaster designed to give people motion sickness.

Here are some of the best posts detailing the difficult course conditions at Oakmont.

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Best reactions to U.S. Open course conditions

What do the pros think an average golfer would shoot at Oakmont?

If we’re being real, the golfers are probably giving us average Joe’s too much credit.

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