Sports

Intricate US Open Course Prep Highlighted By Custom Mowers That Make ‘Unplayable’ Rough Even Trickier

#US Open
by Last Updated
The rough being cut at Oakmont Country Club

© Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images


The rough at Oakmont Country Club is expected to be a problem for golfers at the US Open this weekend. Videos and photos of the course have been circulating social media in the days leading up to the tournament.

With practice rounds officially kicking off on Monday morning, more footage from golfers has been posted. PGA Tour player Jhonattan Vegas provided a seemingly positive update three days ahead of the opening round.

Oakmont is considered one of the toughest courses in golf. It’s been home of the US Open on nine separate occasions. This year will be the tenth.

Staff members take pride in both the difficulty and conditions of the course. The manicuring process is extremely intricate. Preparations are now in full swing with the tournament starting on Thursday.

Rumors of an extremely high rough surfaced last week. Both Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott found it extremely difficult to navigate in previous practice sessions.

Claims of five-inch-high rough grass have been whispered. Mowers came out on Monday to clean things up. The scene went viral thanks to a post from Jhonattan Vegas.

Vegas showed dozens of push mowers trimming the grass while still calling the course “unplayable.” That’s certainly not great to hear from someone getting set to take part in the event in just three days, though he suggested it was a step in the right direction.

Groups of mowers cutting in unison provided an interesting image. Lines of staffers walked the course in an attempt to get everything ready for US Open play.

Prepping the greens seemed even more tedious. Golf course or barber shop? You tell me!

Mowing the rough at Oakmont makes it more difficult.

Superintendent Mike McCormick made an appearance on the Fried Egg Golf podcast last week to speak on the expected conditions at the US Open. He offered an interesting tidbit about the crew’s grass cutting technique.

“We made some adjustments to our mowers,” he said. “We had some custom made so we can actually cut grass up to the height that we want for the championship. If you just let it grow up to three inches and let it go from there, it’s going to just start growing over itself… then the ball sits on top.

“There’s actually a lot of science that goes into it… [We had custom mowers made that] are actually standing the grass up as they’re cutting it [to the height we want].”

McCormick says most typical lawnmowers max out around 3.5 inches in height. He wants his mowers to create the same effects of the grass standing tall to allow golf balls to fall to the bottom of the rough, while maintaining a height higher than that 3.5-inch mark.

Those mowers could come out multiple times in the leadup to the tournament, and even in between US Open rounds. That should only make play more difficult!