Classic Courses:

Pittsburgh Field Club

One of the oldest clubs in the United States, this long-time Steel City mainstay offers a variety of activities, most notably a hidden gem of a course

By Tom Cunneff

During last year’s U.S. Open, one of the world’s greatest courses was occupied, wearing down the best players in the world. But savvy visitors to Pittsburgh were able to enjoy a round at Pittsburgh Field Club just a few miles from Oakmont, across the Allegheny River. While it doesn’t have nearly the bite of its fearsome neighbor, the Field Club rounds out an impressive trio of courses in the suburbs northeast of Pittsburgh, along with Oakmont and the Seth Raynor-designed Fox Chapel Golf Club.

Originally designed by Alexander Findlay in 1915, the 6,636-yard Field Club layout is a quintessential Eastern design with small, undulating greens and plenty of
elevation changes. But two of the course’s most memorable features are reminiscent of two great Los Angeles courses.

Players take an elevator from the 17th green to the 18th tee, like they do at Bel-Air Country Club to tee off on the 10th. And the 1st tee next to the clubhouse sits high above the fairway, as at Riviera Country Club.

And what a view it is: Save for the par-3 18th to the left, the rest of the layout lies in a verdant valley, 12 stories below.

Despite the hilly site, only a few holes play uphill. There are many more confidence-inspiring downhill shots, most notably off the 1st tee. Reachable par 5s like the
491-yard 3rd and 509-yard 5th, as well as two drivable par 4s, the 2nd and 13th, make the Field Club terrific for match play, leading to some exciting contests in the annual Diebold Cup with Oakmont, Fox Chapel and Longue Vue Club.

“The course doesn’t play very hilly for Pittsburgh,” says Dave Martin, Pittsburgh Field Club’s head pro for 26 years. “There are plenty of birdie holes. You see a lot of people coming off the course with smiles, but it will eat you up if you’re hitting it sideways.”

Although the course came a dozen years later, the club itself is older than Oakmont, having celebrated its 125th anniversary last summer. In fact, Henry Fownes was a member before establishing Oakmont in 1903.

The club’s first sport was cricket, which turned out be far less popular than another import, golf. By 1901, the club had a nine-hole layout at its original location in Pittsburgh. Thirteen years later the club bought 171 acres “away from the maddening crowd” for a proper 18-hole layout. The dominant feature of the mostly treeless canvas with which Findlay worked was the hill known as “Pike’s Peak,” the highest point in Fox Chapel and the obvious place for the original clubhouse, which burnt to the ground in 1924.