Members
were about as enthusiastic about Findlay’s effort at they were
about cricket.
Most approach shots played uphill, and members wanted to
change the layout from
the outset. Over the next 13 years, the course
underwent constant
modification.
Changes have continued over the
years, and the current layout
is an amalgam of the efforts of Donald
Ross, A.W. Tillinghast, Emil “Dutch”
Loeffler, Arthur Hills and Craig
Schreiner. “We’re lucky the course is as good
as it is considering all
the chefs that have stirred the pot,” says Martin.
Although
there is no official record of Ross’ work, which began in 1917, the
presumption is that he redesigned holes 2 through 6, mainly by
reversing them.
Similarly, there are only references to Tillinghast’s
input and indicate he may
have worked on the bunkers, which do bear his
trademark depth and lips.
In
1922 the club purchased 23 adjoining acres for $23,000 and hired
Willie Park Jr.
to create a new back nine. Despite Park’s credentials
(Sunningdale, Maidstone,
Olympia Fields), members didn’t approve his
plan.
They did endorse a redesign
by Loeffler, Oakmont’s
longtime pro and greenkeeper. After the new holes
opened in 1928, there
remained just one more design hill to climb, so to
speak. Before the
age of carts, the hike up to the 18th tee, especially at the
end of a
round on a hot, humid day, was quite literally a killer. More than one
member died of a heart attack either during the 100-foot climb from the
17th
green or later in the clubhouse, leading the club to install
golf’s first
elevator in 1938. (For a time, members could play the 18th
hole as a 277-yard
par 4 or 168-yard par 3; now it’s just the
latter.)
The previous year, the
club held its first big
tournament, the PGA Championship. Some doubted that the
course would
provide enough of a test, but the Field Club staged a memorable
event.
Byron Nelson was the stroke play medalist with rounds of 68 and 71, and a
score of 156 qualified for match play. Defending champion Denny Shute
defeated
Harold “Jug” McSpaden on the 37th hole of the championship
match.
The club
also hosted the 1959 Western Open as part of
Pittsburgh’s bicentennial
celebration. Western Pennsylvania’s favorite
son Arnold Palmer was in peak form
and led at the end of two rounds,
while 19-year-old Jack Nicklaus topped the
amateur field. Mike Souchak
ended up winning after the King missed a three-foot
putt on the 72nd
hole.
More recently, after Schreiner rebuilt the bunkers in
2000
and removed about 100 trees, the club was the second stroke-play course for
the 2003 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont. Ryan Moore tied for low round at the
Field
Club with a 65, but lost out on medalist honors to J.B.
Holmes.
Despite its
illustrious golf history, the club remains
at heart a family club, faithful to
its original charter with a variety
of “field” activities for members,
including skeet and trap shooting,
fishing (the pond is stocked each April with
800 trout and bass),
tennis and swimming in a new aquatic center (and
poolside pub)
that opened last summer. Still no cricket, however.
Part of the
emphasis on family is a popular junior golf program, with more than 150
participants. “It’s a great environment for kids to grow up in,” says
Martin.
“It’s just as much a quality club as it is a quality
course.”
Clearly, it’s a
club where everybody has a Field day.
