Oakmont dials up U.S. Open heat
+ Poll: On-course gallery commentary; Gary Van Sickle readies a place for this year's U.S. Open; Brandon Johnson rethinks the King's work in Myrtle Beach.
THE STARTER
🏌️ Scottie Scheffler had a four-putt in the second round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Did you expect the world might come to an end at that moment?
🏌️ If Oakmont is the hardest course in America, what comes in second? Is there a second?
🏌️ Brooks Koepka took a 45-minute chewing out from his coach, Pete Cowen, before the U.S. Open. Wouldn’t you like to have overheard that conversation?
🏌️ Is there a player besides Justin Thomas who can be so great at times and so awful at other times?
🏌️ J.J. Spaun seems to show up on leaderboards in the early rounds of big championships. But can he really win the U.S. Open?
🏌️ Can someone please explain Viktor Hovland?
🏌️ Ryan Fox won in Myrtle Beach to get the last spot for the PGA Championship. And he won the RBC Canadian Open in a playoff to get into the U.S. Open. Would you ask him to buy you a Powerball ticket?
🏌️ The USGA insists it will forge ahead with its rollback of the ball, despite vehement opposition on the record by the PGA of America. Doesn’t the PGA Tour hold a lot of cards in this matter?
🏌️ Maxwell Moldovan holed his second shot from the fairway on his first hole of the Open for an eagle 2. Wouldn’t it have been cool if he had handed the club to his caddie and just turned around and walked in?
:: Mike Purkey
FEATURES
Ranking Oakmont's 9 U.S. Opens
The rough-hewn brute of a course just outside of Pittsburgh has a way of identifying true major champions.
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
The long and shorts of Forrest Fezler's 1983 U.S. Open
Oakmont Country Club is rich with U.S. Open memories, having hosted nine prior to this year's, but one stands out for its particular uniqueness.
:: Gary Van Sickle | Read
BOOKMARKED
Good reads — and listens — that are sometimes about golf, but not always.
📖 A high IQ makes you an outsider, not a genius
Acing an intelligence test only counts for so much.
:: Helen Lewis | The Atlantic | 06.04.25 | Read
📖 Amelia Earhart’s reckless final flights
The aviator’s publicity-mad husband, George Palmer Putnam, kept pushing her to risk her life for the sake of fame.
:: Laurie Gwen Shapiro | The New Yorker | 06.02.25 | Read ($)
📖 Aaron Judge and the Pride of the Yankees
As great as the New York slugger has been throughout his career, will he be considered in the same company as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle or even Derek Jeter if he does not win a World Series ring?
:: Wright Thompson | ESPN | 06.12.25 | Read
BUSINESS
THE FIRST CALL
Week in Review: The industry’s names, news and notables making headlines. | Read
This week’s editions: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Industry press releases | Industry press release videos | TFC / PR Newswire feed
Golf Industry Job / Internship Board
LIFESTYLE
THE STYLE LINKS
Keegan Bradley scripting post by Flag & Anthem. It wouldn’t be a U.S. Open without some red, white and blue.
:: Janice Ferguson | IG: @janiceferguson_thestylelinks
19TH HOLE
“Course of Life” podcast co-host Alex Lauzon closes each episode with the guest sharing a favorite 19th hole food and beverage experience.
Maja Stark, 2025 U.S. Women’s Open champion: “I just got into beer recently after I moved to Nashville, which is like brewery central. So when [I was asked] what I wanted to drink after I won [the U.S. Women’s Open] on the 18th green, I said 'I'll take a beer!" and that Spotted Cow tasted good."
:: Alex Lauzon | Co-host of “Course of Life” podcast
A PICTURE TELLS …
:: Words: Richard Pennell / Pitchmarks | Photography: Simon Pope
Image: Hole No. 5, Painswick Golf Club, Painswick, England.
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN NOTES
Myrtle Beach National enters stage 2 of King’s North reno
King’s North at Myrtle Beach National closed its back nine on May 26 as architect Brandon Johnson returned to lead the final phase of the course’s two-year renovation project.
Owned and operated by Founders Group International, King’s North, an Arnold Palmer design, has long been one of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina’s most popular layouts, and Johnson, who transformed the front nine in summer 2024, has once again been given creative license to elevate the experience even further.
“Brandon has free rein to shape this golf course as he sees fit,” said Steve Mays, president of Founders Group International. “What makes him so unique is that while he gives you a plan up front, he’s not bound by it. Once he gets on the ground, he and his team really work with the land and the shaping. That’s where the magic happens, and we saw that firsthand on the front nine.”
As the course anticipates an early October reopening, the upcoming work promises significant changes. On the back nine, Johnson is expected to reinterpret the famous SC-shaped bunkers on the island green 12th hole, continuing the project’s blend of tradition and innovation.
Other anticipated highlights include: a new teeing area on the 13th hole and an updated shared waste bunker with the third; a redesign of the massive waste bunker on 14 and the full-length bunker on 15; a creative refresh of the dramatic beach-style bunkers on hole Nos. 16 and 17; and a completely new look for the 18th hole, long known for its 40-plus bunkers and water-lined fairway, which will provide an unforgettable finish.
“How Brandon chooses to reimagine 18 is something I’m really looking forward to,” Mays said. “It’s such a great finishing hole, and he’s got a blank canvas to make it even more memorable.”
The excitement for Johnson’s work on the back nine is rooted in the success of his work on the first nine holes at King’s North. Johnson, who worked for Arnold Palmer Design Group for 17 years, reinvigorated the course’s bunkering, reenvisioning the shape, visibility and scale of the traps to dramatic effect. The changes to the course are immediately visible on the par-5 first hole, where Johnson raised the profile of bunkers that are now visible from tee to green.
He also leaned into the rugged aesthetic that King’s North has long enjoyed, and the course’s greens and their surrounds enjoyed substantive changes. This dramatically increases the strategic options players have on the approach and recovery shots. Now, Johnson is returning to complete a project that is close to his heart.
“We are looking to honor some of the things Mr. Palmer was trying to achieve here,” Johnson said. “He always wanted his courses to be fun to play and pleasing to the eye and that’s what this course is, but there are some strategic and playability elements we can add to enhance the experience. We are looking to build upon what’s here by using the existing contours and landforms more efficiently and incorporate them into everyday play.”
Renovating the course in two stages allowed FGI to avoid a full closure and gave Johnson the time and space to be creative without tight constraints.
“This is a significant renovation,” Mays said. “Breaking it into two four-month windows gave us eight months total to do this right — without rushing — and still keep the course open for part of the year.”
Design Notes Archive | Read