Oak Hill (East)

Oak Hill played host to the 1995 Ryder Cup matches between the USA and Europe. Team Captains were Lanny Wadkins (US) and Bernard Gallacher (Europe). The 31st Ryder Cup matches were settled in the final-day singles which the US started with a three-point lead. Rookie Phil Mickelson was unbeaten throughout the event but strong all-round European performances culminated in Philip Walton two putting for bogey on the last hole to beat Jay Haas and claim the Ryder Cup. Europe 14 ½ - USA 13 ½. The Ryder Cup was played at The Belfry in 1993 and at Valderrama in 1997.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Well, according to the top touring pros and the Seven Dwarfs, it’s the Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester. For this venue is regarded, almost universally, as the fairest but most challenging course on the US major circuit.

When Oak Hill Golf Club started out in life back in 1901, golf was played on a barren rudimentary nine-hole course set close to the banks of the Genesee River. Things at the club remained low key until the beginning of the 1920s. Or so the members thought. Little did they know that the University of Rochester had their hearts set on a new riverside campus, which they wanted to develop on the site of the Oak Hill course. Fortunately, for Oak Hill, the rich University had land and cash to spare and a trade-off took place – 350 acres of farmland plus $360,000 for 85 riverside acres.

Naturally Oak Hill grasped the golden opportunity and commissioned Donald Ross to build two courses on the new site at Pittsford. Tens of thousands of oak trees were planted, and the new Oak Hill gradually started to take shape.

Before play commenced in the 1956 US Open at Oak Hill, Ben Hogan suggested that the East course was not hard enough to host this top event. After missing a short putt on the penultimate hole and losing by one shot to Cary Middlecoff, Hogan changed his tune and declared Oak Hill’s opening hole to be the toughest he’d ever played.

Since then, Oak Hill has been a regular US Open and PGA Championship venue and only the world’s very best golfers have managed to better the Oak Hill par.

The venerable Oak Hill is in fact the only club to have played host to the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, U.S. Amateur, Senior U.S. Open and Senior PGA Championship. The PGA Championship returned to Oak Hill in 2013 after a ten-year gap when, in 2003, Shaun Micheel became a surprise major winner.

The PGA Championship returns to Rochester in 2023 when the players will experience a very different East course following a major course renovation. Work started in August 2019 with the rebuilding of all greens and bunkers. The club’s aim was to return the East course back to Donald Ross's intent using the Scotsman’s original drawings.

Jeff Sluman, who competed in the 2019 Senior PGA at Oak Hill, assisted renovation expert Andrew Green, whose experience includes work at Congressional Country Club.

Writing in Rudo’s Golf Travels (August 2020 post), the intrepid septuagenarian commented as follows after playing the newly renovated East course:

“The trees were choking Ross’ superb design and three holes designed by George and Tom Fazio 30+ years earlier still looked out of place. After viewing Andrew Green’s efforts at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, the leaders of OHCC placed some heavy bets on Green and agreed to massive and controversial tree reduction and pruning.

The results are simply outstanding, creating spectacular vistas and allowing the land to receive necessary sunlight and fresh air. Green also redid every green and bunker to restore aspects of Ross’ design… and changed three holes substantially (#4, #6, and #15) and created an all-new #5… all in order to conform to Ross’ intent.

The course reopened for play a couple of months ago and plays firm and fast… and very difficult but also fun.”