Courses with the Toughest Greens

[Adelade]

The texture's he used in his version of Oakmont are very dull, if you had the opportunity to see just how vibrant and green the course really is you would appreciate my reason for wanting to re-do the course.

Well, the vibrance and green-ness depends on the weather and season, Im sure.

Anyhow, while I dont doubt that you have a valid point about the real life location, I very much disagree about his textures being dull. I think the textures themselves are great, and their colouring, though unusual, are coherent as a whole in their theme and makes for a rather pleasant aesthetic IMO. Ben Bateson (ousgg), just as a second example, seemed to think along the same lines as me in his review of the course:

Appearance 9/10
The striking, almost sepia colour tones are impressive from the first tee and do something special to set the course apart. The bunkerwork (as it has to be, on a course where sand is emphasised) is beautiful and evidence of much work. Two minor aspects spoiled an otherwise oil-painting of a course: the washed out panorama and the network of drainage ditches, which looked 'scooped out' and entirely unnatural.

Either way, I will emphasize what I said earlier - I wouldnt want all courses to have that style of colours. And I can understand why some might not like it. I feel like I would be completely fine with a more usual colour theme too (and Im certainly not trying to get in the way of any new version), but I very highly doubt that I would prefer such colours or textures over those in the 2010 version - and I cant imagine that would change regardless of what the real location might look like in-person.

I am worried that some courses are already getting too easy. Oakmont is the only one that, despite I played it 30-40 times and another about 50 times in practice rounds to test shots and strategies, still is eluding me. TPC Sawgrass, my favorite because of the variety of holes, when I played it at -9, I was happy, but also sad. Now I know it is just arcade and nothing else. It is a game, yes, but I will not play arcade games.

I feel the exact same way about -9 scores and arcade-feelings. Thankfully, there is a basically endless amount of ways to make Links 2003 more challenging/realistic for oneself, so one can easily make Links last forever as a good challenge, as long as one is willing to try things The most obvious ones (besides changing swing method) are increasing the "difficulty level" (Amateur - Pro - Champ - Elite), playing with less green tools, and playing on tougher green/wind/custom pin settings, but there is still so much more one can do, even beyond actual settings that exist within the game. If you get to where Sawgrass is a good challenge for yourself, you can still enjoy Oakmont from some of the shorter tees

[braden1308]

The texture's he used in his version of Oakmont are very dull, if you had the opportunity to see just how vibrant and green the course really is you would appreciate my reason for wanting to re-do the course.

Well, the vibrance and green-ness depends on the weather and season, Im sure.

Not trying to debate but for whatever reason Oakmont stays pretty green year round, the taller grasses around the course lose color of course but the fairways, greens and tee boxes seem to maintain their color. They do cover the greens and tees when the colder weather moves in and the covers are a darker green color which could make you perceive discoloration in a satellite image taken in the winter.

There used to be a course right next to Oakmont which was called Oakmont East, it was a public course and got a lot of play. I learned to golf there and you never new what kind of shape that course would be in because they experimented with various chemicals and nutrients they were going to use at the country club. You could play one hole and it would be pretty burnt out then the next hole would be plush and green. They closed the East Course many years ago but kept some of the holes intact for junior players from the country club and I'm sure testing of chemicals and nutrients. I don't think those holes are still there, I didn't see anything when I was there for the U.S. Amateur, but whatever Oakmont uses, it keeps the course in amazing condition year round, plus the fact that we don't have winters here like we used to probably doesn't hurt.

[Adelade]

With the course/club being so renowned, and I think renowned for having fast greens, yeah I could see that being the case. I didnt look at satellite images for this course. Interesting backstory I can definitely understand wanting to make a version of your own when having a real history like that with it.

[MrT]

Either way, I will emphasize what I said earlier - I wouldnt want all courses to have that style of colours. And I can understand why some might not like it. I feel like I would be completely fine with a more usual colour theme too (and Im certainly not trying to get in the way of any new version), but I very highly doubt that I would prefer such colours or textures over those in the 2010 version - and I cant imagine that would change regardless of what the real location might look like in-person.

I do not think that changing the colors would change much, if anything, of course. But for people like me the colors are depressing. While I like the challenge on this course, once I am done, I feel like "thank God it is over!" and while playing I almost feel like crying as if someone died. I feel in a hurry to finish because it causes me depression, basically. I have lived in the Pittsburgh area for a bit and, while the courses werr open, fairways and greens looked lush green even in the Fall. Same in Minnesota where I played for many years, even if there by October or mid/late November almost all courses are closed. The 2016 US Open (June 16-19) looked almost "tropical" after one gets used to what he/she sees in Links' version. Also in the time that the this course was made and the US Open ( I watched footages of all holes "to understand" this course) I noticed that a few things had changed. But, the greens of real Oakmont were such a surprise.

This is an early morning picture, for instance. If you follow the link and change the slide number you can see them, one by one.

https://www.golfchannel.com/media/us-op ... ry?slide=3

I also went to retrieve the pin placements of that course (I found those for round 1 of the 2016 US Open) and I have learned that, actually, they do indeed like to place them mostly close to the fringe. So, I will not complain about that anymore.

https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnett ... nts-19380/