Taunted by an overpass

A few times a year I drive under these viaducts on my way to and from the East Cast to visit family and friends.

It always feels like they are challenging me.

If you can’t see it clearly, the overpasses say Oakmont CC (Sorry for the bad photo. The photo is heavily cropped, as I was moving, looking at the road and holding the camera in one hand. No chance to focus. Just press the button, aim forward and hope to get the photo.)

Oakmont is one of several private clubs on my US bucket list (some others are Crystal Downs, Riviera, Shinnecock and National Golf Links. Almost all on my list are there for architectural interest, not prestige). However, it is the only one that I am regularly reminded of. I visited Crystal Downs once. Many of my other bucket list courses I have never been close to.

Oakmont CC was founded in 1903, but in the late 1940s the track was split in two by the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. So the viaducts.

The construction of the toll road apparently only affected one of the holes: the eighth, where the green had to be moved several meters.

There are seven holes on one side and eleven on the other.

The toll road was apparently built on an old railroad line, which explains why such a prestigious country club has a highway in the middle of its route.

The Google Earth photo above is interesting because it clearly shows the pew bunkers that Oakmont is famous for.