Cannon Firing Line

It's Oakmont
By Ellis G. Cannon
PSR Publisher

You'll never believe what research item I have before me as this column is penned… or typed.

You'll never believe, in fact, how this column came about or what inspired it; for that matter, how some of the pages in this issue even came to be.

Or maybe you will.

You can't make this stuff up.

A few months ago, I'm rifling through this box of what some may consider junk in my sons' bedroom when—UGH!—amidst the old crayons, stickers and belts I find my white, nearly washed out, Oakmont Country Club coffee mug. More precisely, the one that barely reads "1994 U.S. Open, Oakmont" with that beaver or squirrel or some other rodent on it, appearing to be munching on acorns or whatever.

Yep, that's how all this came about.

If I only went with the history printed on the coffee cup, I'd have no idea who won any events at the famed course since Larry Nelson won the Men's Open in 1983. His is the cup's last entry of a half-dozen men's championships starting in 1927.

Honestly, if there was not one additional event held at Oakmont other than those won by Armour, Parks, Hogan, Nicklaus, Miller and Nelson—if they had closed the place down and never had one more competition whatsoever—those six Opens and winners would be enough to put Oakmont in the record books.

I do.

As silly as it may sound, that coffee cup—and its discovery—keyed a lot more than just memories. It renewed what we knew, what we had in the back of our mind, that PSR needed to again be a part of a major championship, a world class event at Oakmont. Why we thought the Open preview contained in this issue, presented by our title sponsor, EQT, was important.

And so you will find it in these pages.

I've said or written this many times and, yet, believe it bears repeating – if permitted, you should go to Oakmont if they simply offered you the chance to walk around, with no event in sight. I don't care if it is in the middle of the night or winter. I still consider it a place lucky to go be, as I have when fortunate to be there either personally or professionally. If you're quiet enough, and leave the iPod behind, you can hear the place.

Add in the Women's Open, and it's a no brainer. So get there.

And, remember, when you do, pick up a coffee cup—like the one that's been rightfully returned to its place in our china hutch—at the gift shop. You never know when it may come in handy.