Word: oakmont
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...stayed on because of who he was. The hospital ate the bill for about $10,000.'' Helen L. Scanlan of Arlington, Texas, fumes, ''I am outraged with Mrs. Clinton. Doesn't she realize that some other patients will end up paying for this?'' John A. Parkins of Oakmont, Pennsylvania, comments, ''The hospital isn't 'eating' the bill. Every person who pays St. Vincent's is covering it.'' St. Vincent's will neither confirm nor deny the $10,000 figure, noting that financial information regarding patients is privileged, but, the hospital says, swallowing charges beyond what Medicare will...
What makes Oakmont so daunting for even the best golfers in the world? Start with the greens. On several holes, there are spots where no matter how gently you put your ball down, it will start to roll. And roll--right into a bunker like Big Mouth. And it's endlessly frustrating watching a putt glide toward the hole before making an abrupt left turn, to certain triple bogey. In fact, balls roll on (and off) the Oakmont greens so quickly that the United States Golf Association, which runs the Open, will probably add some water to slow them down...
...doesn't stop there. The 288-yd. eighth hole and the 667-yd. 12th, specially lengthened for the tourney, are the longest par three and par five, respectively, in Open history. Oakmont has added some 20 bunkers--there are now 210 traps on the course--and moved many of them closer to the fairways. Plus, since the last Oakmont U.S. Open, in '94, the club has undertaken a clandestine, middle-of-the-night deforestation scheme, against the opposition of many tree-loving members, that better lets in the Allegheny winds and summer heat...
Torturous golf is ingrained in Oakmont's storied 104-year history. W.C. Fownes, son of club founder H.C. Fownes, a Pittsburgh industrialist who designed the course to offer a steeper challenge to Steel City players, once roared, "A shot poorly played should be a shot irrevocably lost." A course superintendent once called W.C. Fownes to inform him that golf legend Sam Snead had hit a tee shot past a bunker during a practice round. The next day, Snead struck a shot to the same spot--and found himself in a sand trap that had been installed overnight...
...Oakmont revels in playing mind tricks. "Another player told me that you'll probably putt at least one if not two balls off the green each day," says Shaun Micheel, winner of the 2003 PGA Championship. "Aw, man, that's already put me in a bad way." The player who can stay patient, and accept that bogeys are not necessarily bad scores, will prevail. Not that fans don't enjoy a good meltdown--was there a more dramatic golf moment last year than Mickelson's U.S. Open choke on the 18th hole at Winged Foot? "I love watching the Masters...