Oak Hill Country Club is a country club in the

northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located in

Pittsford, New York Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census. The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. The ...

, a suburb southeast of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. Founded in 1901 and best known for its East golf course, the club has hosted multiple major championships.

History

The club has a rich history of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, starting out in 1901 as only 9 holes on on the banks of the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

in Rochester. The clubhouse was no more than a converted farm house. However, at the time golf was a relatively new sport in America, and as popularity of the sport grew, so did the country club. By 1921, Oak Hill had doubled in size and had a new clubhouse, so when the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

proposed a land swap in 1921, it was a tough decision for members. However, the country club decided to take the university up on their offer, and moved the club to a plot in nearby Pittsford. This decision ended up benefiting Oak Hill, the University of Rochester, and the City of Rochester. Now with triple the land of the old country club, Oak Hill had room for two 18-hole courses. Designed by Donald Ross, they became the East Course and the West Course. Local physician and civic personality

John Ralston Williams John Ralston Williams (December 27, 1874 – December 27, 1965) was a Canadian-American physician who was an instrumental figure in the public health of Rochester, New York. Williams was born in Renfrew, Ontario, one of nine children of a baker ...

cultivated oak trees and planted tens of thousands of them among the fairways and roughs on what once was a farmed-out field.

East Course

The East Course — which hosts the major tournaments — is built around the east branch of Allen Creek, which acts as a lateral hazard on 9 of its 18 holes. It has had several changes made over the years, first by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. in the early 1960s, later (and more recently for the 1989 Open and 2003 PGA) by Tom Fazio and his design group and finally by Andrew Green who completed a restoration project in 2019. In 1941, the '' Times-Union'', a local paper at the time, posted a $5,000 purse which attracted the greatest golfers in the world, including names such as

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger ...

, and

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

. This tournament, won by Snead, put Oak Hill on the national golf map. Several prestigious tournaments were held at Oak Hill over the next 78 years, including six men's major championships – including three U.S. Opens and three

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

s, as well as the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

. In 2019, the East Course was ranked 22nd in ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competiti ...

s list of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses.

Major tournaments hosted

All played on the East Course. Bolded years major championships on

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

. Upon the completion of the 2008 Senior PGA Championship, Oak Hill Country Club is the only club in the United States to have hosted all six of the men's major championships that move around the country. The course record of 63 is by

Jason Dufner Jason Christopher Dufner (born March 24, 1977) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour where he is a five-time winner. He has won one major championship, the 2013 PGA Championship. He was also runner-up in the 2011 PGA Cha ...

, in the second round of the

2013 PGA Championship The 2013 PGA Championship was the 95th PGA Championship, played August 8–11 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York, a suburb southeast of Rochester. Jason Dufner won his first major title, two strokes ahead of runne ...

Future events

References

External links

*
2003 PGA Championship2013 PGA ChampionshipHole by Hole Guide from 2013 PGA ChampionshipComplete Course Layout
{{coord, 43.113, N, 77.533, W, display=title Golf clubs and courses in New York (state) Golf clubs and courses designed by Donald Ross Ryder Cup venues Sports in Rochester, New York Sports venues in Monroe County, New York 1901 establishments in New York (state)