Honorary Chairman Palmer recalls first trip to Oakmont

Arnold Palmer was but 12 years old when he received an invitation to play nearby Oakmont Country Club for the first time. "It was one of the greatest thrills of my life," said the King and honorary chairman of the 107th U.S. Open.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com Correspondent

OAKMONT, Pa. -- He was 12 years old when he got the invitation.

And Arnie Palmer couldn't believe it.

Play Oakmont Country Club? With his dad?

"I couldn't talk," he said, drawing a laugh.

The year was 1941 and the invitation came from Harry Saxman, the president of Latrobe Country Club and an Oakmont member. All Palmer heard about back then was how great Oakmont was.

"It was one of the greatest thrills of my life," he said.

So what did he shoot?

"I shot 78," he said, making a face and drawing a laugh. "Heck, I don't know what I shot."

Some 66 years later, no one, save the Oakmont squirrel and his acorn and those darned church pews -- with all due respect to pro Bob Ford and Johnny Miller -- are as famous here as Palmer. He lost to Jack Nicklaus here in '62, finished fourth to Miller in 1973 and bowed out of the U.S. Open for good here in 1994. He also grew up 30 minutes from here in Latrobe, won the Western Pennsylvania Amateur here and, well, he's the Honorary Chairman of this 107th U.S. Open.

And through all those years, he still remembers that first visit -- when Oakmont was pretty much devoid of trees.

"It was beautiful," he said. "The first time I played it, I loved it. And it was something that I had never experienced before with no trees. It was truly an inland, links golf course and it played like one."

Palmer has been asked to tweak the course several times -- he didn't say if he was in on the tree thinning -- and the course has been lengthened since he played it at 12. But the greens? They're still the same.

"The greens and the surfaces have not changed since this golf course was built," he said. "I think that's a very significant factor. They're push up greens. I have worked on remodeling this golf course twice and they said, 'Arnie, you can do whatever you want as long as you don't touch the greens.' And that's just about the way it's done every time and I think everybody can be proud of that fact."

As for this year? Palmer's not certain the players in this field know what they're getting into. Players have even said the field isn't ready for what Oakmont -- even with Wednesday afternoon's rains -- will throw at them.

"I think probably what they were telling me is that they haven't really learned yet how to play Oakmont," he said. "And they may do that in the next couple days.

"But this golf course takes a lot of thought, and someone who really gives it that thought would have a chance. Whatever you say, and I can be corrected in almost anything I say because I didn't win here, but I came close a couple times.

"If you stay below the hole, generally if you're below the hole or uphill at the hole, you have a pretty good shot. And if you can do that for 72 holes, I would give the guy that can do that, hit the fairways and stay below the hole most of the time, the best chance to win this tournament."

Palmer held court for nearly 40 minutes, touching on everything from Phil Mickelson's collapse at Winged Foot to Father's Day and dinner with Queen Elizabeth.

So what did they talk about?

"Oh, her golf," he said with a laugh. "Actually we talked about a couple of golf courses in Scotland that I have played and we remarked about the, well, I remarked about how I thought that the links courses in England and Scotland were very fun to play. And she liked that.

"And she liked the fact that I had won the Open in England, actually at Birkdale and at Troon, and that was about it. I think she enjoyed her evening."

He winked. He smiled. And, yes his eyes twinkled.

But not as bright, we must add, as when he told that story about being 12. And playing here for the first time. Now that was something special.