Pennsylvania, United States: Dustin Johnson won the 116^th US Open Championship at Oakmont Country Club on greens prepared with specially adapted Jacobsen PGM 22 walking mowers.
In a controversial final round he held off the challenges of Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy to win by three strokes with a total score of 276.
This latest US Open was a record ninth time that Oakmont had staged the event and much has been said about the famed course over the years and its unrivalled reputation as being tournament ready every day of the year.
John Zimmers, the Superintendent of Oakmont Country Club, said: “When you say things like tournament ready or championship ready, these are the expectations of Oakmont Country Club and what we strive to provide for our members every day.
“Part of the history, the culture here at Oakmont has always been about firm and fast greens. Our greens are a very unique poa annua grass that we found are best maintained with a Jacobsen PGM 22 fitted with a 19” reel on a 22” roller. I’ve been using them since I first arrived here in 1999.
“I’ve been doing this for years now and we’ve tried other mowers, other technology and we always come back to this mower. It cuts better, you get a better green speed, better quality-of-cut, better performance, better turf health and it’s just undoubtedly, hands down the best mowers for Oakmont’s greens.”
David Delsandro, Director of U.S. Open Operations and Projects, added: “Of course, the high level of expectations at Oakmont brings a certain level of stress, but we embrace that pressure and although we really don’t maintain the course that differently for the US Open, we focus on what we normally do and let our body of work show for itself.
“The new Jacobsen HR700 rotary enables us to meet the USGA specifications for rough mowing and we can mow at a five-inch height-of-cut and as a result, get a more uniform, denser stand of rough.”
Jacobsen is an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.