Can You Play Oakmont on Awesome Golf? Here’s How

Oakmont is the angriest, hardest, most relentless golf course in America. And Awesome Golf has it in the library.

This is the same Oakmont that has hosted more U.S. Opens than any other venue in the country. The same Church Pews bunker that has swallowed thousands of golf balls over a century of championship golf. The same greens that run at 14-15 on the Stimpmeter during U.S. Opens and make professional golfers look like 20-handicappers.

The question is how well Awesome Golf renders it on an iPad.

How It Plays on Awesome Golf

The Church Pews bunker is the defining feature of Oakmont, and Awesome Golf captures it adequately. The 100-yard stretch of parallel grass ridges in a sand pit is modeled. The penalty for finding it is severe — you will take at least one extra shot to escape. The LIDAR data captures the depth of the bunker, and the green physics treat the fescue between the ridges as the hazard it is.

The greens are where Awesome Golf either makes or breaks the Oakmont experience. Oakmont’s greens are famous for their speed and slope. On Awesome Golf, the speed is adjustable. Set it to tournament speed and you will experience the same three-putt anxiety that major championship contenders feel. The 6th green, which slopes from back to front with a subtle right-to-left tilt, is a legitimate three-putt zone on Awesome Golf’s green physics engine.

The 200-plus bunkers are all present. Awesome Golf does not have the visual fidelity of a 4K PC-based sim, but the hazard placement is accurate. You will find fairway bunkers you did not see from the tee. You will hit into greenside bunkers that look smaller than they are.

How to Access It

Open Awesome Golf on your iPad. Select Virtual Golf. Browse the course list for “Oakmont Country Club.” Set greens to maximum speed. Set conditions to firm. Play from the championship tees and prepare for a humbling experience.

The Awesome Golf Limitations

Awesome Golf runs on an iPad, not a gaming PC. The resolution is iPad-native, which means the textures are softer than what you get on GSPro or FSX Play. The Church Pews bunker does not look as menacing at 12.9 inches as it does in 4K on a projector screen.

But the course is there. The hazards are in the right places. The greens play fast if you set them that way. And it costs you nothing beyond the $199 annual subscription — no per-course fees, no premium add-on pricing.

If you already own an Awesome Golf subscription, Oakmont is a free add. If you are choosing between platforms for Oakmont specifically, GSPro has a deeper LIDAR version and the community physics engine handles Oakmont’s severe penalties better. But for $199 a year for the whole library, Awesome Golf’s Oakmont is a solid inclusion.

For the full list of courses worth playing on Awesome Golf, read The Best Courses on Awesome Golf. Need the full software breakdown? Check the Awesome Golf Review.