For years, only courses with "long, illustrious histories were picked to host" the U.S. Open, but Chambers Bay, open less than a year when selected as host seven years ago, "was made for the U.S. Open," according to Scott Hanson of the SEATTLE TIMES. The USGA "went outside the box" in choosing Chambers Bay. Hanson: "You could almost hear the golf world groan, 'Huh?'" But Chambers Bay course architects "were in close consultation" with USGA Exec Dir Mike Davis and the governing body during construction. No one "seems to doubt that Chambers Bay will display wonderfully on TV," as there are "amazing views from every hole, with Puget Sound, the nearby islands and the Olympic Mountains the stars of the show." Davis was "intrigued that the course was being built in the Northwest, a place the U.S. Open had never been, and that it was on Puget Sound" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/15). In Tacoma, Gregg Bell wrote to the fans, golfers and media who are "hating on Chambers Bay even before they step foot on the most unique course to host a U.S. Open, know this: The former gravel pit-turned links course will not be as it seems during golf’s national championship." Davis said, "This is a bold site. ... I’ve heard people say it’s a ‘wow’ site. It’s obviously expansive. And I say that because we don’t have anything that we play a U.S. Open on that’s remotely similar to this (in) the architecture" (Tacoma NEWS-TRIBUNE, 6/14).
GOING OUTSIDE THE BOX: In Pittsburgh, Ralph Paulk wrote the USGA "added an element of the unknown" when it selected Chambers Bay. Like Bethpage Black when it first hosted the U.S. Open in '02, Chambers Bay is "off the beaten path for the USGA, but it's a course designed to stage a major championship." An already challenging course "has added several deep bunkers and intimidating dunes framed with thick rough." The "star attraction of this championship could be Chambers Bay itself, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design with wild changes in elevation, stunning views of Puget Sound and -- get this -- no rough around the greens." But do not "expect to see fans four-deep lining every fairway at Chambers Bay." With the "rugged dunes and 100-foot changes in elevation, this might be the toughest course to walk all year." The USGA is "encouraging fans to find a grandstand, which would allow them to see several holes at one time," as there are "no trees to block anyone's view" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 6/14). In Seattle, Jack Broom notes limited pathways around the course make it "difficult to pick and follow one group of golfers." Even the 18,000 grandstand seats "will be insufficient as the crowd swells to daily totals of some 30,000 by the weekend" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/16).
GUESSING GAME: In Seattle, Paul Ramsdell noted players "probably won’t know until Thursday morning whether they’re starting on a par 4 or a par 5 because the first hole at Chambers Bay can be played either way and the USGA might not tell anyone what it will be until that morning." Toss in the "variables of wind, the rarity of fine fescue grass and the fact most of these players haven’t seen this course before this week, and there are a lot of unknowns." Ramsdell: "The USGA loves it that way." USGA Senior Managing Dir of Rules, Competitions & Equipment John Bodenhamer said, "We let the players know ahead of time that those are possibilities, but we think it is important that they don’t really know what that strategy is until the day of the championship, and then they have to react to it." Ramsdell noted much of the course setup "will depend on weather and course conditions, and most final decisions won’t come until the morning walkthrough the USGA does each day in setting up the course." Each morning, at the "break of dawn if not earlier, two separate teams of USGA and Chambers Bay officials walk either the front nine or the back nine to make final determinations on teeing grounds and hole locations for that day, with the day’s forecasted weather playing a big role" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/15).
CRASH COURSE? In Winston-Salem, Scott Hamilton wrote this "won’t be your daddy’s U.S. Open," and the next few days "could form a watershed moment in major championship golf." Chambers Bay is the "culmination of a reclamation project that locals once called 'the Sand Pit.'” What was "once a rock-and-sand quarry is now a postcard-worthy golf course" (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 6/15). In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein wrote this will be a U.S. Open "unlike any we've ever seen." Greenstein: "Envision a U.S. Open that is far more like a British Open, played on a course with a pot bunker in the middle of the 18th fairway, no traditional rough, no trees in play and no fringe bordering the greens" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/14). In Tacoma, Don Ruiz notes course architect Jones is "on site to watch and listen." And while Jones "seemed interested in the opinions that will be offered this week, he also seemed confident about the links-style course." Jones: "Am I concerned about the criticism? Of course I am. I like to learn from them as much as possible. But generally speaking, the golf course is never finished; it’s a work in progress.” Ruiz notes the handful of pros who addressed the media yesterday "were largely complimentary." Asked to describe the course in a word, Jordan Spieth said, “Inventive" (Tacoma NEWS-TRIBUNE, 6/16).
NOT HOLDING BACK: In N.Y., Mark Cannizzaro noted Ryan Palmer was "one of the first PGA Tour players to weigh in on Chambers Bay, criticizing the golf course," as well as the way the USGA "plans to have it set up." Palmer: "It's not a championship golf course. ... (Davis') idea of tee boxes is ridiculous. That's not golf. I don't care what anybody says. It will get a lot of bad press from the players. It is a joke." Meanwhile, fellow player Henrik Stenson called it a "tricked-up links course." Rory McIlroy asked, "What's Mike Davis' handicap?" But Cannizzaro noted for Jones, the "chatter plays like the soothing sounds of a symphony." The more the players "bellyache about the layout -- a course Jones calls perhaps his proudest accomplishment as a course architect -- it’s like turning up the volume to the beautiful music inside the artist’s head." Fellow architect Jay Blasi said, "If you design a golf course that every player loves, you have failed miserably; you've built a boring golf course." Jones said of the players, "I love to get in their heads, and so does Mike Davis" (N.Y. POST, 6/14). Golfer Rickie Fowler said there "aren't a lot of similarities" between Chambers Bay and Royal County Down, a links course where the European Tour's Irish Open was held in May (Tacoma NEWS-TRIBUNE, 6/15). But Phil Mickelson said, "It's everything like a British Open. ... The balls run like the British. You're hitting the same shots as the British" (AP, 6/13). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's John Paul Newport notes everything about the course is "designed to keep players a bit off-kilter and uncomfortable" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/16).
ALL IN THE PLAN: In Tacoma, Rob Carson notes yesterday's tournament practice day "provided an introductory round for the hundreds of parking lot attendants, bus drivers and traffic control officers implementing the USGA’s parking and transportation plan for the tournament." The consensus was that the plan "is working." USGA Dir of PR Janeen Driscoll said, "We’ve found that there is more than ample parking and, by and large, people have been able to enjoy riding back and forth on the shuttle buses.” But Carson notes yesterday's crowds, "while large, weren’t up to levels expected later in the week." The USGA "arranged for 21,000 parking spaces at satellite lots ... and hired a fleet of 290 buses to shuttle people back and forth" (Tacoma NEWS-TRIBUNE, 6/16). Also in Tacoma, Kari Plog writes no matter what fans "choose to eat (or drink) at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, prepare to pay a little bit more for it." But the "steeper prices didn’t stop robust lines from forming" early yesterday morning (Tacoma NEWS-TRIBUNE, 6/16).
