The U.S. Open at Chambers Bay provided a "challenging viewing experience" for on-course spectators, as the "massive hills and difficult terrain prevented fans from following groups around the course," according to Dave Sheinin of the WASHINGTON POST. The 8th hole "was played in silence, with no fans whatsoever -- and the bleachers set up for spectators often had waits of 90 minutes or more for seats because no one who already had seats would dare leave them." Lee Westwood said, “It has been a strange atmosphere because (fans) can’t seem to get close and on some holes, there aren’t any. I watched Phil Mickelson tee off at the first today, and then people won’t see him until the second shot on the second hole, because you can’t get down the first. From a fan’s point of view, it must have been even a harder trek than for us players" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/22). Golfer Jim Furyk said, "It’s difficult for fans to come out and see anything. If you’re trying to follow your favorite player, you have absolutely no chance" (PALM BEACH POST, 6/22). Billy Horschel, who was very critical of the USGA in its set-up of the course, said, "We all talk about having an experience at a sporting event, whether it be the NBA finals, NBA basketball, NFL, we want to have the experience. And the fans weren’t able to have that experience this week, and that’s disappointing. It’s just a frustrating week, with the greens and the fans and everything else that accumulated in one." GOLFWEEK's Alex Miceli noted coming from the PGA Tour, where the fan experience "is extremely important, Horschel’s disappointment was for many of the fans who were barely able to see golf" (GOLFWEEK.com, 6/21).
THINKING ABOUT SAFETY CONCERNS: SPORTSPRESSNW.com's Art Thiel noted complaints about limited viewing and poor proximity to golfers "prompted the USGA to explain the restrictions Friday afternoon." U.S. Open Championship Dir Danny Sink said, “This is not about limiting views. It’s about protecting the spectators.” He added, "We’ve been conservative. We’ve been making sure people are not going into places where they’re going to fall down and get hurt" (SPORTSPRESSNW.com, 6/20). In Seattle, Jack Broom noted the USGA "had been advising fans to pick a spot in a grandstand and let the action come to them" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/20). The Boston Globe's Bob Ryan asked, "Have I missed a story where the U.S. Open people reduced the ticket prices by 28% since there are five holes in which fans can see nothing?" ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 6/21).
SELLING OUT FOR TV: YAHOO SPORTS' Pat Forde wrote the USGA "basically went all-in for TV aesthetics" for the tournament. In the process, they "signed on with a course that has frustrated the golfers and been even more difficult for the fans." Forde: "This is a hard place to watch a golf tournament. It is steep, sandy, slippery and long -- an arduous course to walk" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/19). GOLF WORLD's Jaime Diaz notes for any "design flaws the course might have, it produced interesting shot-making that looked good on television and satisfied purists most interested in exhibitions of high skill." But the spectator experience "definitely ... has to be improved" before the Open returns to Chambers Bay. The earliest the tourney could come back to Chambers Bay is "about 15 years, plenty of time to make some of the suggested improvements" that include flattening some hills and using the "adjoining railway and ferries on the scenic Puget Sound to transport spectators to and from the course" (GOLF WORLD, 6/22 issue).
