in Blog, Shows, US Open by Jeff Waters

Was Chambers Bay the Right Choice for the US Open

 

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In 2008, just six months after it opened to the public, Chambers Bay, a former sand and gravel pit, was awarded the 2015 United States Open Championship. Designed by noted architect Robert Trent Jones and situated on the Puget Sound outside Tacoma, Washington, the golf course was not only new but has hosted only one tournament of significance, the 2010 US Amateur won by Peter Uihlein. For the conservative and staid United States Golf Association, this was uncharted territory.

There is little doubt that the Pacific Northwest deserved our National championship. Of the 114 previous Opens, all but 17 have been contested east of the Rocky Mountains, and of those, three were in Denver, two in Dallas and the rest in California, primarily at Pebble Beach and San Francisco’s Olympic Club. The USGA is nothing if not tradition. The Northwest deserved a shot and it finally got it. But was it the right choice.

Golf purists have always identified our national championship with narrow fairways, fast greens, and high rough with under par scores non-existent. As Sandy Tatum, former Executive Director of the USGA famously proclaimed: “We are not trying to embarrass the best players in the world; we are trying to identify them.” It has been said a player does not win the Open, the Open wins them.

Keep that in mind as you watch the 2015 US Open Championship unfold. There is no rough, no trees and no water hazards. The entire 930 acres that comprise the property are sand dunes where little else grows including grass. There’s just one tree on the entire golf course. Because of these conditions, the architects planted the golf course with a drought resistant grass that can withstand long periods of no moisture and little maintenance. Tees, fairways and greens are all fine fescue, which is tan at its best and brown when it’s not. The rest of the course is sand and there is a lot of it. In the history of USGA Championships they have never conducted a tournament on this type of grass until now. It’s an experiment that is wrought with danger. 

This will not be your Augusta green grass, tree lined and perfectly manicured golf tournament.

Players are already calling this year’s US Open at Chambers Bay, America’s British Open because it resembles the links style courses the Open Championship is played on. But there is a difference. I like links style golf courses and have been privileged to play some of the best in the British Isles. To play those types of golf courses you must play the golf ball low to the ground and bounce the ball into the greens whereas with parkland courses you can aim at the fairways and greens and have the ball stop. That’s not the case here. Playing links style golf under tournament conditions you will always get the odd, quirky little bounces and funny caroms off of mounds and bunkers, but you know pretty much where the ball is going to go if you hit it less than perfect. That’s not the case at Chambers Bay for this simple notion. The golf course is not flat like a typical links course. Chambers Bay has some of the most severe elevation changes in US Open history.  Playing uphill, golfers must hit the ball above the hole or it will roll back to their feet. Downhill the ball will run forever. Playing this course will become a guessing game for the contestants and if they guess wrong the penalties could be severe. Chambers Bay will play at 7700 yards and will have four of the longest par-four’s in Championship history but those numbers are meaningless if the golf hole plays downwind and downhill. Coming off the Puget Sound the wind will blow and it could blow hard, especially in the afternoon. When that happens the scores will mount, players will grumble and spectators will witness some big numbers. Forget creativity and imaginative shot making, think survival for the best players in the world.

The player that wins the 2015th US Open will have survived four brutal days of changing conditions, unfathomable pressure, good breaks and the will to win. I have no doubt the USGA will crown a worthy champion at the conclusion of this year’s tournament but I have a feeling it won’t be the golf course.

The Pacific Northwest deserved an Open Championship on one of its many great courses, unfortunately they didn’t get it. I hope I’m wrong but only history will tell.

At the Open, I’m Jeff Waters

 

Jeff Waters, MBA, is a PGA Master Professional and the President/CEO of Rocky Mountain Golf Enterprises, a Utah-licensed and registered corporation that uses golf as a marketing tool. With over fifty years of experience in the golf industry, Jeff has worn many hats in diverse roles, including as a player, teacher, Head Professional, administrator, and small business owner. Jeff's extensive background includes ten years as a competitive player, ten years as a Head Golf Professional, overseeing the entire golf course operation, three years as the Director of Player Development for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, managing, directing, and supervising multiple golf course programs, and over thirty years as a golf coach and instructor at Rocky Mountain Golf Academy, teaching the game. His elite professional status as a fully trained and certified PGA Master Professional highlights his commitment to the sport. This prestigious designation is merited by a small and exclusive group of Golf Professionals worldwide. This wealth of experience in both the sport and business of golf has established Jeff as a highly skilled and knowledgeable expert and one of America's most qualified and accomplished Golf Professionals. In addition to his practical experience, Jeff has a robust academic background, including a BS in Political Science from the University of Utah, graduate studies in Economics and Commercial Recreation, at that school, and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He has also taught undergraduate courses at the University of Utah's College of Health and served as an adjunct professor at Granite Peaks Community School. As a well-known media personality, Jeff's versatility in the golf industry is evident through his work as a celebrated broadcast journalist and radio host. He has traveled extensively nationwide, announcing major sporting events at arenas, ballparks, stadiums, and golf courses for national media outlets and syndicated on the Rocky Mountain Golf Radio Network. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jeff regularly contributes editorial pieces to national print publications and has authored multiple books, essays, and short stories. His work has appeared in numerous domestic and regional periodicals and magazines, such as Utah Golf News, Rocky Mountain Golfer, Golf Today, Utah Fairways, Jackson Hole Golf News, and Utah Golf Magazine. He has also contributed to blogs, podcasts, internet forums, and his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com. Jeff's unwavering dedication and service to the golf industry continue to inspire others, underscoring his deep commitment and affection for the sport, business, and recreation of golf.