US Open week. Golfers ripping the course.

[Broncosballer32]

‘Ridiculous,’ ‘complete farce’: Golfers blast US Open course

In advance of this week’s U.S. Open, the reviews of Chambers Bay, the site of this year’s national championship, have been coming in fast and furious.

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 USGA executive director Mike Davis plans to have it set up.

“As far as the greens are concerned, it’s not a championship golf course — not with the way some of the greens are and the pin placements they can put out there,” Palmer said. “[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. I don’t understand it. I just don’t know why they would do it.”

In some cases, the reviewers had not even seen the golf course before making their assessments. In a sense, Chambers Bay — an 8-year-old course built in an old quarry on the Puget Sound just south of Tacoma, Wash. — is like a new restaurant that has been reviewed before it has served its first meal.

“The reports back [from fellow players] are it’s a complete farce,” said Ian Poulter, who had not yet been to the course. “I guess someone has to win.”

Ridiculous, complete farce': Golfers blast US Open course | New York Post

Looks beautiful to me. Laughing at the golfers that complain. I will admit there have been a few courses over the years that have indeed been ridiculous. 99 Carnoustie, Shinnecock I believe in 2004.

However, EVERY golfer plays the same course. I usually get a kick out of the whiners on tour. This course looks great to me. It is not even 7200 yards. As things go, that is relatively short compared to other courses they play.

 

[pumpkinhead33793]

Does anyone know if this is going to play as a par 70 on all 4 days? The scorecard says that the 1st and 18th holes can play as either a par 4 or 5. The 8th hole is the only hole that is always a par 5.

I would assume that if the 1st hole is playing as a par 5, then the 18th is playing as a par 4 and vice versa.

There is also the par 3 15th that can either play 120 yards or 250 depending on the tee. Crazy stuff.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Does anyone know if this is going to play as a par 70 on all 4 days? The scorecard says that the 1st and 18th holes can play as either a par 4 or 5. The 8th hole is the only hole that is always a par 5.

I would assume that if the 1st hole is playing as a par 5, then the 18th is playing as a par 4 and vice versa.

There is also the par 3 15th that can either play 120 yards or 250 depending on the tee. Crazy stuff.

The USGA won't switch back and forth and it's rare they give the player 4 par 5s these days...seems like they're always converting 5s to long 4s.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Poulter...he commenting before he actually played it? He's got a tour card and he's in the field so I guess anything is possible, but this ain't the Ryder Cup.

Phil (who has play it) said it's going to come down to short game...he said there are places you just cannot get the ball up and down

 

[pumpkinhead33793]

The USGA won't switch back and forth and it's rare they give the player 4 par 5s these days...seems like they're always converting 5s to long 4s.

I always thought they were not allowed to go back and forth on the par of a hole. But then a few weeks ago they had that mishap on one of the par 4s and turned it into a par 3. So now I don't know.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Does anyone know if this is going to play as a par 70 on all 4 days? The scorecard says that the 1st and 18th holes can play as either a par 4 or 5. The 8th hole is the only hole that is always a par 5.

I would assume that if the 1st hole is playing as a par 5, then the 18th is playing as a par 4 and vice versa.

There is also the par 3 15th that can either play 120 yards or 250 depending on the tee. Crazy stuff.

I just read it somewhere that some holes will change par from 1 day to another.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I always thought they were not allowed to go back and forth on the par of a hole. But then a few weeks ago they had that mishap on one of the par 4s and turned it into a par 3. So now I don't know.

Yep...DAL...they had a ton of rain and a par 4 hole with a low lying fairway landing area adjacent to a creek basically had turn into a pond...on Friday they converted it to a par 3 mid stream and played it the rest of the way as such...that was the PGAT.

Hell, the USGA won't even let them play lift clean and place unless that's the only way to play the tournament...I think it was Beth Page Black...got a ton of rain but they had to play it down.

 

[gohusk]

Jut got my ticket for thursday. 190.00, but when the hell is it going to be back here?

 

[gohusk]

Poulter...he commenting before he actually played it? He's got a tour card and he's in the field so I guess anything is possible, but this ain't the Ryder Cup.

Phil (who has play it) said it's going to come down to short game...he said there are places you just cannot get the ball up and down

This is purely speculation, but I think the thing is that he was talking to his English friends and they probably view it as a cheap knock-off of a british links course. And I don't think pro's that play over here are too fond of the concept to begin with because it's just go as long as possible with impunity at most of the courses they play.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

This is purely speculation, but I think the thing is that he was talking to his English friends and they probably view it as a cheap knock-off of a british links course. And I don't think pro's that play over here are too fond of the concept to begin with because it's just go as long as possible with impunity at most of the courses they play.

Yeah...I think Ryan Moore's comments were far more pointed...but players seem to complain about a lot of setups...Pinehurst #2 had a major restoration to essentially take the course back to the way it was intended originally...it had become so pristine and polished looking that aside from the Turtleback greens it looked nothing like the original designs...some players complained.

 

[Rex Racer]

From what I can tell of this layout the tournament will basically be dependent on playing target golf......more so than any U.S Open in recent history. There is so much trouble in areas that look rather benign and if you are trying to approach the green from the wrong spot in the fairway or off the fairway you are screwed.

Throw in a masochist for a superintendent that will help the PGA poo bahs choose diabolical pin positions on greens that may be rolling at 13 or 14 and we are going to see one of these guys crying before it is all said and done. These prima donnas will be begging for 6" rough and 20yd wide fairways by Saturday morning.

I love it!

 

[R.J. MacReady]

According to Tiger the biggest problem is the shifting wind. You can have huge changes in club selection from 1 day to the next.

And I am still shocked Phil did not take last week off to prep for this course. The feeling being that experience on this course is the biggest factor going right now.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

According to Tiger the biggest problem is the shifting wind. You can have huge changes in club selection from 1 day to the next.

And I am still shocked Phil did not take last week off to prep for this course. The feeling being that experience on this course is the biggest factor going right now.

Tiger won't make the cut so it probably won't matter what the wind is doing...Phil often plays the week before a major, but he was there a couple of weeks ago with Dave Pelz...he got some precursor work in.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Tiger won't make the cut so it probably won't matter what the wind is doing...Phil often plays the week before a major, but he was there a couple of weeks ago with Dave Pelz...he got some precursor work in.

Correct, Phil plays the week before which normally makes sense. But there are a lot of voices out there saying that course knowledge will trump any fine tuning of your game. In my opinion, Phil won the British Open by playing the Scottish Open the week before the last couple of years.

Phil could be only the 6th player to have the career grand slam. It made so sense to me why he would play in a tournament that would do nothing for his preparation.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

GOOD LOOKING GOLF COURSE! Time to see some pro HIGH scores...pussies.

 

[gohusk]

I can understand the players being pissed about the tee boxes. I don't think a flat tee box is too much to ask and that might not be the case with some of the holes. The greens are what they are, but it is a lot of information for a player and caddie to consume in a couple of practice rounds. I didn't pick him, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tiger made some real noise this weekend because he's one of the best ever at processing that type of information.

 

[Rex Racer]

I can understand the players being pissed about the tee boxes. I don't think a flat tee box is too much to ask and that might not be the case with some of the holes. The greens are what they are, but it is a lot of information for a player and caddie to consume in a couple of practice rounds. I didn't pick him, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tiger made some real noise this weekend because he's one of the best ever at processing that type of information.

If Tiger was playing anywhere near "good Golf" I might be inclined to agree, but his game has fallen off the map. he is too wild to score well on this course and I agree with Atl96Steeler. I don't think he'll make the cut.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Correct, Phil plays the week before which normally makes sense. But there are a lot of voices out there saying that course knowledge will trump any fine tuning of your game. In my opinion, Phil won the British Open by playing the Scottish Open the week before the last couple of years.

Phil could be only the 6th player to have the career grand slam. It made so sense to me why he would play in a tournament that would do nothing for his preparation.

Agreed...Phil had never been comfortable with links golf, never really embraced it until a few years ago...going over early as you said getting acclimated.

Course knowledge...After watching some of the GC last night and seeing some of the holes being explained by Frank Noblo...it sounds like one would need a full 2 weeks of exploring course knowledge and that still might not be enough. Everyone in the field was sent video of the 2010 US AM played there...I think these guys will know how to play it.

As you probably know, I don't really pull for players except the RC, but it would be nice to see Phil complete the career slam. If the course plays brutally hard, this could be one of those years that we get a surprise winner (survivor).

 

[gohusk]

Agreed...Phil had never been comfortable with links golf, never really embraced it until a few years ago...going over early as you said getting acclimated.

Course knowledge...After watching some of the GC last night and seeing some of the holes being explained by Frank Noblo...it sounds like one would need a full 2 weeks of exploring course knowledge and that still might not be enough. Everyone in the field was sent video of the 2010 US AM played there...I think these guys will know how to play it.

As you probably know, I don't really pull for players except the RC, but it would be nice to see Phil complete the career slam. If the course plays brutally hard, this could be one of those years that we get a surprise winner (survivor).

Playing the week before is his routine. I think messing with that would have been more of a detriment vs. how much knowledge he'd gain with extra practice would help him. It's a links course but the weather is going to be really mild for them so I don't think it's going to play like your typical British open. I was kind of hoping it would have because the course is completely exposed and June is always dicey in June but the players lucked out. I think getting creative with the ball short is going to be key and he's a master of that.

As far as the joke thing goes, there's one hole where I do agree with them. It's a driveable par 4 with a ridiculously bowl shaped green that feeds to the hole. You can take it right off the hill, it will roll left beyond the hole and then feed back down to it. That's just silly. I wouldn't be shocked if there was a hole in 1 on it. That's just not right.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Agreed...Phil had never been comfortable with links golf, never really embraced it until a few years ago...going over early as you said getting acclimated.

Course knowledge...After watching some of the GC last night and seeing some of the holes being explained by Frank Noblo...it sounds like one would need a full 2 weeks of exploring course knowledge and that still might not be enough. Everyone in the field was sent video of the 2010 US AM played there...I think these guys will know how to play it.

As you probably know, I don't really pull for players except the RC, but it would be nice to see Phil complete the career slam. If the course plays brutally hard, this could be one of those years that we get a surprise winner (survivor).

As we are talking about this I realized they should have paired Rory and Phil for a great story line.

Here is Rory who for the most part hates links golf. He was embarrassed by the last 2 courses he played, which were links. He is in desperate need to right the ship but all is well, his next tournament is back in the states for the US Open. He is all ready to dominate another American golf course and then ..Boom. It's a links course.

And then you have Phil. Who could be voted sports athlete of the world with the most painful missing Trophy.
Here is ready to play at the tournament that holds his greatest failures. It's so bad that he managed to do the impossible. Win the British open before he could win the US Open. And now for Phil, for some diabolical reason the US open is on a links course.

Maybe that is just too many ironies for 1 paring.