#360view: Chambers Bay was not suitable for US Open

Joy Chakravarty 13:36 22/06/2015
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  • An array of complaints were made about the greens.

    At the start of the US Open, I wrote in this space why players should stop moaning about the Chambers Bay golf course and get on with the tournament. But having witnessed the proceedings, I have to make a U-turn and say that this perhaps wasn’t the best place to showcase a tournament as venerable and important for the sport as the second major of the season.

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    I still think Chambers Bay is a fantastic venue – not just from the standpoint that it is a links course and thus a complete novelty for the tournament, but because it has provided a fantastic test for the players from tee to the front of the green. But then comes the real problem.

    It turns out that American Ryan Palmer was correct when he said “as far as the greens are concerned, it’s not a championship golf course”. However, all the other complaints about the course, including the severity of the slopes on the putting surface and the unkind kicks from the mounds seem petty.

    The main issue is with the fescue greens. One, they get increasingly bumpy and start deflecting balls as the day progresses. Two, the green speeds have varied. And three, because even the fairways are fescue, there is no way to distinguish where the greens start.

    The first two factors have led to perfectly struck putts veering off the line and confusion regarding how hard the the putts have to be hit. These are the reasons why even the world No1 Rory McIlroy made two four-putts and three threeputts in his first three rounds.

    The absence of a clear demarcation between the fairways and greens was one of the big contributing factors towards the rounds at Chambers Bay taking more than five hours and 40 minutes for threeballs and four-and-ahalf hours for twoballs. On any other golf course, a Tour-standard twoball should be done in less than four hours.

    Obviously, players going into deep rough, or having trouble with the hazards, lead to prolonging the rounds. But because there are so many things that can be done differently with the ball when it is on the green (lifting it, cleaning it) rather than on the fairway (where such an action would incur a penalty), a player is bound to be extra careful to ensure his exact position on a golf course.

    Henrik Stenson said the Chambers Bay greens were like “putting on broccoli”, while McIlroy preferred to call them “cauliflower”. The problem with the fescue greens is that they have been infested with another variety of grass called poa annua. Poa, by itself, is used on greens, but it grows at a different rate compared to fescue during the day. It is the clumps of overgrown poa that is causing the inconsistency on the greens.

    Also worrying was how dangerous the course was. Two caddies – Henrik Stenson’s and Stephen Gallacher’s – fell down and suffered serious injuries, while several players slipped on the grassy mounds and bunker walls.

    There were also a lot of complaints about the 18th hole, especially when it was played as a par-4 on Friday.

    But this tweet from Graeme McDowell sums up the thoughts of most purists:

     I still believe Chambers Bay can be a sensational venue, but the USGA will have to accept, and learn from their mistakes, particularly concerning those horrible greens.

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