A month after the Controversial US Open at Chambers Bay, I thought it would be nice to reflect on it...
Yes, it was a different US Open, new course, new type of grass but more importantly, a new type of golf architecture...
Before all, it was a good thing, at least for Mike Davis and the USGA that the wind was down for the week... Add up a 20mph wind with the slopy (some players would say sloppy) and relatively bumpy greens, steep fairways and everything, the 2015 US Open would have been known as the Catastrophy at Chambers Bay... But, it ended up ok..
About the grass, I haven't seen it but on TV there was some better areas than others. All I can say is that playing the US Open on a young course with fescue greens might not be the best idea. It was a little premature maybe. Fescue greens take a little more time to mature into a tour level surface... Maybe 5 years down the road would have been better... Hey the course is younger than Jordan Spieth !!!
About the architecture, well it's not a links... It might look like one but Chambers Bay belong to a different breed of golf course.
It's part of a small group of titanic golf courses... Huge, impressive, heavily contoured... Everything is built on a large scale... And it demands adaptation for the players...
As you've seen,
- sometime it was better to miss the green on the proper level than it the green on the wrong side... green in regulations means little
- the contours could be your best friend or enemy... aiming at the flag is not necessarily the best road to it... So ball striking means little
- because of the contours and firm ground, drive could go a long long way so the 500 yard par 4 were not as scary as a 460 par 4 at Winged Foot for exemple... So the yardage book means little...
- with the alternate tees, the driveable par 4´s and monster par 3´s... Par also meant very little...
I've been fortunate to work on the creation of Sagebrush Sporting Club in BC... A titanic course pretty similar in concept to Chambers Bay, only difference is that it was routed from a natural site...which makes the work of Rod Whitman and co. even more impressive. At sagebrush, just like at Chambers Bay, you'll hit shots you won't hit anywhere else...which add to the creative side of the game.. Aim 50 yards short and right on a 150 yards approach... Hey why not..
Bump and run are turned into roller coaster shots...
When building Sagebrush on the windy Nicola Valley, I wss always thinking I would custom fit some clubs if i was a member... Like a 3 iron face on a 7 iron shaft to hit low controlled shots, an angled putter to hit 80 yards approach along the ground...
Some shots looked so fun to play on titanic course... Think of bubba watson carved driver off the deck at Kapalua Plantation , another Titanic course
But somehow, without the wind, the fun shots aren't as efficient as the plain simple smart shot... Which is exactly why Jordan Spieth won... He played is own game despite the course... He close his eyes, embark on the boat and went along for the ride... Only once he complained.. When 18 was played as a par 4 and got fooled by the number.. Remember, par means little on a titanic course...
Only the future will decide if Titanic courses would sink or swim... And suggest people should try those few Titanic courses, for the experience, maybe 3-4 rounds over a few days... But I doubt I'd be a member playing 80 rounds a year at a Titanic course... It might be too much to handle...
Maybe a short 9 hole safety boat nearby could be just as good on a big storm !!!!
