GRUDGE MATCH, The Sequel--High Handicappers Play a Great Course--Chambers Bay

[Garland Bayley]

... I hit what I thought was a decent 3w layup to leave myself a short wedge approach, but it just barely caught the far left finger of the waste bunker.  ...

CBM just loved guys like this.

BTW, so do I.  

[Garland Bayley]

The Cookie Monster must be out munching again. Since I have hole six ready, I will post.

6 369 yds. Par 4

The shape of this hole does not fit a lefty who hits a slice with his driver



Therefore, a 4 wood from the tee was the choice, with its added loft helping to straighten out the ball flight. Successfully having hit the fairway, and looking at the approach



I remembered what that over the top pull hook can do to one on this hole



Therefore, this time I hit a low flying shortened swing knockdown.

[Kalen Braley]

So,

Par 4 5th downhill.  I hit my best shot of the day up to that point with a nice drive right down the middle.  My second shot was a bit lackluster and i'm about 30 yards short of the green out to the right.  I chip on the green and make a ho hum bogey 5.

Garland drains a 5-6 footer to save his bogey and half the hole.

Garland still 1 up thru 5!!

I thought this hole was one of the lesser par 4s on the course.  The tee shot is cool, but even with the new rough the fairway is still plenty wide....50-60 yards.  That bunker just short of the green really gets ur attention though and forces you to decide how you are going to hit the approach.

[Kalen Braley]

Hole #6

A really neat short hole with lots of trouble to the right.  All the other guys bail out to the left, but I challenge the right hand side with success and leave myself the shortest line into the green. 

Garland hits a low running shot, which he says he hit on purpose..(whatever   ) and the ball almost goes in the back right hand bunker.  I hit a soaring 9 iron but tug it left into the bunker.

After hitting a nice shot out of the bunker, I've got 5-6 feet left to save par.  Garland steps up, knocks the 1st putt to gimmee range so pressure on me to make.  I get the benefit of Brent attempting his par putt 1st and showing me the line, which he makes.  But alas I miss the putt so garland wins the hole with a par to my bogey.

Garland wins the hole and is now 2 up thru 6 at this point!

[Garland Bayley]

7 415 yds. Par 4

Once again, we are doglegging right uphill, this time with a par 4. Being up in the match and not feeling any need to shorten the hole by taking a route over the bunkers, I drove to the left side of the fairway taking the long way around



If you know the hole well and want a better angle to get a backstop to the flag on your approach, you might try to position yourself to the right by playing over the mounds. I chose to hit my 3 hybrid past the mounds on the left side, as I was not knowledgeable enough about the green to give myself a position where misses work out better.



I did succeed well enough that any photographer along would not have caught me in this pose (Mounding resemblesGarland laying on his back) for my third.



My half wedge third easily found the green.

[Kalen Braley]

7 is an awesome hole...a true risk/ reward on both the tee ball and the approach.

After picking a conservative line off the tee, I pushed my tee ball into the massive bunker, but was out in 1.  From there I hit halfway up that false front only to have it roll back down into the collection area.  1 hit my 4th safely to the rear of the green and safely two putt from there for double.

While Garland got to the green in only 3, unfortunatly things went downhill from there.  His 1st putt didn't make it over a critical ridge and the next putt was still 6 feet short of the hole.  After a miss there, Garland was left with a 4 putt for a triple.

Kalen makes a double bogey 6 and wins the hole with it...only in a hackers match is that usually possible!!

Garland back to 1 up thru 7 holes!!

[Garland Bayley]

I had remembered the back stop on 7 from my previous round a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't remember it well enough, as I hit my aggressive wedge from the wrong angle and gave myself one of the hardest putts I had ever seen.  That's a four put folks.
I may well be taking more strokes with my putter than all the rest of my clubs combined.

[Garland Bayley]

8 523 par 5

If you are into penal golf this is your hole. My advice for any high handicapper is swing easy, and keep it between the steep bank going up on the left and the steep bank going down on the right. The below is from the green looking back.



I managed to keep it in play with one duff along the way and a 6 iron onto the green for my fourth.

[Carl Nichols]

Garland,
I agree with you that Chambers's width is a great strength -- and so don't you think 8 is completely out of character with the rest of the course?

[Kalen Braley]

I hope this doesn't come off as too rude but reading the shot-by-shot recap of this battle royale is akin to reading a restaurant review written by Jeffrey Dahmner.

Wow,

Thats harsh man!!    

We thought it would be interesting to put into words the struggles that a mid to high capper has going around a course like this.  But by all means if it isn't up to your standards, you can forgoe leaving a tip after the "meal"!   

[Kalen Braley]

Hole #8

First off to answer the previous question, I think this hole is indeed very out of character with the rest of the course and it really is a shame.  Brent had a wonderful idea that it would have been cool to have #8 sort of trundle down the hill to a green somewhere near the driving range.  And then have #9 be an uphill par 3, as the rest of the par 3s are already drop shot par 3s. They could then relocate the chipping greens and the driving range as there is plenty of space to accomodate all of this otherwise.

On to the hole action.  This is indeed a tough hole for those who fail to keep it straight. The drive wasn't too bad as there was 40 or so yards of fairway to work with....but the area for an aggressive layup shot is indeed a smaller target.  Garland and I both managed to get on this green in 4 with short chips after a couple of mediocre 3rd shots.

But alas, while he took another 3 jack to finish things off, I took a 2 putt for a bogey and won the hole 6 to 7.

So after 8, the match is back to all square!!  Woot!! 

[Garland Bayley]

Garland,
I agree with you that Chambers's width is a great strength -- and so don't you think 8 is completely out of character with the rest of the course?

I think a course is better if it mixes in a little less width from time to time. Chamber's does it wonderfully well with 10 and 12.

Where 8 is out of character is the simplicity of the layout of the hole. If I remember correctly, it was Mark Saltzman during my second round yesterday that commented that they should have cut and filled more to make it half again as wide. As an alternative to that, perhaps they should have narrowed the fairway, and made a second fairway down the hill just a bit to facilitate high handicappers in getting around. It would be obvious which was the preferred route for the low score, which would also be more testing. But when Kalen slices over to the lower fairway he is not out of the hole. They could have put bunkers on the slope between the two, or maybe made up and down ramps with bunkers in them.

Another interesting point is that if you hang out on the walking trail and strike up a conversation with a golfer or two, you will find that having been raised in the dark ages of golf architecture, some of them think 8 is the best hole on the course.

[Kalen Braley]

P.S.  As it pertains to #8....if they were still hell bent on getting the front side to be a par 36, they could easily move the tees back on #7 by 60 yards or so and turn it into an excellent par 5.   As it is now, 7 is a pretty tough hole as a 4.

[Garland Bayley]

I hope this doesn't come off as too rude but reading the shot-by-shot recap of this battle royale is akin to reading a restaurant review written by Jeffrey Dahmner.

David Cronan,

725 post Jr. Full Member. Kneel Knave!


 

[Sean Leary]

I think they were hell bent on getting the view from the tee shot on 9 and 8 was the way to get there...

[Kalen Braley]

I think they were hell bent on getting the view from the tee shot on 9 and 8 was the way to get there...

Sean,

Perhaps, but for a course with so many good views already...its not like they "needed" it.  Just about every hole out there has terrific views of the area/sound.

[Garland Bayley]

I thought you would all like this picture of 9 from Aidan Bradley Scott Weersing. The hole looks fairly penal until you realize even a duffer like Kalen can play one off the slope to the left of the green and get a good result. Unfortunately, I made very poor contact with the ball and ended up on a ridge short of the green on an extreme upslope with a horrible stance and little chance of making a good swing. At least I got it over that ridge, but still short of the green, but at least in the short grass, giving me little chance on this hole.

This hole is one of my favorite par 3 holes, as besides having a wonderful target as Scott's picture so clearly shows. It also has what I think is the greatest view on any tee of any course I have played, which is throughout the mountain and coastal west. Unfortunately, I don't know of a picture from the tee that shows what I am saying, if you go up the hill just a little, you see this from the club house.



Mark tells me that Richard neglected to point out the view of the Olympics when they were on the 9th tee about 10 minutes in front of us. The snow caps were visible when we were there, but it is possible that was a small break in the weather that wasn't available 10 minutes earlier. On the subject of Mark, on my second round with him, he teed it up from the 202 yard tees struck the ball, and said something to the effect of I hit that real good right after the ball left his club and long before it had a chance to travel 202 yards out and 80 feet down and sit 3 feet from the hole. He earned a "well played" from the two spectators outside the boundary on the rainy July day. His calling the shot immediately called to mind Jack's "it is" at the 16th at ANGC in 86. Real cool.

[Sean Leary]

I think they were hell bent on getting the view from the tee shot on 9 and 8 was the way to get there...

Sean,

Perhaps, but for a course with so many good views already...its not like they "needed" it.  Just about every hole out there has terrific views of the area/sound.

9 is the money shot though.

I agree with Brent's idea about going down to the driving range and then up. He and I may have actually talked about it before because I have made the same comment.

[Brent Carlson]

I think they were hell bent on getting the view from the tee shot on 9 and 8 was the way to get there...

Sean,

Perhaps, but for a course with so many good views already...its not like they "needed" it.  Just about every hole out there has terrific views of the area/sound.

9 is the money shot though.

I agree with Brent's idea about going down to the driving range and then up. He and I may have actually talked about it before because I have made the same comment.

Sean - good call.  When at the 8th tee I have visions of number 17 at Royal Dornoch, a split level par four.  It would fit the land well as it is now.  Nine would be a slightly uphill par 3 played over the waste area.

[Kalen Braley]

I thought 9 was an interesting hole, but I wouldn't call it my favorite par 3 on the course...that distinction would go to #15.

So Garland already told you about how his first shot came up way short and didn't even reach the fairway, after a very very good chip out to the fairway from a poor lie, I was still thinking that this hole was all wrapped up because I was on the green in regulation and had about 25 feet left.

But its like Johnny Miller always says on TV, when playing match play, always expect your foe to make that next shot or putt.  So Garland summoned the Gods of the Olympics, made a burnt offering with his extra scorecard, and chipped in his next shot from well off the green to save a very very unlikely par.  I ensued to two putt for the halve.

After the front 9, the match is AS!

[Garland Bayley]

Making a 3 on 9 was one of those instances where with no pressure, because you have nothing to lose, and no one expects you to make the putt, where I saw the line stood over the putt and made a very relaxed stroke the sent the putt on the line I had seen breaking hugely to the right and burying itself, dead center in the cup.

[Kalen Braley]

Making a 3 on 9 was one of those instances where with no pressure, because you have nothing to lose, and no one expects you to make the putt, where I saw the line stood over the putt and made a very relaxed stroke the sent the putt on the line I had seen breaking hugely to the right and burying itself, dead center in the cup.

Merry Christmas Garland!!!   

[Garland Bayley]

Number 10 is a very interesting change of pace from the width of the other holes on the course. I think it is really well done with the grasses growing so sparsely that you can find your ball in the rough (as you can on most of the course), but yet thick or tall enough to keep the ball from coming down off the slopes to give you an easy shot instead of the extreme lies and stances you are left with.

This is not a hole for the high handicapper to let his ball curve significantly off line, so I again chose the 4 wood off the tee and finished in the fairway, from where I hit a six iron to the front of the green.

[Anthony Gray]

Garland,
I agree with you that Chambers's width is a great strength -- and so don't you think 8 is completely out of character with the rest of the course?

  It is out of character but a nice change. This hole can inspire fear.

  Anthony

[Anthony Gray]

  10 freakin holes and not one action shot. What has this site become. I want to see some punches landing.

  Anthony