The Wonderful 5th at Chambers Bay - TWANKED!

[Mike Hendren]

"Twank" is a bad tweak in these parts:

Before:



After:



Perhaps Bethpage Blackened is a better characterization.

Horrible.

Bogey

[Matthew Sander]

We tell our little ones that hate is an ugly word, a bit too absolute and indelicate. I HATE what has been done to this hole.

When I played CB, the middle of the fairway seemed that it would rarely if ever be the ideal spot from which to approach this green. As a matter of fact, the further right or left you went (depending on pin position), the better off you were. Now, the primary decision seems to involve distance, as in whether you want to challenge the pinch in the fairway or lay back for a longer shot. Unfortunate as I see it. For such a simple hole, it stood out to me as one of the 3 or 4 best on the course (IMHO).

I'm sure it was deemed too simple for the +8s that will be playing in 2015...

[RJ_Daley]

First question is what happened to the first sandy area on the left?  Now, it looks like they are prepping the area for tall fescue rough probably in advance of the US Open.  And, it looks like they cleaned out and defined the waste area more starkly on the right up the path.  

What month was the second pic taken?  Is this a cutural practice to starve out via drying out encroaching species of turf to strengthen the fescue?  

They changed superintendents from the original who also was grow-in.  Could it be a "powers that be" twanking.  What ever this is, I'd have to believe it is representative only of a interim state on the way to something else.

Is anyone in the know on this?

[Garland Bayley]

It seems to me that Dawson of the R&A just got jealous of Davis of the USGA having the opportunity to ruin courses, so he went off the deep end too.

[Matthew Sander]

RJ,

I think the "twanking" that Bogey is concerned with is the change in corridor as opposed to the turf conditions.

[Mike Hendren]

RJ,

I think the "twanking" that Bogey is concerned with is the change in corridor as opposed to the turf conditions.

Precisely.  Also it appears the wonderful random fairway ripples have been replaced by a crowned fairway where the player is challenged to keep the ball on the high right side.  (insert puke emoticon).

[Greg Gilson]

This looks awful. Surely its just some kind of work in progress and ,as RJD says, they are prepping some of the areas? Maybe i am just being too polyanna-ish?!? That said, those bunkers look "permanent" - yuk. It would be interesting to hear what RTJ2's organisation thinks of this.

[Ben Sims]

Thus continues the bastardization of what was a monumental project for the Pacific Northwest golfing community, all for a US Open.  I'm due to move into the area in just three short months, with clear permission from the missus that I may join a local golf club/course.  Chambers Bay's local players card is very attractive, based on how good the course is.  But if the golf course is going to be continually brutalized like a young starlet getting needless plastic enhancements, then I'll be taking my money elsewhere.  That looks terrible.

Isn't the idea behind having a green with a centerline hazard in front of the green to try and get golfers to choose which side to attack it from?  Kind of hard to do when you choke down the fairway with some kind of Bethpage on LSD bunker complexes.  I don't like this one bit.  

[Jeb Bearer]

Id say thats a little more than a "tweak"! Before: miles of fairway to aim for, center fronting greenside trap, which side do you play down depending on the day's pin position? After: Let's see who can hit a twenty yard strip of fairway, and no matter where you miss, you get to play from massive bunkers that look like they belong in a scifi golf movie, not nature

[John Kavanaugh]

If you use the height of the tree as a scale you will find the fairway to have not been narrowed.

[John Kavanaugh]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

[Todd Melrose]

the "after" pic shown above was this past August...

[Garland Bayley]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I've played from both the bunkers and the gunch at Chambers Bay, and what you write is totally false.

[John Kavanaugh]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I've played from both the bunkers and the gunch at Chambers Bay, and what you write is totally false.

You are not the only person who plays golf that prefers being in gunch more than being in a bunker.  Totally.

[RJ_Daley]

Great  call on the field of vision and zoomed in effect, JK.  I just re-examined the photo as per your suggestion to view the tree and consider the zoom factor, and you are correct, the moguled effect is considerably past the narrowed in pinch of the bunkers that posters are saying are hideous.  One can also tell more about where the field of vision of the first photo is compared to the second by looking at the cart service path up the right. 

But, it still doesn't explain the near mowing stripes and the dried out appearance, and I'm still wondering if the dried out condition is trying to promote one species survival over anothers, including promoting a tall but wispy fescue rough, more British Open venue style.

[Jeb Bearer]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I could be wrong, but isn't the righthand bunker in the second picture in the place of a grass depression that appears to be maintained as fairway, not gunch, in the first?

[John Kavanaugh]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I could be wrong, but isn't the righthand bunker in the second picture in the place of a grass depression that appears to be maintained as fairway, not gunch, in the first?

It appears that you are correct.

[Garland Bayley]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I've played from both the bunkers and the gunch at Chambers Bay, and what you write is totally false.

You are not the only person who plays golf that prefers being in gunch more than being in a bunker.  Totally.

It has nothing to do with what I prefer. Rather it is the conditions that are maintained at Chambers Bay. Unfortunately, the public will see pristinely maintained bunkers during the open, and will not know how difficult they can be under normal maintenance. Do the words "have a cavalry troop ride through them" mean anything to you?

[jeffwarne]

Great  call on the field of vision and zoomed in effect, JK.  I just re-examined the photo as per yohiur suggestion to view the tree and consider the zoom factor, and you are correct, the moguled effect is considerably past the narrowed in pinch of the bunkers that posters are saying are hideous.  One can also tell more about where the field of vision of the first photo is compared to the second by looking at the cart service path up the right. 



But, it still doesn't explain the near mowing stripes and the dried out appearance, and I'm still wondering if the dried out condition is trying to promote one species survival over anothers, including promoting a tall but wispy fescue rough, more British Open venue style.
[/quote

I'm guessing the brown fairwY appearance is the result of traffic from the crew driving and parking vehicles on dormant turf while
Building the bunker

As for the bunker, that's called "keeping up with the Joneses"

[John Kavanaugh]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I've played from both the bunkers and the gunch at Chambers Bay, and what you write is totally false.

You are not the only person who plays golf that prefers being in gunch more than being in a bunker.  Totally.

It has nothing to do with what I prefer. Rather it is the conditions that are maintained at Chambers Bay. Unfortunately, the public will see pristinely maintained bunkers during the open, and will not know how difficult they can be under normal maintenance. Do the words "have a cavalry troop ride through them" mean anything to you?

No, but I am closer to justifying the American private club model. Does no one rake the bunkers at Bethpage either?  I had no idea.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

One of my good buddies from home just spent a week up there entertaining his Microsoft clients or vice versa. He did not remember seeing anything as nice as your after picture. Life is good for bogie.

[Doug Siebert]

What amazes me, given this sites unholy marriage to width, is that the hole became wider considering that bunkers play easier than gunch.

I've played from both the bunkers and the gunch at Chambers Bay, and what you write is totally false.

You are not the only person who plays golf that prefers being in gunch more than being in a bunker.  Totally.

Depends on whether it's 'lose your ball' gunch or 'make your shot more difficult than from the fairway' gunch.

[Brian Colbert]

One of my favorite holes on the entire course. Disappointed they felt the need to change it.

In the stroke play of the 2010 US Amateur, the pin was back right. I was in the middle of the fairway and actually played to the front left of the green because I realized the slope in front would kick the ball closer to the hole than if I went at it. That's what I think is great about Chambers. There are a few holes out there where you can hit a much less risky shot than going right at the flag and actually get it closer. Greens like 3, 5, 9, 12, 14, 18 are unique and present the player with so many options. There definitely needed to be some changes for the open, namely 1 and 7, but I'm disappointed they felt the need to take it any further.

[Richard Choi]

If you like the 18th at Bethpage Black, you will LOVE this hole.

This change alone knocks the course a half a step down for me. The previous incarnation was good as any hole I have ever played. Now it is just okay. Thanks, USGA.

[Matthew Essig]

If you use the height of the tree as a scale you will find the fairway to have not been narrowed.

He is correct. The right side has not been narrowed. The fairway has only been narrowed a tiny bit by the left bunker. Other than the grass changing to sand, and the loss of the alternate green that was never used, the hole hasn't changed.