Chambers Bay conditions update

[Richard Choi]

Pat, I wish the course will jeep the water to minimum for the rest of the summer so that we can kill more poa.

The reason why we have so much poa is that because they have been trying to grow new turf in many areas that they have been watering too much, making it easier for poa to spread.

The course does not play that much softer(or greener) than what it is right now (like how it was on Mon) during summer months. They really have not "tricked up" this course from its normal conditions.

[Richard Choi]

When I said right now, I meant how it was on Mon practice round.

The course today is in a different league.

The greens are rolling better as the greens are getting baked out. I think conditions look ideal for us open.

[Richard Choi]

Marine layer overcast in the morning which will probably won't burn off until 11 or so. Should give this teeing off early a bit more advantage.

[RKoehn]

After watching for 3+ days now, it certainly seems that luck is playing a far bigger role in this Open than it has historically.  Many fair to poor shots are winding up inches from holes after taking wild caroms (to the obvious surprise of the players), while many seemingly excellent shots are being repelled into horrible spots.  To me, this is the opposite of what the USGA has historically claimed to want.


This will be an "exciting" finish simply because the course is so ridiculous that anything can seemingly happen to any player at any time, irrespective of how he's playing and the quality of his ballstriking.


Unfortunately, with rounds here taking nearly 5 1/2 hours, it won't be over until 11:30p EDT tonight, and if you're a European fan, well, better luck next time unless you want to stay up until 4 or 5:00a.  It's also too bad because my 5 year old is a HUGE golf fan, and he won't be able to watch the end with me on Father's Day.


In retrospect, it seems a portion of the group here has been convinced that if it's brown and dry, then little else matters (including architecture, pace of play, setup or conditioning).

[Brent Carlson]

For all the complaining the leader board sure is a great collection of players.

[Paul Gray]

After watching for 3+ days now, it certainly seems that luck is playing a far bigger role in this Open than it has historically.  Many fair to poor shots are winding up inches from holes after taking wild caroms (to the obvious surprise of the players), while many seemingly excellent shots are being repelled into horrible spots.  To me, this is the opposite of what the USGA has historically claimed to want.


This will be an "exciting" finish simply because the course is so ridiculous that anything can seemingly happen to any player at any time, irrespective of how he's playing and the quality of his ballstriking.


Unfortunately, with rounds here taking nearly 5 1/2 hours, it won't be over until 11:30p EDT tonight, and if you're a European fan, well, better luck next time unless you want to stay up until 4 or 5:00a.  It's also too bad because my 5 year old is a HUGE golf fan, and he won't be able to watch the end with me on Father's Day.


In retrospect, it seems a portion of the group here has been convinced that if it's brown and dry, then little else matters (including architecture, pace of play, setup or conditioning).

I'm afraid I fear some people simply don't know what they're watching. Despite being a big advocate of firm and fast, I've been a little critical of CB. Nonetheless, I haven't seen much of these apparent bad bounces, just gravity doing what gravity does. I admit I've seen a few genuine bad kicks but most of what I've seen has involved predictable run on firm slopes.

[Brent Hutto]

McIlroy and Senden just made about a hundred fifty feet of putts on the 13th green. That's one of the redone ones, right? Those putts rolled like on fescue grass, not "broccoli".

[John Kavanaugh]

We all just painfully watched Jason Day walk from 3 green to 4 tee. You can't make that stuff up.

[mike_beene]

It appears they have forgotten about Speith and Grace

[Garland Bayley]

After watching for 3+ days now, it certainly seems that luck is playing a far bigger role in this Open than it has historically.  Many fair to poor shots are winding up inches from holes after taking wild caroms (to the obvious surprise of the players), while many seemingly excellent shots are being repelled into horrible spots.  To me, this is the opposite of what the USGA has historically claimed to want.


...

Don't you ever get tired of posting total nonsense. Chambers Bay is nearly totally lacking in wild caroms compared to many links courses in the British Isles.


Since these are the best players in the world, I find it amazing that they are hitting all these poor shots so close to the hole. Perhaps you should compile a statistically report on their poor ball striking and their lucky results. You may be able to win a Nobel Prize in Economics or something.

[Sean Leary]

The reality is that this is the best the greens have ever been at CB. Ever. They have Been a problem since the  beginning.  Those of us that live and play here in the NW have wondered about what they were going to do about the greens forever.  This controversy is not a surprise.

[Jon Wiggett]

Watching much of the Rory's round last night I was surprised by how burnt up the course looked but that was all. The ball reacted in a very predictable way from tee to green and the greens putted pretty good. I certainly did not spot many bobbles and nothing that kicked the ball off line.

In the end if you look at how good the final round was to watch then I do not think CB can be called anything else other than a success as far as the competition was concerned.

Jon

[Jim Nugent]

Chambers has held two national tournaments so far.  In the Am, two of the four top-rated amateurs in the world made it to the final: #2 won.  (1 and 3 didn't play.)  In the US Open, the hottest golfer in the world won; chasing him were many other top ten golfers, including the world #1 and #3, and a slew of major champion winners. 

Whatever the condition of the greens, it's hard for me to see how luck and weird bounces could have produced those results. 

[William_G]

The reality is that this is the best the greens have ever been at CB. Ever. They have Been a problem since the  beginning.  Those of us that live and play here in the NW have wondered about what they were going to do about the greens forever.  This controversy is not a surprise.

Amen