2015 US Open at Chambers Bay Field Report

[Phil McDade]

Tim
When was the US Open at the best course for American golf?

The last time it was at Oakmont?

[Richard Choi]

Thus endeth my watch...

Had a great time out here, but heading home as I can see 18th grandstand is already getting packed.

I ran into Bruce Charlton and RTJ2 by the 18th green. Gave them congratulations and told them how much I enjoyed the tournament.

They looked like two of the proudest father on this Father's Day.

[Richard Choi]

Camilo Villegas and a filler player played their round in 3:45.

Not bad for a "10 mile" jog.

[William_G]

Tim
When was the US Open at the best course for American golf?

The last time it was at Oakmont?

yes the treeless version of Oakmont will be fantastic

Henry Fownes did a great job there...yet it is far from a public place and in the middle of America's rust belt

I wonder what Chambers Bay will be like in 100 years...give them a chance

Thank you Richard for all your work on this site

[Terry Lavin]

Thanks, Richard, youve worked hard. And for free!  You should have a lifetime pass at CB. And you have an open invitation for an epic Chicago golf adventure.

[Richard Choi]

Judge, I will take you up on your offer the next time I am Chicago.

I just feel like my time writing up the guide was a colossal waste of time.

I was hoping that my articles would foster interesting discussions about wide variety of strategy and options available at Chambers Bay and talk about why certain players chose one route while others chose another. Out of all my guides, putting was probably the least amount of info about the place.

The tournament has delivered on what I promised. I hope you would agree that the variety of shots played by the players are greater than anything you have seen outside of The Open.

Hell, almost every hole at Chambers played at yardage differences of close to 100 yards, including par 3's!!!

But instead of talking about those shots, all we are talking about is poa and shitty greens.

I could have just posted a couple of pictures of the greens at CB and tag it #usopenLOL and it would have been as informative and intellectual as the discussions have been.

What a waste. I was mistaken.

[John Kavanaugh]

Wow, something about Chambers sure brings out the whining. Now we're whining about the whining.


Honestly you can't talk about strategy where there is none. You hit it where your ball stops in the fairway and then you hit it again. Mike Davis was the only strategist on course this week and he just took the championship from Dustin with the Sunday set up.

[Buck Wolter]

Judge, I will take you up on your offer the next time I am Chicago.

I just feel like my time writing up the guide was a colossal waste of time.

I was hoping that my articles would foster interesting discussions about wide variety of strategy and options available at Chambers Bay and talk about why certain players chose one route while others chose another. Out of all my guides, putting was probably the least amount of info about the place.

The tournament has delivered on what I promised. I hope you would agree that the variety of shots played by the players are greater than anything you have seen outside of The Open.

Hell, almost every hole at Chambers played at yardage differences of close to 100 yards, including par 3's!!!

But instead of talking about those shots, all we are talking about is poa and shitty greens.

I could have just posted a couple of pictures of the greens at CB and tag it #usopenLOL and it would have been as informative and intellectual as the discussions have been.

What a waste. I was mistaken.

Definitely not a waste of time from my point of view, one of the best things I remember on GCA-- I have had them open all weekend.

[William_G]

Richard

Not a waste of time, forget that

[Terry Lavin]

Richard,

Give it a couple days. I can relate, as I was the grounds chair for the 2003 Open at Olympia. I also wrote a column for the Sun Times all week, handled all media including an interview on Live From on the GC. And we were pilloried because the course was said to be too easy because of the short rough. Which the USGA cut over my personal objections.
But it only took a few days to shrug off the bs and only a few more to appreciate how awesome the experience was. You'll be "there" within a week. Trust me.

[John Kirk]

Rich,

Congratulations on all aspects of your participation in this year's tournament.

I think you're being too critical of the group's response.  We all have our own opinions and motivations, and we don't want to be told what is great.  We want to watch the tournament and decide for ourselves. 

[Bill Gayne]

The US Open should be held at the best courses regardless of location and regardless of their status as public or private and as of today Chambers Bay is not one of America's greatest courses. It does fit what the usga wanted public and in the Pacific Northwest. I know this may smell of eastern elitism but the over riding factor should be the best available course.

[BHoover]

Chambers Bay is producing a great tournament. That alone means it's "worthy" of a major championship.

[Brent Hutto]

The US Open should be held at the best courses regardless of location and regardless of their status as public or private and as of today Chambers Bay is not one of America's greatest courses. It does fit what the usga wanted public and in the Pacific Northwest. I know this may smell of eastern elitism but the over riding factor should be the best available course.

What they wanted was for Mike Davis to be able to move tees 100+ yards from round to round. And get his name mentioned every 10 minutes throughout 8 hours of TV coverage.

[John Kavanaugh]

If you don't think the USGA is confused and misguided think about their commercials this year. They have gone from fast play and move up to compete and party with their cheat based handicap profit center.

[Steve Lang]

   Hold it... best course or best available course? definitely a difference there


i personally want best tournament players to be shown going and getting the trophy.


.. oh and those "get in the hole" arse yellers to be thrown out on their ear!

[Bill Gayne]

  Hold it... best course or best available course? definitely a difference there

You got me there but you can't force a course to take a tournament they don't want.

[Brent Carlson]

If you don't think the USGA is confused and misguided think about their commercials this year. They have gone from fast play and move up to compete and party with their cheat based handicap profit center.

Next year in their commercials the USGA should encourage "fans" to shut up after shots are hit.

[John Kavanaugh]

An improvement of etiquette could be the answer to grow the game. Don't under estimate the educated youth of our country. My 20 year old son came home from college and banned all phone use in any social setting. He claims his friends are sick of it all. Of course he attends LSU, the bastion of southern class.

[BHoover]

An improvement of etiquette could be the answer to grow the game. Don't under estimate the educated youth of our country. My 20 year old son came home from college and banned all phone use in any social setting. He claims his friends are sick of it all. Of course he attends LSU, the bastion of southern class.

You, of all people, are going to bemoan a lack of etiquette?!?! Wow, that's just awesome.

[David_Tepper]

Richard Choi -

Thanks once again for your efforts and hard work. You did an outstanding job.

DT

[William_G]

The US Open should be held at the best courses regardless of location and regardless of their status as public or private and as of today Chambers Bay is not one of America's greatest courses. It does fit what the usga wanted public and in the Pacific Northwest. I know this may smell of eastern elitism but the over riding factor should be the best available course.

very stinky

[Paul Gray]

Richard,

Great job. Many of us have thoroughly enjoyed it.

You can't be blamed for people failing to actually discuss the architecture. A lot of people just can't discuss anything unless they are first greeted with something which looks familiar.

[Jason Topp]

I had not watched much of the tournament before today but this final round has to be one of the most entertaining US Open final rounds ever.  People are zooming up and down the leader board and players are confronting their demons in a variety of ways. 


Perhaps the greens are putting better today than they have in past rounds but they seem to me to be fine. 

[John Kavanaugh]

Looks more like a middle school girls match. The grinding over short putts, for good reason, is making my eyes bleed.