The USGA should be so lucky in mid-June 2015!

[Peter_Herreid]

Just to let you know that February is not always gloomy here in the far top-left corner, thes final three were taken at about 5pm yesterday afternoon.  I know at least one other GCA'er was able to enjoy the lovely conditions at CB yesterday!  While not exactly firm and fast, and there was some standing water in low areas in the sandy wastes, the course played just fine, with the greens perhaps ever so slightly quicker than when I last played in December...Perhaps these shots will allay the concerns of those who felt that there might be some issue with where to put all the spectators....

17th green

The dock area may be renovated to accomodate water landings, and this may be the site of the "whistle stop" for train commuters...

Looking north over 9th tee and down the 8th hole, from the rim trail above the property...The Grandview Walking Trail is evident along the high right...


Looking northwest over the entire property to Fox Island


Looking west over the 9th green, with the 1st fairway running away in the middle, and the 18th fairway coming back to the left

[Norbert P]

  Buy stock in Bushnell Optics.
 
 Actually, I think they'll do just fine with spectator traffic - they've got seven years to figure out mowing patterns and there's plenty of area along the paths to bleacher up.

  Thanks for the pictures Peter. They give a good perspective of the upper views.   

 I do wonder how they'll rule OB (or whatever) on hole # 8. It's a do-or-die fairway with extreme pissed-offness for a touring pro if they fan one right.

I wonder if the 8th fairway and green will ever drop down into the practice field, with #9 tee hitting up to the 9th green, instead of the big floater downward.

Spring's next month ! Woo hoo!

[Pat Howard]

Golfworld just did a nice spread on Chambers, but they have one of their captions wrong. The beautiful photo on pages 24-25 is of the par-3 3rd, the 'semi-redan' hole, but it says it's the par-3 15th. Oh well, we can give 'em a pass!

[Jordan Wall]

Peter,

Great pictures.
What would you feel about putting bleachers atop the dunes to the right of #1 and left of #10?  I've been up there and the view is beyond amazing..stunning.

Cheers,
Jordan

[Garland Bayley]

I think there has been too much talk about bleachers. Let people walk the course and follow the players for gosh sakes. Bleachers on 18. Bleachers over the view from the east side of the course and above 9 should do it.

[tlavin]

The Pacific Northwest never fails to impress and amaze.

[Don Dinkmeyer]

It looks at first glance like Arcadia Bluffs (Michigan), tho that course has absolutely no space for spectators...

[Adam Clayman]

Can't someone photoshop in some bleachers?

[Garland Bayley]

Can't someone photoshop in some bleachers?

use you imagination.

Look at the last picture. See the tire track trail on the left side. That area will be all bleachers. It was created flat for just that purpose.

[Bob Jenkins]

Peter,

Those photos are fantastic!  Thank you very much.

I suspect those who have never played winter golf up in this part of the world would have been a bit shocked to see that in mid-February.

The temperature is supposed to be in the 50s by the end of the weekend!

[Garland Bayley]

...
The temperature is supposed to be in the 50s by the end of the weekend!

Ya, but that's Canada for you. We are supposed to be in the 60s.
 

[Bob Jenkins]

No Garland,

It will be 10 or 11 Centigrade. Justy assumed you would think it was frozen up here if I gave it in Centigrade.

[Jim Sweeney]

Happened to speak with someone " in the know" on the Chambers Bay decision. There was absolutely no concern about spectator accessibility or infrastructure. Just real excitement over the ability to finally take the national championship to the Pacific Northwest.

[W.H. Cosgrove]

Peter, sorry I missed you on Wednesday.  The day was stunning.  Some players wearing shorts. 

What I notice most, and it cost me a ton of strokes, is the severity of the greens is really beginning to wreak some havoc.  The front of seven the right front of 8, back of 9 and some other spots are really diabolical.  a slightly missed shot results in some pretty frustrating situations.  My shot on 8 almost came to rest about ten feet under the hole, next thing I knew I was chipping for a double. 

As one of my playing partners said, "this place will expose your weaknesses immediatley."

Fun day playing about 15 over my handicap

[RJ_Daley]

Hi Peter, could you describe some of your approach shots to greens, how the greens and surrounds reacted.  Did you hit some greens to see the ball leak off to surrounds, and how did you play those shots, chips, putts from off, bumps with FW or rescue clubs, etc?  Did you have a favorite hole, just from yesterday, that might have been a different favorite than previous plays?

[Peter_Herreid]

A couple of replies...

In response to the stay/play combo, according to Nyk Pike the head pro, nothing at present, but it may be something they can look formally at now that the announcement has been made.

The maintenance staff firmly maintains that the flatter tops of the dunes, especially the manufactured ones, have been engineered to accomodate bleachers, pathways under bleachers, steps and even some ADA-accessible options.  The trail through the course will be heavily utilized in this capacity as well.  There are many natural "amphitheater"-type possibilities around the course as well.

It does not take many times around CB for the meager golfer to learn what to stay away from.  Obviously left of #1 green, back left of #3 green, back and left of #5, short and/or left of #6, short #7 (more later), the entire right side tee to green of #8, left of #17, etc will be death and are already running pretty fast to pull balls away from the greens.

#7 is an absolute bastard of a hole.  It could easily be played as a short par-5 from a 510yd tee and I don't think anyone would blink.  The first 30 or so ft of that green will not hold a ball with any backspin or insufficient forward roll from the fairway.  The bowl in front of that green is already pocked with divots.  I have now seen countless attempts, both yesterday and before, by folks attempting to flop one in there which roll 50-60yds back down the hill.

I love the 14th greensite.  There is a mound/elevation short and right of the green which just sits there begging to be used to roll one in from the right.  However, that slope actualloy deflects shots more to the rear or even further right of the green, and the resulting chips/flops are now uphill to a green running hard away to the low left side--just inspired...

The back of #16 green, along the thumb, I think is ripe for some reconsideration.  There is a shallow far back left bunker now which I think could be deepened, perhaps with the green extended slightly around or repositioned.  That thumb could perhaps be canted even more down to the waste area/train tracks.  Now if that bunker were more "D.A."-like, imagine the pressure to get up and out to a narrow corner of a green running hard away toward the tracks and Puget Sound---yum, sounds like a Sunday recipe for greatness...

More later...

[Peter_Herreid]

To my favorite law-enforcement official from the great state of WI

The course ad just enough moisture that some of the upslopes grabbed a bit more than expected, especially with clubs that spun a bit.  I really think that the flatter irons/hybrids can get a work out around many of these greens, but then again "These guys are good"--really good...

The left side of #12 has some real potential now as well.  That green jsut isn't growing in like some of the others, but if they can get that high left ramp running fast--Wow!  We played a back left hole location that I hadn't seen before, and the only way to get it anywhere near that hole was to throw it way up on the slope.  Now it is hard to guess how much moisture and "grab" there will be, but if that gets a bit more uniform, it can really reward creativity...

Therefore we also had a back hole location on #18, on a very small shelf which was rejecting high flops back to the front of the green.  The safest way to get to it was to bring it back from long behind the hole.

I found the greens themselves to be only slightly faster, if at all, than on my previous visit in late December, but the staff swears they are uniformly quicker now, claiming they were close to 9-9.5--i'm not convinced.