I will finally share my thoughts. The pros will find every fairway unless the USGA narrows them down - I found all but two. I have broken 80 each of the four times I played CB from the sand tees (6500 yards), but shot a 95 on Sunday. All thanks to my awful wedge game and over-reading putts all day long.
Choi, don't know why you had such a tough time putting; I have experienced your short game abilities first hand, and can only assume you suffered from being too far away from the pin - something I will get to later. Two putting from a distance at CB is not an easy task.
As I said that day over lunch, Matthew (my son) who was a marshal at the US Am said the balls were rolling out approximately 50 yards at the Am; on Sunday our balls rolled out 5 yards and mine went sideways and backwards on #13 - just what one needs on a 530 yard par 4 - despite hitting the fairway.
At the US Am, some unreceptive greens were the problem for the competitors. Balls that landed on a front portion of the green would roll off the back. Again, only some of the greens. As a result, they reworked some of the greens to make them more accessible and receptive. As Kirk stated, the average score at the AM was 79ish. That is a big number for the best amateurs in the world.
Fortunately, when you are on the correct level, the greens are fairly flat. I see a lot of 15 and 20 foot putts getting made by the pros. Granted, that is evaluating them at the slower speed we encountered.
Which raises the following issues for me: 1) Are the landing areas in front of the greens or the greens themselves going to receive the shots demanded of the very long distances at CB, making it difficult for the pros to find the correct position on the greens? Or, 2) Are they going to be left hitting lag putts from 50 feet the entire day and draining the ensuing five footers?
I think the green set-up is everything, and as everyone has stated, if they firm up the greens, the scores could go very high because they will never get the ball on the right level and therefore will not make enough birdies to make up for their inevitable mistake or two.
At many US Open courses, they have the rough as a defense along with the slope and speed of the greens. At CB, there really isn't that much rough that comes into play, the greens can't get to 13, and the waste areas on many holes are very playable. I think the pros will find it easy to stay out of whatever rough the USGA sends their way, and as long as they don’t hit into the side hill of the waste areas, they have too much control not to find themselves greenside with a chance of up and down for par.
The sand is unusual, but I wonder if the issue was the weight of the sand as much as anything on Sunday. On #16, there was only a little sand in the bunker, which is why I was able to come out to a very tight pin position, green above me and spin the ball. The lack of sand made it fairly easy to execute the shot. Obviously, my uphill travails on #9 were a different story; I just couldn't get myself into a comfortable position, thought I might take too much sand, so I took a big swing, got too much sand as I had figured, and the ball moved 3 feet - twice. Most pros would have probably exited the sand, re-entered, found the right stance (no matter how long it took), and executed properly. I have no such patience. When you have long bunker carries, and CB has a lot of them, I don't understand having deep fine sand. Or worse, deep fine sand that is heavy.
Chambers calls itself a links course, but plays nothing like one. Did any of us think about hitting a low running shot the entire day? We thought about landing it short in hopes that it would bounce forward, but not what I call a running shot - 4 extra clubs, take a half-swing, land the ball halfway to the green and watch the ball bound towards the green. Never. That shot is always on my mind, but never saw the opportunity. Saw Kirk putt from about 30 yards off the green once, and I from a little shorter distance. In contrast, at Bandon Trails I putted downhill from about 60 yards once, hit a 7-iron downhill pitch from 90 yards – only carrying it 20 yards and watched in bound and roll the remaining 70 yards, punched a 5-iron from 140 yards (70 yards of carry and 70 of roll) at Portmarnock, etc. Just routine stuff at a links course, but I just don't see that shot making any sense at CB - too many greens tucked around bunkers. So, if that shot isn't available, how do you get the ball close on greens that won't receive something from the air? Only the perfect shot? Brent on #9 - a drawing 6-iron down a 60-foot drop-shot 220-yard hole (my apologies Brent if you hit less than a six; I am guessing - and only mortal
. Ben's perfectly faded 4-iron to 5 feet (only to miss the putt
)).
In conclusion and my prediction for 2015, what I don't think we will see is the really big number - Sergio's quad, etc. I fear it will be "hitting away from trouble, two putting for par; hitting to the safe place, two putting for par. Yeah, yeah, "par is always good at a US Open." Whatever. There is excitement in the drama of failures and successes and most importantly the anticipation of success and failures. I fear there may be little drama – just a lot of pars.
Maybe I will be totally wrong. Look, almost all of us broke 100, which was the point of this adventure. How many of the amateurs – Tony Romo, et al – broke 100 at Torrey and wherever else they played? Bethpage? I recall only one person did it and it was a 99. Garland didn’t, but he is a 22 handicap or something close. He couldn’t carry it onto two fairways, but still managed a 104.
We all scored respectably because generally you have a shot to not only get back to the fairway, but advance it a good distance down the fairway at CB when you make a mistake. At CB, making a mistake should only be a bogey, and no worse, especially for a pro. No pot bunkers forcing you to hit sideways like in UK, no water, and no tight fairways with thick, long rough. Wide fairways so these guys can work the ball according to their comfortable, favored shot, with no worries that they will be in 5 inch unplayable rough. You can draw a bad lie at CB, but only if you miss a 40 yard wide fairway, not every time you miss a 25 yard wide fairway. In other words, mistakes don’t get compounded at Chambers. Never really thought of it until I wrote this.
So, if the only defense is going to be rock hard greens that you can’t hold or bounce onto, does that mean the field will either 1) lag putt from 50 feet all day, or 2) put on the greatest display of chipping and pitching from around all the greens they just barely missed? Either way, that means few birdies; just lots of pars and no drama. In about 720 days we will find out.
Cheers.
PS Garland, I forgot about the offer. Your handicapped score beat mine. I owe you a drink.
