Played Chambers Bay Saturday morning, but I don't carry my camera there anymore so no pix...
The buzzword for next year's US Open will be "elasticity". Mike Davis can literally mix greens and yardages and hole locations however he wants to get whatever result or challenge he might want. There will, however, be rough between the fairways and the waste areas, as the staff has confirmed that the efforts to narrow in some of the fairways over the past few years will not be undone. How high and how thick that rough will be, and if it will be uniform throughout, is still open for debate. No further narrowing planned however...
The KP participants from two weeks ago reported some ball-gobbling rough, but Saturday morning it did not seem significant thicker than last winter or last summer, at least to me.
Large swaths of the fairways are under netting, in an effort to spread out turf wear.
As will likely always be the case, some of the same greens as always are out of play. Saturday #1, #4 and #10 were closed, but #7 and #13 were back open. Those two greens looked magnificent and very uniform, albeit slower, and the closed greens looked very uniform as well. On the other hand, there were big chunks of #6 and #12 (to name two) that were basically unplayable.
If the results from the previously closed greens are any indication, other greens could use the same treatment and care prior to next June.
In terms of driveable par-4s, #12 will always be, and I believe #16 was for at least one day of the US Am. I have to believe that Mike Davis will move that tee up one day in an effort to tempt the gents to pull driver. All the trouble on that hole is right next to the green, and driver would bring the tracks and the beach into play for a block. How could one resist that temptation to move the tee up.
Given the firmness of the turf (and that will not be an issue) I think that #2 and #6 could be set up to be driveable on the front, but not sure that's necessary.
I'll predict that when the hole location is on the front left or front right of #7, the tees will be moved up as well, not to make it driveable, but to give them short irons/wedges for approaches as a test of spin and to bring the real threat of balls cascading backwards down that hill into play.
I looked again at the front right of high shelf hole location on #17, in case Mike Davis wants to make that a short hole with a precarious hole location, but there are four giant sprinkler heads embedded well within the green surface on the front of that shelf. I just can't see them take a risk that a high short iron or wedge will come straight down and carom off one of those sprinkler heads. I'm predicting hole locations on that high shelf will be middle or back.
Final prediction--the record for the longest par-4 in US Open history will last one year, and be broken by #14 or #18 or both at Chambers Bay. The aerial shots of tee balls off the back tee on #14 will be stunning. They should put a timer on those things, like they used to do with Ray Guy or Reggie Roby punts!