US Open - Chambers Bay

[Sgt. Largent]

The USGA is punitive, not fair. early pictures of the greens are far from fair, they are in fact looking like the USGA might have killed grass prepping for the tourney.

The USGA is so obsessed with making sure they keep most above par that they create a course that will punish good shots. To me, that is the definition of unfair.

I just got back from the practice round today, and I can indeed confirm that we saw a lot of confused faces watching the players putting and chipping around the greens.

But we talked to a couple of the greenside officials, and most said that the greens were rolling around a 9 or 10 on the stimpmeter, which is really low for a regular tournament, let alone the US Open.

So having seen what's going on in person, my guess is Mike Davis already knows that the greens are tricky enough with how undulating and subtle breaking they are, so he's not going to go full insanity mode with +13 or higher on the stimpmeter. Maybe for Sunday, but even then my guess is the greens are going to be watered each night to keep them at most around a 11 or 12.

As far as what I saw? One word, impressive. It's like all these "temporary" buildings have been on the course for years, just first class all the way around..........and the setting and view is just spectacular. So proud that we could lure a US Open to our backyard.

Unfortunately I didn't complete my mission of tackling Bubba and forcing him to unbutton his top button. Drives me crazy! This is as close as I got.

 

[TestMo1337]

Tiger sighting.

Beautiful course. Can't wait to see the pros try to take it on.

 

[Hasselbeck]

This course sounds like it will be pure hell for most of the field.

Going to go ahead and pick Rory to win this. Bubba Watson could take it too.

 

[Uncle Si]

Man, I miss my home state.

http://thesmokersclub.kinja.com/golfers-patrons-can-bring-weed-into-the-u-s-open-bu-1712241445

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Well, everyone's not +12 after 7 holes, so things are playing very US Open-esque.

It's very surreal watching online going "oh yeah, I remember that hole, that green, etc" Really cool.

 

[Tical21]

This isn't links golf.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Phil doing Phil things.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Having watched most of the Mickelson/Watson/Cabrera group, I don't see any issues with the course being "unfair," a "farce" or any of the other snarky names it's been called the past two weeks.

It's as Davis and Trent Jones said, if you hit good shots you'll have opportunities to score. If you hit bad shots, you're going to be punished.

Now maybe the overcast skies today after the course/greens being watered has helped the balls hold their shape and positioning..........but so far so good with any worries about Chambers being unfair.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I betcha Tiger wishes he didn't say all those mean things about Butch Harmon, or hell even Hank Haney................cause his swing right now is hot garbage.

 

[mbtitleist]

It looks like Fowler had some problems going double/bogey/double/triple to finish the front nine.

 

[NoChops]

buh-bye Tiger

 

[mbtitleist]

The afternoon "feature group" laid an absolute egg today. +7 for Oosthuizen, +10 for Woods and +11 for Fowler. Anybody catch Bubba's little outburst after his 2nd shot on 18 earlier today?

 

[Hasselbeck]

Never thought I'd see the day where my golf swing is comparable to Tiger Woods

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Looks more and more like Tiger's career is kaput.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

So is it time to put some credence into Tiger's connection to Anthony Galea and Biogenesis back in the 2000's?

A lot of people kinda sluffed all that off because it's golf, why would a golfer take PED's for such a low impact sport? Well, PED's are also about strength, recovery and rapidly healing after injuries, all of which people Tiger was lauded for coming back from faster than expected.

Maybe we can use age and terrible swing coach choices as Tiger's problem now, but seeing a 39 year old Tiger routinely 30 yards behind the other members in his group doesn't sit well with what a powerful golfer he used to be.

 

[Hasselbeck]

So is it time to put some credence into Tiger's connection to Anthony Galea and Biogenesis back in the 2000's?

A lot of people kinda sluffed all that off because it's golf, why would a golfer take PED's for such a low impact sport? Well, PED's are also about strength, recovery and rapidly healing after injuries, all of which people Tiger was lauded for coming back from faster than expected.

Maybe we can use age and terrible swing coach choices as Tiger's problem now, but seeing a 39 year old Tiger routinely 30 yards behind the other members in his group doesn't sit well with what a powerful golfer he used to be.

I think this is a theory that doesn't really get kicked around enough. But also remember back when he tore up the Masters and was dominating golf, most golfers weren't exactly athletic. He changed the philosophy of a lot of golfers and paved the way for the new wave to be in tip top shape (the Rory's, Spieth's, etc) Even Phil slimmed down and got into the weight room before he started competing and winning majors.

Even now, Tiger is HUGE. I really think now that he's pushing 40 that he needs to slim down if anything.. his short game is horrendous and I wonder if his frame is part of the reason why.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Thanks for the updates. I substituted in golf on Wednesday as three of the team of 4 went to see the Open. The one left went over on Thursday. My back is messed up and shot lowsey because of it.

Go Hawks.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Even now, Tiger is HUGE. I really think now that he's pushing 40 that he needs to slim down if anything.. his short game is horrendous and I wonder if his frame is part of the reason why.

Tiger has an army of nutritionists, trainers, yoga instructors and therapists...........no reason his size should be getting in the way of any part of his game.

IMO his #1 roadblock right now is arrogance and denial. He's been "the man" for so long that he truly doesn't have an ounce of humility in his body. In order to make the necessary changes both physically and mentally to fix his game, he first has to admit he's a horrible golfer right now. He's not saying that, he keeps saying crap like "I feel great, there's nothing wrong, my swing's coming around nicely." Blah Blah Blah.

Now maybe he's just too proud to admit he sucks out loud, and deep down he KNOWS he's in big trouble and needs to change his entire approach. But that's certainly not what I'm hearing out of his mouth, or watching the same wild hard swing trying to crush every ball on TV.

 

[mbtitleist]

Why does Tiger even try to use a driver? He hasn't hit it good for quite some time so why doesn't he just use his 2 or 3 iron off of the tee so he's at least in the fairway. Sure, courses are long and he'd be further back than a lot of guys, but he's always been fairly good with his long irons when he's sitting in the fairway. I'd rather hit a lot of fairways while only getting 230-250 off the tee rather than hitting 300 and missing the fairway more than half the time

Like I said, this isn't going to magically make him what he used to be, but could it really hurt?

 

[CPHawk]

Wow, Gary Player just trashes Chambers Bay. Said its the worst Golf Course he has seen in his entire life. He actually said some good stuff, and He thinks Tiger can come back, but he needs to listen to coaches who have actually won tournaments, and know what it's like to play in a big event.