What a crazy looking course.
Holly Sonders? What to make of her?
I’m watching a bit this afternoon. So glad they decided not to show Tiger. They did yesterday and it was painful to watch.
We just turned it on and saw that Jason Day had collapsed. How crazy that he is continuing.
They did show Tiger missing the cut. Some wicked looking greens.
We saw the course last week. It is gorgeous, but the elevation change is daunting to say the least. I’m not sure if I’d want to golf it. Looks a lot more punishing than many of the courses I’ve seen in Europe.
Not to dump on Fox, but man, sure miss NBC’s coverage team…or even CBS’s team. Had to turn over to Golf Channel for analysis. I’m sure/I hope Fox will improve with time, but sheeze, this is a National Championship they are cutting their teeth on. The cameramen/women need practice with following the ball…and the communication between on course personnel and the control room does not appear to be in synch yet. The graphics are a little better today. Greg Norman is good. Hoping coverage improves this weekend.
The course does not photograph well. The course is too brown. Too weedy.
The way the course is being televised, we have no idea what the holes look like.
Very much a links course…not like the manicured American courses of many Opens. Looks a bit like the drought ravaged courses here in Northern CA.
Hate the super elevated camera on 9–give us the view from the golfer’s eye level and we’ll have a more accurate idea of the hole.
Fox is taking a beating on Twitter…but the funniest comment I’ve read:
“My dream to play like Tiger Woods is coming true!”
“The course does not photograph well. The course is too brown. Too weedy.”
We like them this way. B-)
The USGA took over Chambers Bay on May 25th and began drying out the course to make it firm and fast. Over that time there has been a streak of 80 degree days and hardly any rain. That’s why it’s brown.
The course may look weedy but that’s not the case. The “weed” is poa grass, which has started to grow at Chambers Bay. Poa has longer roots than fescue, so you get a splotchy look.
Sorry if my post sounds defensive, but I’m afraid the US Open won’t be returning to Chambers Bay.
I hate courses that way. Actually, I don’t like playing golf that much anymore. 
We passed the course while traveling by train from Portland to Seattle a couple years ago. We were not impressed. I’m not sure why it’s considered such a great course. I’m also not impressed with the coverage.
Re: Jason Day. My H collapsed on the side of one of the greens at the Masters this year on Day 1. It was humid and in the 90’s. Even though H had been drinking water, the combination of allergy meds, heat, humidity and not-enough-water led to dehydration. We have been to the Masters a number of times, but it was the first time we saw the inside of the first aid building (like everything at the Masters, it was wonderful). Hopefully, it was something similarly “simple” for Day.
Jason Day apparently has been suffering from vertigo for a while now. He’s had to withdraw from a few tournaments due to the condition. This time was different, according to a comment by his wife, that it came on very quickly and he fainted and fell to the ground. He also has recently had all kinds of tests done for severe sleep deprivation and suffering from losing feeling in his arms, none of which sounds good.
I hope Jason Day is doing ok. I’ve been gone all evening so I haven’t heard anything.
Day’s situation does not sound good. I hope they can get to the bottom of it soon, and I hope it’s something that can be easily fixed. He is so young, and so talented. We followed him along the course at the Masters a few years ago, and he seemed like a really great young man.
@PacNWparent, I wouldn’t count another Open out yet…but probably not until closer to 2030, and the course will be that much more mature. I think the pros think course is architecturally excellent…but the greens are the issue. And by 2030, the contract with Fox Sports will be over!
I like the looks of the course…and think the USGA is moving more towards environmentally sensitive courses…a good thing for all!
Ugh, I am compelled to apologize to my east coast golf friends, whom are`stunned to see all that brown grass televised from the Puget Sound region. I checked with the relatives and yes, they said there has been a patch of extended dry and warm weather in Western Washington of late. All those migrating Californians have impacted the weather patterns in the great PNW.
Seattle area had only 70 days with measurable rainfall from January until the end of May, with only 5 of them in May. June has been unbelievably dry, too. So things are pretty dried up around here.
I believe the idea behind Chambers Bay is a throwback to the windswept, undulating, “natural” look of St. Andrews. It doesn’t have the manicured perfection of the traditional top-grade American courses, but I like it. It’s making for some interesting golf. I do wish they’d irrigated the course, though, because it looks quite different when it’s [url=<a href=“http://www.vrbo.com/476174%5Dgreen%5B/url”>http://www.vrbo.com/476174]green[/url]… It’s jarring to see a course that looks my California drought-parched front yard.
Again, I like the look of Chambers Bay…but the greens and the impossible slopes are the issue. I just don’t like a golf course that penalizes perfectly struck golf shots, even perfectly struck putts. There’s too much luck involved and makes the game look silly to some people who are thinking about taking up the game. The USGA is supposed to grow the game, not make it look like an impossible, frustrating sport. I’d hazard a guess that if I played that course, it would be a 6+ hour round…not enticing at all. The course should punish poorly struck golf shots and reward well struck golf shots…and it’s not.
And Fox still has a lonnnnngggggg way to go in their coverage.
I am about to go and relax with my DH for an afternoon/evening of some golf watching. Not enjoying seeing this event televised on Fox, a station that I totally avoid like the plague and missing my usual golf commentators.
The course certainly looks interesting but I agree with gosmom, if this course is making the world’s best golfers play with such difficulty…how can a regular golfer possibly think about a round there?
Do like the shots of Mount Rainer and the weather is looking crystal clear.