Chambers Made

It's getting close, so let's start our back nine flyovers as well as sort through what the talkers are talking about...

Who Was That Chambers Guy - What's in a name?  I've not a clue, but the name at least has a lot more history than the golf course itself:

In those early years of the 19th century, British and American interests were battling for domination of all of what's now Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, along with parts of Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia. The area was known then as the "Oregon Country;" a treaty signed in 1819 allowed the British and the Americans to jointly occupy the land.

The Hudson's Bay Company was here to collect animal skins for sale in Asia, but Americans came here, too, as missionaries and settlers looking to homestead on the land. Under joint occupation, it was essentially a numbers game — if more Americans than British settled here, it would create the political will necessary for Oregon to become part of the United States.

Thomas M. Chambers was one of the tens of thousands of Americans who headed west to the Oregon Country in the 1840s. Chambers, along with his wife and six sons, left their native Kentucky and hit the Oregon Trail in 1845.

Chambers sounds like quite the pioneer spirit, successfully defying an order to vacate his property by the powerful Hudson Bay Company.  So on behalf of golf fans, thans Tom.

More Recent History - Golf Digest architectural editor Ron Whitten has a worthy article in the current issue about how it all happened at Warp Speed.

2. IT'S THE FIRST COURSE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO HOST A U.S. OPEN. In January 2004, Ladenburg and an advisory committee interviewed five

finalists. They were Robert Trent Jones II (a firm consisting of partners Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Bruce Charlton); Hurdzan/Fry Design, at the time creating Erin Hills, which will be the Open site in 2017; Bob Cupp, who designed the 36 holes at Pumpkin Ridge near Portland, long considered a front-runner for an Open; Phil Mickelson, at that point yet to win a major; and local favorite John Harbottle III.

Ladenburg notified each firm that a U.S. Open was his goal, and that he wanted a links-like course. So each of the five proposals envisioned a British Open-like layout. The recommendations of the advisory committee were not unanimous. Ladenburg, who had the final say, selected the Trent Jones firm. 

What was the determining factor? It was not, as has been widely reported, that the Jones team concluded by handing each committee member a metal bag tag, embossed with the Pierce County logo and the words "Chambers Creek" (the working title of the project at the time) and "U.S. Open 2030." 

"That was a cute gesture, but it wasn't a factor," Ladenburg says. "Besides, they got it wrong by 15 years." 

What swayed Ladenburg was the vast global experience of Trent Jones Jr. He'd done links designs before, in California and abroad. None of the others had. 

From day one, the pressure was on to create a course good enough to attract the Open. Leaving nothing to chance, Charlton soon spoke to Ron Read, then a regional director of the USGA, who in turn contacted Mike Davis, now the executive director. When construction started in January 2006, Davis and Read walked the property with the designers. "This has potential," Davis said. "Don't screw it up."

Sorry for the overly-long excerpt, but I've been waiting a while for this to be made available on the web.  As an example of how government can eff up a one-car funeral, this is pretty good.  They have a great site and are even smart enough to know that it's perfect for a proper links, so they assemble a bidding group of architects that can't spell the word "links."  And by the way, you should take the representation that Bobby has built links with a huge grain of salt, as there are exactly no links in California.

Everyone's Got One... - Now it's gotta be hard listening to the prima donnas criticize your handiwork, but I can't tell if Booby is being thin-skinned here or just dispensing some needed tough love:

As PGA Tour pros started visiting the course, their unflattering reviews generated buzz

The architect.

in golf circles. Ian Poulter called it a “complete farce,” based on feedback from other players. Henrik Stenson used the term, “tricked up.”Ryan Palmer described elements of the course as a “joke.” 

Jones heard the criticism, absolutely, and he fired back in a phone interview this week.

“You talk about Ian Poulter,” Jones said. “I notice the Texans, the stoics, just shut up and play: Hogan, Trevino, Spieth. Players who are very serious are calling me to learn about the course.”

I guess those are not mutually exclusive....

Not In Play - Two items on features of Chambers Bay that are not in play, though the second is there to affect said play.  First, a quick note about the one tree on the property:

Another public course, Chambers Bay, is hosting this week's U.S. Open. Chambers does have one single tree in a corner of the property behind the 15th green, but it does not come into play. Effectively the layout, located south of Tacoma, Wash., is treeless. 

Shortly after Chambers Bay general manager Matt Allen arrived here in 2008, someone attempted unsuccessfully to chop down this tree, also a Douglas fir. 

In the seven years since the incident, this tree has become the symbol of Chambers Bay.

"I compare the resiliency of the tree with the resiliency of the golf course," Allen said. "Both are doing just fine. The tree survived the attack, and we survived the recession."

As an aside, links are not always treeless.  Though it is true that trees won't really grow in proper linksland, but there are all sorts of links with odd trees here and there.  There's even one near Southport, England called Formby where part of the course is in a thick forest.

Next up we'll introduce you to Chambers Basement:

The bunker that is about to become the most famous in the Northwest has a special name that was bestowed a few years ago by caddies — “Chambers Basement.” 

It is the 10-foot-deep pot bunker in the middle of the 18th fairway at Chambers Bay, 120 yards from the center of the green.

Reminds me of the faux-Coffins bunker that Weiskopf added to TPC-Scottsdale, so why such an obstacle:

Mike Davis, executive director of the USGA, ordered the bunker built after a review of the U.S. Amateur held at Chambers Bay in 2010. The hole was a par 5 in the Amateur, and he wanted it toughened for the Open. 

His concern was that the fairway was so wide — about 80 yards — that players choosing to lay up to wedge distance had it too easy. 

“You could almost blindfold tour players, and they couldn’t miss the fairway laying up,” Davis said. “We put the bunker in there to make them think. It adds to strategy.”

I can see that as an issue, though it wouldn't be if they played it as a long Par-4 (remember, this and the first will alternate par each day).

Back to the Air - We continue our flyovers with the 10th, Gil Hanse's favorite on the course...the way that green sits between the large dunes is very reminiscent of the West coast of Ireland:

The eleventh is another long drink of water, with quite in demanding tee shot.  It looks like anything on the right side of the fairway will be blind to the green:

If you're bored with back-breaking two-shotters, we've got good news...a seemingly driveable Par-4.  The green is severely sloped and I offer no opinion as to how the lads will play it.