WPAS after the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay

June 22, 2015 6:00 PM

Photo: Screenshot, USAToday.com

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USA Today's Christine Brennan

If you were to read only Christine Brennan's column Sunday in USA Today, you would think the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay was a resounding failure. She had little nice to say. "This was the U.S. Open that tried too hard and became way too cute in the process," Brennan wrote. "It didn't help that it all was being synthesized and brought to American viewers by Fox Sports, which wasn't quite up to the task in its rookie broadcasting season."

USA Today's Christine Brennan
If you were to read only... Photo-8198119.112142 - seattlepi.com

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The Daily Express' Neil Squires

According to Neil Squires of London's Daily Express newspaper, the USGA's "transatlantic copy-and-paste operation" to host a links-style U.S. Open at Chambers Bay was "exposed as a costly fairground ride." On Monday, Squires wrote: "The US Open is supposed to be golf's ultimate mental test and in that sense Chambers Bay delivered - the field were driven to distraction. But, frankly, it will be a blessed relief to turn up to St Andrews next month and watch how a links championship should be staged and played."

Say what you will about Chambers Bay; the course sure provided golf fans with plenty of drama. The Los Angeles Times' Bill Dwyre wrote Sunday: "In the end, Chambers Bay was best capsulized by the daily groans of thousands of spectators, looming high above in the massive bleachers that housed most of the fans because the topography of the course was too dangerous to let them wander freely. The grandstand groans came as golfer after golfer hit good shots to the brown and yellow greens and watched the ball roll and roll and roll some more, before plopping into a trap or ugly, gnarly rough."

The L.A. Times' Bill Dwyre
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CBS Sports' Kyle Porter

Many golfers complained about the consistency of surfaces at Chambers Bay, but as CBS Sports' Kyle Porter wrote, all the competitors played on the same course. "And I get it, but it also rings a little bit hollow given the leaderboard we've been presented with this week," Porter wrote. "Jordan Spieth and Jason Day are two of the mentally toughest golfers on the planet. They haven't praised the course, but they've gone out and played it every day. And played it well."

Writing for The Guardian of London, Paul Campbell came right out and said what many fans have been thinking: It was great seeing the pros struggle at Chambers Bay. "There’s also something deliciously satisfying about seeing a group of professionals clambering their way around a course and being as baffled by it as the rest of us," Campbell wrote. "If you enjoy your golf with a healthy dose of schadenfreude, you will have enjoyed the U.S. Open this weekend."

Chambers Bay wasn't up to snuff, wrote SBNation's Brian Floyd, but the course isn't to blame -- it's the USGA's preparation for the U.S. Open. "The way the course was set up pushed Chambers Bay from fair to inconsistent. This wasn't a product of the course design, either. It came down to the final preparations for the U.S. Open and the day-to-day changes in setup," Floyd wrote. "The course, and the city that rallied around the U.S. Open, deserved better than a heavy hand that pushed its greens past the brink."

Darin Bevard, director of agronomy for the USGA, admitted to The (Tacoma) News Tribune's Don Ruiz that the course could have been more consistent, but he was not pleased with some of the golfers' comments. "Some people have criticized the greens in a very professional and objective manner," Bevard said. "Others have used words like 'embarrassing,' and 'horrible,' which I think is a little over the top. It doesn't bother me. But I can tell you, you've got 30 guys over in that maintenance facilities that have worked their butts off to get to this point. ... It's a little bit unfair to them."

As related by The Seattle Times' Paul Ramsdell, USGA Executive Director Mike Davis was pleased with the tournament but is quite aware of the complaints about the course itself. All that criticism will be helpful in any effort to bring the U.S. Open back to Chambers Bay, Davis said. "Let's look at how the golf course performed," he told the Times, "because at the end of it all, that trumps everything."

It's not like the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay was a disaster -- not by any means -- but there are a few key ways to improve the course to make it a better venue for large tournaments. Golf Digest's Geoff Shackelford proposed four major changes to make Chambers Bay a better U.S. Open course. "Yes, the fescue burned and the course is absurdly extreme in places," he wrote, "but Chambers Bay also rewarded a nice mix of players with just enough reward for the driver to produce a satisfying championship."

Speaking with Golf.com's Joe Passov on Sunday, the designer of Chambers Bay golf course, Robert Trent Jones Jr., responded to all the criticism. In part, Jones explained that preparation for the U.S. Open was mostly up to the USGA. "They asked for a golf course with enormous flexibility and multiple options and the USGA participated all along," Jones told Golf.com. "We turned the course over to them months ago so that they could prepare it for this championship. They did what they did, and we stand arm in arm with what they accomplished."