My annual USGA championship as a Rules of Golf official is the Amateur, played this year at Chambers Bay and The Home Course near Tacoma, Washington, August 23-28. Other Rules officials from the area at the Amateur were Mark Studer, Pittsburgh, Mid-Amateur Committee, and Jan Kikta, Uniontown, Senior Amateur Committee.
Stroke play qualifying is at both courses, one round at each for the field. The courses’ total yardage exceeded 15,000–7700 at Chambers Bay, another 7400 at The Home Course. Three area players competed–Nathan Smith, Sean Knapp, and William Miller–and none advanced into match play. Nathan’s 149 got him into a 16/6 playoff. The first hole used, a 230 yard par-three, resulted in five deuces, very unusual indeed. Smith failed to advance. The playoff lasted only two holes, again unusual for 16/6, a drill than can typically take five or six holes.
On the first day of stroke play, I officiated holes 6-8 at The Home Course, an area with the best view of Mount Rainier from either course. I made very few rulings, but one was interesting. A competitor had to search for his ball buried in a bunker, and the sphere was not visible. So we raked the bunker and dislodged it. Rule 12-2 states that a player may probe for a ball but upon finding it, must re-cover the ball so only a part of it is visible, usually a spot about the size of a fingernail. So that’s what we did. He was fortunate to find the ball as there was no sign of it in the bunker–no indentation or anything. He proceeded to make a double bogey.
On day two, I was assigned to 7/8 at Chambers Bay. I spent most of the time near #7 green, a par four just over 500 yards (yes that’s right); second shots were interesting. If a ball hit on the first few yards of the green or shorter than that, the ball would roll slowly down the hill, then gaining speed, to a spot about 75 yards short of the green. That was Tuesday. On Monday, balls were rolling another 50 yards to about 125 yards away. Several players made fours from the spot below the green, and most players got away with a bogey. The hole was very frustrating. Most players hit 6-8 iron approach shots.
I refereed two matches: first round, Patrick Cantlay, Los Alamitos, CA and Brad Shaw, Los Angeles. Cantlay begins his collegiate career at UCLA very soon. He was six-up after ten holes, benefiting from Shaw’s assessing himself a one- stroke penalty on the ninth green when he addressed his ball and it moved. Shaw rallied to win four holes in a row getting the match to two down after sixteen. Cantlay then made a clutch par putt on #17, a par three, to win the match 2&1. Pace of play was slow to the point a rover arrived to time the players. Most of the problems with with Cantlay. He advanced to the semi-finals.
In the second round it was Hudson Swofford, Talahassee, FL, and Jed Dirksen, Hampton, Iowa. Swofford, a top collegiate player at the University of Georgia, started strong with three early birdies and led two up after thirteen holes. He should have been four up. On #14 both players had three foot par putts on #14. Swofford missed and Dirksen coverted after the players asked me to determine who was away. Both hit the greenside bunker on the long par-three #15. Swofford missed an eight footer, and Dirksen made a slightly shorter putt to square the match. On the drivable par-four #16, Dirksen drove the green and lagged a sixty footer to the lip. Swofford laid up, wedged to ten feet and missed. On the 17th Dirksen hit the green, and Swofford was bunkered. I called Dirksen as being away, and he asked me to measure to make sure. Dirksen then hit a great lag putt to less than two feet. Swofford’s bunker shot was eight feet away. He missed, Dirksen holed his putt and the match was done, 2&1 for Dirksen. Winning four straight holes at the end of any match is helpful. Dirksen won one more match reaching the quarterfinals.
Chambers Bay will host the 2015 US Open. The golf course may be modified somewhat by then, especially the green complexes where errant shots can end up 100 yards away. A few holes are like that, and #7 gets my vote. At nearly 7800 yards, many set-up options are available. So it will be an interesting site.
Due to fescue fairways and overall fescue grass, Chambers Bay plays very fast. None of the players complained about its length at 7700 yards, as most of them were hitting tee shots in the 330-350 yard range. If one can’t play golf on the ground, Chambers Bay isn’t a suitable course. The course was built on a reclaimed gravel pit that’s on a landsite of more than 1000 acres. Most course are built on fewer than 200. The course overlooks Puget Sound and the views are spectacular. Due to the fast and firm conditions, the course demands much patience. With the 2015 US Open in June instead of August, the course will be play a bit slower but a challenge nevertheless.
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