I got SPANKED by Chamber's Bay

[DJYoshi]

1st, thank you to EVERYONE that saved me from playing New Castle. As soon as I started speaking to all the golfers while waiting to tee off they all had the same thing to say:
New Castle's a great picture place, but the layout isn't worth the price.
So from the time I pulled into the course, I was simply AMAZED.
A gorgeous TRUE links course that hugs the Puget Bay, Chamber's Bay lived up to the hype brought on by getting both the US Am's & The US Open within its 1st year of existence

For the past few weeks I've been having the problems of:
setting up with a closed face in my irons and driver.
Ever since I learned how to draw the ball, I seem to setup too closed and I can't control it. When I try to keep the face open, it just doesn't stay open.
I also don't score well on Links courses. I've only played 5 links courses in the past year and a half and have turned in scores in the low hundred but never breaking it.

So the shuttle takes you down from the clubhouse to the course. I recommend PUTTING on the practice green b/c the fescue is SLOW! The greens were reading 8.5 on the meter that day. It's understandable how slow the greens are b/c if they were any faster, the contours of the green would take your ball all over the place.

So going out I shot a 52 OUCH! There was NASTY par 5 that had a dog leg right UP HILL the entire way reading at 545. Another great hole was the par 4 12th hole that's up hill the entire way and only 260 to drive. Of course I tried to jack it and ended up skulling the ball a good 50 yards. But a great 2nd shot left me with a birdie putt that helped me turn in an AWESOME 47 to shoot a GREAT 99...and I do mean GREAT! hahaha.
From the 25 - 30mph winds that were coming in from the bay, to the contours of the greens, fairways..and the BUNKERS that eat your ball up on great shots...but greens and fairways are sloped to fall off into them... the course is spectacular.
I do hope to come back to Seattle to play it again as I had a 7 on a par 4 reminiscent of Phil's blow up US open hole. Up hill the entire way and if you don't throw it off the right part of the green, the ball rolls right back down to you a good 50 yards! up in 2 at the edge of the green, my ball stuck, stopped, then as I'm walking up grabbing my putter, it starts to trickle down. Damn 45 yard flop shot that I hit perfectly as the flag was right at the edge of the ridge...hits...checks and boom right back down to me... 2nd flop shot same result. 5th shot i was so frustrated i chunked the flop. 6th shot..finally got it right... 1 putt for an awesome 7.
There are some holes that are RIDICULOUS.
I think it's the 14th called Cape Fear where you're driving directly into the wind and you can either: play it safe and drive it 250 into the wind to be left with a good 220 to the hole into the wind.
Or try to carry 260 into 25mph wind over the INTIMIDATING bunkers to be left with a shot 175 into the wind... i chose the 1st option and hit the most perfect 3 wood that you saw go up with a slight draw towards the green...then boom the wind just takes it and knocks it down right on the upslope of the little hill in front of the green.
Or it could be the 9th hole that's a par 3 with a huge drop to the green BUT you're shooting directly into the wind and have to carry the bunkers. Thank God 1 of the workers there told me to aim for the left hill next to the green just enough so it hits the bottom and will trickle down to where the cup was.
166 into the wind over bunkers and aiming for a SMALL area was intimidating but hey, at least i parred that hole.
IF only I didn't 3 putt on most holes, I could've dropped my score by at least 9 strokes b/c of all the 3 putting that went on.

I'm 100% happy that I played the course. Despite how poorly I shot, considering that I literally landed, grabbed my bags from baggage claim and drove to the course..I was caught up in the beauty of the course.
Every hole was a postcard. I even like how they have ONE tree on the course at the 16th hole. All the pictures I took are PRICELESS and a memory that I'll take with me forever

My BIG suggestion is PLAY IT ASAP! The USGA is there taking notes at how they're going to change the course within the next few years. They're putting MILLIONS into the course to basically redo the entire thing. From par 72 to 70, I wouldn't be surprised if that par 4 12th is turned into a 300 yard par 3.

I do know for a fact that the par 5 16th? is being turned into a par 4...and it's LONG!

I'll post pictures as soon as I get home..but sitting here waiting for my flight back home to jersey...i had to post this topic up. so who else got SPANKED or SPANKED Chamber's Bay?

[tjy355]

Which tees did you play?

I'll be there on Wednesday!

[DJYoshi]

They asked my HC, avg distance for a few clubs and after I told them they had me play the sand tees. pics coming tomorrow morning when I get into my office.

[mattyg]

pics coming tomorrow morning when I get into my office.

Love to see those pics

[niblick]

Glad you got to play there! It's a fantastic course, one that everyone should play at least once in their life.

I played my fourth round there last week. Shot 91 from the sand tees. It was a windy day, and I was pretty happy with the score. Had a couple bad holes, but also made back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13.

It's a course that presents lots of options, encourages creativity, and demands clear thinking and good judgment. If you lose focus and hit a loose shot at the wrong time, you'll pay dearly.

I love that place, and I'll continue to show up for ass kickings as often as I can. :)

[ClairefromClare]

We have plans to play it next summer; this is all very exciting. (And not a little intimidating!)

[QWKDTSN]

I got spanked, I shot a 110 a couple of months ago with about 46 putts. Could not roll the rock on those slooooooow greens!

I want to go back now that my hcp has dropped dramatically and show that course what I can really do... I will go back next year.

By the way I played the uphill short par 4 twice and almost drove the green both times, the 2nd time my ball was about 3 feet off the green to the right. Still only made par, ouch.

[niblick]

By the way I played the uphill short par 4 twice and almost drove the green both times, the 2nd time my ball was about 3 feet off the green to the right. Still only made par, ouch.

I love that hole. Hit driver to about 12 feet this past trip and got a little tentative with the eagle putt.

[tjy355]

Here is a link to some pics from my Aug 6 visit to Chambers. It was a totally awesome experience. If you are a golfer and are visiting the area, Chambers Bay is a MUST PLAY!

http://www.pbase.com/teejaywhy/chambers