Uihlein Wins U.S. Amateur

[Chilli Dipper]

Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State standout and top-ranked amateur in the country, just defeated Stanford's David Chung 4&2 to win the U.S. Amateur Championship. If Uihlein was a pro, this would mean free Titleists for everybody, but we'll all just have to wait for that tie-in.

[kafka01]

I just watched it from time to time, but he didnt struggle too much this week against his competition, did he?
Anyways, thats a nice birthday present for him!

[iacas]

  kafka01 said:

I just watched it from time to time, but he didnt struggle too much this week against his competition, did he?

He won at least one match 1up, and was down for awhile in that one, so he didn't just breeze through, no.

[Chilli Dipper]

For anybody who watched any of the coverage of the Amateur this week, what did you think of Chambers Bay? The course is scheduled to host the U.S. Open in 2015, but from how I saw the amateurs play the course, I wish the USGA could tell the folks at Congressional to kiss off and bring the Open there next year. It's a fantastic course, and just brutal once the winds start blowing.

[kafka01]

I agree - that course seems to be a great fit for a US Open and actually plays like a Links course, not like wannabe Whistling Straits, and i´m really looking forward to it.

[Connor.]

was rooting for dirksen...got to love a guy who carries his own bag.

[Chris223]

I think Chambers Bay has a lot of work to do before it hosts the US Open. Sorry, but to me it didn't look like a golf course anywhere near in the condition it should be in for a tournament that huge. I understand it's a links course, but some of those fairways simply looked like dirt patches, and I saw WAY to many squares of miscolored grass where it was obvious they were repairing ground. Isn't the course like 2 years old?

Doesn't look like a people friendly course either, what holes have room for fans to walk and watch?

[Bigtank]

The course is 5 years old.

I am tired of this love affair with the links courses...leave that for the Open (The British one)!!! That is not United States kind of golf, and this is a United States championship.

Sorry, I know that it is another way to get around the track, just not my favorite. I enjoy it for the Open Championship, but I dont want to see it for the Amateur or the US Open.

Just my two cents!

I am also plesently suprised to see none of the jealous haters have posted anything negative about Uihlein, and how he is not a real amateur becasue of his dad. That kid has been putting in some work over the last few months in numerous tourneys.

[iacas]

  Chris223 said:

I think Chambers Bay has a lot of work to do before it hosts the US Open. Sorry, but to me it didn't look like a golf course anywhere near in the condition it should be in for a tournament that huge. I understand it's a links course, but some of those fairways simply looked like dirt patches, and I saw WAY to many squares of miscolored grass where it was obvious they were repairing ground. Isn't the course like 2 years old?

Wow. I disagree with virtually every ounce of my fiber... wow.

I can't wait for the U.S. Open to be there. I've already started thinking about when I might be able to fly there and play it. Wow.

  Bigtank said:

The course is 5 years old.

It's three. June, 2007.

  Bigtank said:

I am tired of this love affair with the links courses...leave that for the Open (The British one)!!! That is not United States kind of golf, and this is a United States championship.

Ditto what I said above. Cripes, people, what's the problem? This is the ONLY "links" course we might see the U.S. Open played on. Whistling Straits didn't count - that just LOOKED like a links course.

[Bigtank]

  iacas said:

Ditto what I said above. Cripes, people, what's the problem? This is the ONLY "links" course we might see the U.S. Open played on. Whistling Straits didn't count - that just LOOKED like a links course.

Thats the thing, I see a links course in the Open every year...I dont want to see it in the US Open.

BTW, I would love to play it, just dont care for it in the US Open or the Amateur. I was going off the fact that they broke ground in 2005

[xxsoultonesxx]

So Chambers Bay is literally 15 minutes from my house, and as a pierce county resident, I can play for $89. I'm just completely nervous about bringing my crap-tastic golf game to a legit US open/amateur course. On top of that, I've never played a links course.

[O.B. Right]

I thought it looked amazing. Those greens were crazy! FWIW - I thought it was a much more legit Links course than Whistling Straits. I kind of agree about it not being a great choice for the US Open. I think the US Open should be played on a "US style" course. I definitely would like to see it for another PGA tournament, though - maybe even the PGA Championship. I am a fan of Links courses - can't wait to play one someday.

[mjtoal]

  Bigtank said:

I am tired of this love affair with the links courses...leave that for the Open (The British one)!!! That is not United States kind of golf, and this is a United States championship.

He is an amateur, and probably will go back to being one after a shot at a pro career. I guess he could get a job selling golf balls. If "real" means that his family had to make sacrifices to suport his career, and he had to make his way based only on his game and not his connections, then he is clearly not a "real" one. "Real" amateurs are the guys who stay amateur, and that is clearly not going to be the case either. Flying in your dad's corporate jet to, and playing in, numerous "tourneys" is not "work".

Some of the earliest, and best, courses in the US are links. For example the National Golf Links of America and Shinnecock on Long Island. Those are the original US style courses, not the boring resort courses that now fill the land. Many of the people who have seen these courses, or played the great links in the UK and Ireland, have learnt that there is more to golf than getting a yardage and pulling the same club you always pull for that distance. Others lack the imagination and skill for that sort of game. Anybody who judges a course by the colour of the greens presumably falls into the latter category.

[nevets88]

I'm looking for a way to play this course too, before prices go up. Love the train running along the holes and leaving the old factory structures too. For now, it's cheaper than Bandon.

Also looking forward to the 2015 US Open. Looks like there's lots of space for people to stand. Plus you have those little knobs, so some can get a really good vantage point.

So in 2015, you're essentially going to have two British Opens. Bet you the Euros who came up playing links courses are looking forward to it.

Photos: http://www.thewalkinggolfer.com/chambers_bay.html

[Bigtank]

  mjtoal said:

He is an amateur, and probably will go back to being one after a shot at a pro career. I guess he could get a job selling golf balls. If "real" means that his family had to make sacrifices to suport his career, and he had to make his way based only on his game and not his connections, then he is clearly not a "real" one. "Real" amateurs are the guys who stay amateur, and that is clearly not going to be the case either. Flying in your dad's corporate jet to, and playing in, numerous "tourneys" is not "work".

I have played some of the Great courses of the UK, and like I said previous, I am taking nothing away from that. Links golf is the orgin of the golf, and thus deserves its place there. However, it is not the US style of courses and

in my opinion not the best choice for our United States Championships. If you think our "resort" designs are nothing more than "hit it to a yardage", I challange you to jump on Pinehurst No. 2, Beth Page Black, Sawgrass...etc. and see how you and your range finder fare. It is a different beast and the best in the world have proved over and over that it not just so simple! By the Way, Shinnecock and the National are not true Links courses. They are truly designed to have the ball fly in and not bounce in. In your defenition of amatuer, there are no "real" amateurs left. There are only guys that will turn pro soon, and guys that are not good enought to make it so they remain amateurs. The "work" I was referring too, was not his unique situation, but the fact that he was the last one on the range the last 3 days. Or the fact that he is known as a range-hound that works tirlessly on the details. Yes the kid has had some very unique circumstances and privledges, but look at Tiger, he had the benefit from a elite special forces trained green beret specializing in mental warfare to learn from. Thats like saying you are not worthy unless you were poor, from the wrong side of the tracks learning to play with an old hickory shafted niblick and a rock. Why we must tear down others to justify the fact we can not do what they did is beyond me?

[Acropo]

  Chilli Dipper said:

For anybody who watched any of the coverage of the Amateur this week, what did you think of Chambers Bay?

I thought it looked absolutely stunning. A fantastic setting, wonderful landscape and a course that looks as if it was carved by sheep on the machair - to learn it was created from the ruins of a sawmill or something had me gobsmacked. I would LOVE to be able to play it - so where's that Lotto ticket...

(iacas - I would have thought that Pebble qualified as links? Haven't played it but it seems to be in the right place - between the fertile inland fields and the salty pastures of the silver darlings?)

[TN94z]

I absolutely loved the course and would love to play it! It took so much imagination to get around that course and that is what I like to see. Too many golfers get caught up in the same thing over and over and over when they play the same courses over and over. I know this isn't the case with these guys, but most local golfers fit the bill. Some of the guys I play with don't even need yardages because they have played the same course day in and day out. I like some excitement and variety in my golf.


What about Chung on the par 5? Tee shot in the fescue. 2nd shot 5 feet in front of him. 3rd shot about 30 yards in front of him (don't know exactly). 4th punched out to 120 yards. 5th shot, holed out for par!! That just goes to show you that you should never give up on a hole....or count anyone out in match play.

[ghalfaire]

While I am not sure Chambers Bay is a US Open course it didn't look any worse that St. Andrews to me.