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Feel & Imagination needed at Chambers Bay - Players Report

By: Golf Shake | Wed 17 Jun 2015


RYAN  PALMER hates it, designer Robert Trent Jones Jr must be fed up defending his design, Tiger Woods has in practice visited parts of the course never seen by any other human being, Ian Poulter is continuing to grumble about it and, if you are to believe everything that has thus far been written and said about Chambers Bay, all that is missing is a windmill on the 18th green.

The US Open has arrived in Seattle and, as predicted, the quirky links course has not received too many rave reviews. There has been criticism of the huge bunkers, there has been disbelief at the greens, both in terms of the quality of the putting surfaces and what are perceived to be crazy slopes.


Chambers Bay has recieved mixed reviews from players

Chambers Bay


And that's without taking into account what has been said about the lack of definition of the greens and the "unfair" bounces. Louis Oosthuizen, who won The Open at St Andrews in 2010, even questioned whether Chambers Bay is a golf course.

Safe to say, then, that so far it is Chambers Bay 1 The Field 0. However, it is interesting to note that there has been no criticism from the likes of Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth, all of whom seem prepared to let their clubs do the talking for them.

It has been predicted that rounds will take up to six hours, so plenty of patience is clearly going to be required.

But you won't hear any criticism from Oliver Farr, the European Tour pro in his first season whose progress we are following at Golfshake. Farr qualified for the US Open with a brilliant performance at Walton Heath, and he is determined to enjoy every single minute of his experience.

It is his  US Open debut and the young Welshman loved his first view of Chambers Bay. "I enjoy links golf, so I thought the course was great , it is tough, especially around the greens, but although it is difficult, and I certainly didnt expect anything different at the US Open I do think it is fair," he said. "Good shots will be rewarded, but you have to have great feel and imagination around the greens."


Oliver Farr is looking forward to his US Open challenge

Oliver Farr


Farr played his first practice round with stablemate Marcus Fraser yesterday morning and the pair were ready to tackle it again today, this time playing in the afternoon.

Farr said: "The characteristics of the course change dramatically throughout the day, in the morning the course is softer due the watering in the night, but my second round tee time on Friday is just after 3pm, and by that time of day, with the warm weather that is forecast the greens will have dried out and will therefore become a lot firmer, so its important that I am prepared for the different playing conditions that I will experience on the first two days1

Read our first article with Oliver Farr where we discuss life on the European Tour and the journey he undertook to get there - Click Here 

Image credit - @PGATOURNEWS Twitter


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Tags: Oliver Farr



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