MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Chambers Bay grass is as dead as Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open run

Jun 19, 2015, 1:17 PM | Updated: 3:14 pm

Chambers Bay is more links-style, resembling something found on the British Isles more than a Washi...

Chambers Bay is more links-style, resembling something found on the British Isles more than a Washington course. But what's more surprising is the grass looks dead. (AP)

(AP)

The U.S. Open’s out-of-state’s television audience must believe grass can’t grow in Washington.

The grass at Chambers Bay is brown and unpleasant.

“That’s the one really funny thing,” 710 ESPN’s Danny O’Neil told KIRO Radio’s Seattle’s Morning News. It’s the Pacific Northwest’s first major golf tournament, but it’s not really a Pacific Northwest course, he pointed out.

Chambers Bay is more links-style, resembling something found on the British Isles more than in Washington state. But what’s more surprising is the grass looks dead.

“It did look very brown,” O’Neil said. “People are going to think we can’t grow grass out here.”

But is the course as bad as some golfers first made it out to be?

Related: Get live results from Round 2 of the U.S. Open

At some points during Round 1 of the tournament, there were about 30 people below par. Golfers are fairing better than expected, O’Neil said.

However, Tiger Woods was an example of a golfer having difficulty. He had his worst round in a U.S. Open. He even hit a ball into a bunker people believed nobody would find themselves in – not to mention the worm burner.

“Chambers Bay is going to become known as the course that ate Tiger Woods,” O’Neil quipped.

Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia called out the course, saying the greens are not championship caliber. He’s not the only one to criticize portions of the course.

Overall, the course wasn’t as bad as some thought it would though, O’Neil added.

How the course plays still doesn’t address its aesthetics.

“The view is pretty,” KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross said. “But the grass is flat out ugly.”

Related: ‘Bomb train’ protest planned at Chambers Bay for U.S. Open

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