A THOUGHT OCCURRED to me as I drove the dark streets of West Seattle during Saturday night’s powerful wind storm.
I made the trip over to visit friends after covering a Quilcene High School football game Saturday afternoon.
Around the peak of the gusts, I ventured to a grocery for breakfast items and drove past the entrance to West Seattle Golf Course, a track I played back on the first of the year during another city trip.
After seeing about five trees uprooted on the drive, I thought of all the trees on the West Seattle course and how busy their grounds crew would be the next morning in the storm’s aftermath.
Then I drifted to thinking of Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open in just a matter of weeks.
I pondered how the course, with it’s lone, signature tree, the Douglas fir that stands sentinel behind the 15th green, was likely to be playable as soon as it was daylight last Sunday.
I’m not sure the Pacific Northwest’s first U.S. Open will serve as an entirely representative example of the area’s true golfing nature, with a lack of tree-lined fairways and rescue shots over and under scrabbling tree branches.
Instead we will get a healthy dose of waste-area sand saves, imaginative shot-making on the undulating fairways and greens and bump-and-run chips near the cups.
And everything is only 8 months away. Just have to suffer through a few more wild wind storms this fall and winter and some spring showers and it will be here.
An update on Chambers Bay’s U.S. Open preparations follows.
Reduced tee times
A reduced amount of tee times for the public course started in September, with the course shut down two days per week.
This will grow to a three-days per week starting the second week of November and climb to a Monday through Thursday closure beginning the last week of November through early March.
“And even on the weekends, we will only be 60 percent of normal,” said Matt Allen, general manager of Chambers Bay, which is owned by Pierce County and managed by Kemper Sports.
That means tee times overall will be at 30 percent of normal this winter.
Book now if you want to play where the professionals will tee it up in June.
The closures are being held to protect the fescue grass on the course’s greens.
This strain of fine fescue doesn’t grow much if at all during the winter, and wear and tear was noticeable during a United States Golf Association visit last June.
Beginning Saturday, Chambers Bay will be accepting reservations only 21 days in advance, so hop on quickly and secure a tee time.
No putting on 15th hole
No putting is allowed on the signature 15th green in the runup to the tournament. Instead, golfers hit shots onto the green and will have their balls retrieved by a course employee.
Proximity to the cup will result in a one-putt or two-putt for scoring purposes.
Pop-up tents onsite
Pop-up tents are in place on the course, but this isn’t the beginning of construction for the U.S. Open.
Instead, it’s a chance for corporate clients to get a peek of hospitality suite options for the June 15-21 contest.
They will be assembled near the county’s Environmental Services Building and normal public access will not be affected.
Mimi Griffin, president and CEO of MSG Promotions, will be in town to show the tents and upgrades that are available to clients, Pierce County spokesman Hunter George told the Tacoma News-Tribune.
Griffin’s company is responsible for corporate hospitality sales, operations and client services for U.S. Open events.
One of the tents will include a showroom and a scaled-down version of a two-story suite that will be available during the tournament, George said.
Construction for the event isn’t expected to begin until March.
Parking firming up
Park and ride locations are expected at the Tacoma Dome, the Puyallup Fairgrounds and Fort Steilacoom Park.
There has been no announcement of any park and ride lots west of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, a short jaunt from the waterfront course.
The USGA has now ruled out sailgating, ferries, or cruise ships as a solution, because of Coast Guard restrictions.
Tickets for the first round of play are still available, with the final three days sold out.
PT course news
Port Townsend Golf Club will host the annual two-person scramble Hilltop Open on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Play will begin at 10 a.m. and cost for the event is $40 per player and includes KP’s, LP, prizes and Judy Lundgren’s “world-famous lasagna,” following play up at the Hilltop Tavern.
Phone the course at 360-385-4547 or stop by to get in the game.
Winter rates are in effect until March at the course: $13.75 for nine holes and $18 for all-day play.
Glad for golf shoes
My trusty pair of golf shoes came through in the clutch once again while covering that Quilcene football game.
The contest was played in a driving rain that turned field conditions from wet to swampy.
I wore my golf cleats while doing stats along the muddy sidelines and managed to stay upright, no small feat for a man of ample proportions.
My golf shoes have previously provided traction on snow and ice.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or pdngolf@gmail.com.
