The moment Dustin Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a Whistling Straits bunker Aug. 15 – the miscue on No. 18 cost him a chance to advance to a playoff for the PGA Championship – concerns about a controversy regarding the definition of hazards turned toward Chambers Bay, primary home of the 2010 U.S. Amateur.
Just like Whistling Straits, Chambers Bay is a links-style course built on and around sand. Unlike Whistling Straits, the bunkers at Chambers Bay are clearly defined from the sandy waste areas. In accordance with USGA rules, it is permissible for a golfer to ground a club in a waste area.
“No confusion around here,” Florida State’s Brooks Koepka said after his practice round Sunday.
“I don’t foresee any problems,” continued Koepka, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s co-player of the year for a Seminoles team that finished third in the NCAA Championships. “I know a lot of people were disappointed last week, but it is what it is.”
Some of the confusion at Whistling Straits was caused by the size of the gallery. Johnson assumed that since fans were allowed to stand in what the local rules defined as a bunker, it was OK for his club to touch the ground prior to the shot.
Nobody at Chambers Bay figures to be similarly duped.
“At a PGA or a U.S. Open, it’s another issue,” Mike Davis, the USGA’s senior director of rules and competitions, told Golfweek magazine the other day.
“But at a U.S. Amateur, where we don’t expect daily crowds of more than 4,000-5,000, it’s much easier.”
Still, Davis emphasized the benefits of caution.
“When in doubt,” he said, “treat it as a hazard rather than as (an) area through the green where you can ground the club.”
CHAMBERS UNIQUE
University of Iowa junior Barrett Kelpin is familiar with links courses of the Midwest – he’s played Whistling Straits, in Wisconsin, as well as Michigan’s Arcadia Bluffs – but he saw enough Chambers Bay during his Sunday practice round to consider it unique.
“This place is in its own league,” he said. “It’s exciting. I’ve never played anything like this. It definitely has a different feel.”
Kelpin said he thinks caddies could be crucial this week.
“There’s a lot of different ways to play the greens – you have to use your imagination – and local knowledge is a factor,” he said. “The caddie I had today has been here three years, and probably has a 1,000 rounds of experience with the course. That’s a nice advantage.”
He’S GOT THEIR BACKS
Aching backs are an occupational hazard with golfers, whose 100 mph swings require a torque that’s not a natural motion. While a medical staff travels to every PGA Tour destination, the U.S. Amateur is relying on therapists from the nearby area.
Dr. Jason Stockton, who has worked with several Tacoma Rainiers players at Tacoma Family Chiropractic, will be the on-site back specialist at Chambers Bay this week.
“If a tournament is played at an established country club, a lot of times the country club will have an in-house chiropractor,” Stockton said. “But this is a municipal-owned course, so that’s why I’m here.”
Stockton should stay especially busy for the first two days of the tournament, before the field of 312 is reduced to the 64 who’ll continue onto match play Wednesday. In addition to having the players’ backs, Stockton, a lifelong golf fan with an intimate knowledge of Chambers Bay, will be happy to offer course-management tips to his patients.
“What makes this tournament so fun,” Stockton said, “is the variety of players. You’ve got college kids, and even some kids still in high school, out there with some guys in their 50s. It’s a great scene – and everybody’s so respectful and polite. I would think that if you’re a parent, one of the first things you’d want to do is put a golf club in your kid’s hands.”
john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com
Editor's note: This story was edited to correct the name of back specialist Dr. Jason Stockton.
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