Players brace for rollercoaster at Chambers Bay

Golfers are sticklers for routine, mainly because their career is based upon repetition of the same thing, day in, day out.

So, throw in an unknown variable like Chambers Bay, next week’s venue for the US Open, which has a number of variables itself, and it is certain to ruffle a few feathers.

For the first time in 45 years, the tournament will make its debut at a new course, a public links-style track in the far north-west, which hosts a professional tournament for the first time.

Te fact it is not Bethpage, Pinehurst, Pebble Beach or any of the other more recognisable courses in the US has had many professionals worrying out loud.

“As far as the greens are concerned, it’s not a championship golf course,” Ryan Palmer told USA Today.

“Not with the way some of the greens are and the pin placements they can put out there.”

Asked about some of the green complexes he added: “Put a quarter in the machine and go for a ride.”

His criticism did not stop there. Among the quirks of Chambers Bay are sloping tee boxes and holes which not only have two tees, but can also change par throughout the week, depending on how the USGA want to set it up.

“The idea of tee boxes ... is ridiculous,” Palmer added. “That’s not golf. I don’t care what anybody says.

“It will get a lot of bad press from the players. It is a joke. I don’t understand it.”

England’s Ian Poulter said a while back he had canvassed opinion from some fellow pros who told him that Chambers Bay was a “farce”.

Well several players have played Chambers Bay in prep for US Open. The reports back are its a complete farce. I guess someone has to win.

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) April 29, 2015

However, the designer of the course, the renowned Robert Trent Jones Jr, quite likes the idea of the players being taken out of their comfort zone.

“It doesn’t bother me at all. Our national championship is the sternest test in golf. It is going to be unexpected,” he said.

“The players that are on tour are used to having everything done for them, having their cars and their drivers, having greens that are smooth and flat. They make 20-footers like I used to make three-footers.

“The idea of coming in and playing two practice rounds and having your caddie just walk it and using your yardage book, that person’s done. They will not win the US Open.”

Many of the players have already made several trips out west and Tiger Woods said his first practice round took him seven hours, as he tried to work out all the combinations and connotations.

“The first time you play it, it’s like St Andrews; you don’t know where to go,” said five-time major winner Phil Mickelson.

“I can see why the first impression isn’t as favourable for some, but I think the more you play it, the more you like it.”

And the more you understand it, just like American Peter Uihlein, who won the US Amateur there in 2010 after conquering the hills and bumps.

Of one experience on the 12th green he recalled: “I putted it off the green, up the hill and back down to a couple of feet.”

It is that sort of vision which will most likely prevail next week.