The 3 key holes to unlocking Chambers Bay

No 9 "Olympus", 224-yard par three

Thu, 18 Jun, 2015 - 01:00

The 246-yard 15th, home to the only tree on the course - a Douglas Fir - may be longer but at least it has only one tee box. Olympus has two, one high up, offering the most severe downhill shot in US Open history, the other low down and built at the request of the USGA to give it the ability to mix things up and play the hole uphill.

The drama is likely to come from the former with a severe 100-foot drop from tee to hole and views out over Puget Sound set to make spectacular viewing.

For those playing that shot, there is added intrigue given the tee box is sheltered from the wind by a dune and its direction downhole is therefore more difficult to discern.

This could be a real difference maker at the end of a testing front nine.

No 14 “Cape Fear”, 546-yard par four

Another dramatic downhill tee shot but this time with a large, centrally-placed and recently-deepened bunker that requires a 320-yard carry.

Going left of it has a higher risk-reward from a narrower landing area skirted by waste ground but offering a shorter approach shot.

The right-hand route is the more conservative option into a large green with a ridge.

No 18 “Tahoma”, 525-yard par four or 604-yard par five

Rory McIlroy gets a last look at Chambers Bay, here hitting his approach to the 18th green. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/PW59JnRoAA
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 17, 2015

Any championship worth its salt requires a testing, potentially game-changing final hole and Chambers Bay provides it with Tahoma. Like the opening hole, 18 can play as either a par four or a par five, with the plan to play one as a four and one as a five and then switch each day.

Key to the 18th in either guise is the bunker in the middle of the fairway 120 yards short of a severely undulating green, nicknamed “The Chambers Basement” As the deepest in US Open history at 10 feet, it’s easy to understand why.

As a par-four, there is a 290-yard carry down the left with plenty of roll. As a par-five, with the landing zone at a diagonal, a longer carry to the right is more aggressive but offers a better angle of approach and the chance to reach the green in two.