Will The Chambers Bay Greens Become The Story?

The players are understandably frustrated with the Chambers Bay greens, which look awful on HD TV and not a whole lot better in person.

As I noted in this item for GolfDigest.com, the speed inconsistency most bothered Phil Mickelson late in his round, though the USGA's Stimpmeter numbers suggest otherwise. (Bob Harig also tackled the topic, with comments from Monty.)

The bigger issue may be the inconsistency in quality from green-to-green. The more recently grown-in fescue greens (7, 13, etc.) are superior to the older ones infested with in-full-bloom poa.

But how much complaining is warranted when, according to Justin Ray, the 72.72 field scoring average in round one was the second easiest U.S. Open start over the last 20 years. Not since Olympia Fields in 2003 have players had it so "easy."

There is also the issue of whether it's the responsibility of the superintendent to provide perfectly consistent speeds from practice putting green to the 18th. I say no. It's up to the player to figure out and note the differences. However, the stress of tournament conditions along with the recent warm spell have added a stress element that has the greens on our radar as the rest of this U.S. Open plays out.

It's hard to say what the weather will do over the next three days, but here's the local expert's take so far.