As I was being told by a steward that I could neither stand in the dunes overlooking the 11th green nor could I wander anywhere near the 12th tee, I heard on the US Open radio that Jordan Spieth was about to make eagle (and nearly an albatross) on the 8th, but there were no spectators there to see it other than a few scattered about 50 feet above along on access road. Sure you could see it on TV but it may have looked a bit strange.
A little while later Rickie Fowler drove the green on the par four 12th to set up an eagle. Spectators at the green would have seen his ball come on to the green but nobody was at the tee or along the fairway to witness it.
This wasn't because golf fans at a US Open have suddenly lost interest in two of the current best players in the world, but because it is not possible to view the play in the normal way a spectator would at a tournament at this particular US Open.
The 12th is a driveable par four, potentially a pivotal and exciting hole. Something is wrong if nobody can see what is going on anywhere on the hole other than at the green. And to get to the 12th green from the 11th requires about a kilometre walk around a hospitality area and a forest!
The 8th is also a baffling one. Significant rework went into the hole to prepare it for the US Open. It also has a natural grandstand all along the left that would serve as a prime vantage point. Instead of shaping it such that it is suitable for spectators the USGA have closed it off and spectators cannot walk along the hole on either side. They say the dunes are too steep and too dangerous...it should have been addressed / factored into decisions instead of the options they have chosen.
Some of the most dramatic tee shots are closed off to spectators - 5, 9, 14 and 15 for example. The USGA will argue you can get up behind the tees but the point is that fans are being kept well away from the players unnecessarily.
The golf course is exceptional, but the interests of the spectators seem to be secondary. The R&A would not stand for it, which is why the Open Championship is arguably the best spectator event in the world. You can get up close and personal in most cases and breathe many of the shots. This week at Chambers Bay you are struggling in places even with binoculars.
You cannot get near any of the tees in fact and you cannot get around the greens except for limited areas and small grandstands that only cover a relatively small section of the available greenside space. Many fairways cannot be walked even on one side let alone two. Negotiating the 1st/10th/18th complex is a mission. The 12th and 8th you could say are out of bounds!
It is was never going to be a straightforward course for spectators given the elevation changes, high dunes and waste areas, however there are also plenty of potentially excellent vantage points that have not been utilised. The restrictions on spectator movement are excessive and the decision to block off access to most tees is nothing short of criminal!
Somehow the USGA have managed to convert a course that was designed to host a major tournament into a major headache. I still saw some spectacular things, but I had to work very hard for it and that is far from ideal.
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