Chambers Bay Last Look – Hole Rankings
Thanks to all of the plays from the great community involved with The Golf Club, all of the versions of Chambers Bay in the game became handicap ranked after last week’s US Open. Using the USGA’s outstanding Chambers Bay course section on their website, we are able to see just how difficult that each hole played at each pin location during each day. Let’s take a look at Chambers Bay, WA (Sunday) and see how the TGC community played it compared to the pros.
Hole 1
Sunday (Par 4) – 5th hardest
TGC (Sunday – Par 4) – 8th
This pin: Back left – Friday (Par 5) – 15th
The 1st hole played as a par 4 on Sunday as I hoped it would, and the 1st proved to be a much more difficult hole as a par 4, as expected. The back left pin was used on Friday when the hole was a par 5, and made for a much easier start to the round.
Hole 2
Sunday – 10th
TGC – 14th
This pin: Front left – Thursday – 12th
The back half of the 2nd green provided the most difficult pin locations on Saturday and Sunday (7th and 10th), while the front and middle was much more accessible (12th and 14th). The TGC golfers found the front left pin to be slightly harder than the pros, who likely can spin the ball a bit better.
Hole 3
Sunday – 9th
TGC – 4th
This pin: Not used
The front right pin was a challenge in TGC, and one that even the USGA wouldn’t touch. The pros found this hole much easier, never playing harder than 9th as it did on Sunday.
Hole 4
Sunday – 2nd
TGC – 2nd
This pin: Front right – Sunday – 2nd
The 4th was either the 1st or 2nd most difficult for 3 of the 4 days in the US Open. The USGA actually broke out the front right pin twice here, including on Sunday. This pin caused trouble for pros and TGC golfers alike.
Hole 5
Sunday – 4th
TGC – 10th
This pin: Center – Sunday – 4th
A win for TGC here. Video game golfers scored much better on this pin than the pros did on Sunday. Let’s assume it was due to broccoli greens.
Hole 6
Sunday – 12th
TGC – 16th
This pin: Back left – Saturday – 9th
I’m surprised by the very strong performance by TGC golfers on this long, difficult hole. Not only did they play the hole better on Sunday, but they outperformed the pros on the back left pin by a wide margin.
Hole 7
Sunday – 3rd
TGC – 6th
This pin: Back center – Saturday – 3rd
The stretch of 4-7 was the toughest for the pros, while the TGC community played these holes quite well. The back 9 proved to be where some of the toughest holes were located on Sunday in TGC.
Hole 8
Sunday – 18th
TGC – 18th
This pin: Middle right – Thursday – 17th
This was an easy hole, any way you look at it. The hole was 17th or 18th each day for the pros.
Hole 9
Sunday – Low Tee – 14th
TGC – Low Tee – 12th
This pin: Back left – Low Tee – Sunday – 14th
A match on both the use of the low tee and the back left pin, the pros fared slightly better due to use of the backstop behind the hole. This was the easiest location for the pros by far, as the hole averaged either 5th or 7th on the first 3 days.
Hole 10
Sunday – 13th
TGC – 10th
This pin: Not used
The right side pin just beyond the bunker was one that the USGA decided to pass on. Sunday was the easiest for the pros, with the hole playing 9th, 9th, and 10th on the other 3 days and a close match to the TGC group.
Hole 11
Sunday – 1st
TGC – 11th
This pin: Middle left – Saturday – 2nd
Given the length of this hole and tough pin position, a surprisingly good performance by the TGC community. I saw lots of good usage of the right sideboard to get close to pin here.
Hole 12
Sunday – 17th
TGC – 17th
This pin: Front left – Fri & Sun – 18th & 17th
Another match here between the pros and TGC. This hole helped contribute to the most eagles ever in a U.S. Open, along with the 8th hole.
Hole 13
Sunday – 6th
TGC – 11th
This pin: Back right – Friday – 4th
Strong performance by the TGC golfers given the hole length, and even stronger at this pin location. This was a tough hole for the pros, even with the widest US Open fairway ever.
Hole 14
Sunday – 7th
TGC – 1st
This pin: Back left – Saturday – 4th
The length of the 14th caused a lot of problems in TGC, as the hole played from the back tee. The pros, on the other hand, could take on the center bunker and get a large kick forward by clearing it. The back left pin was the toughest for the pros all week here, though.
Hole 15
Sunday – 11th
TGC – 9th
This pin: Back right – Friday – 13th
A difficult hole location in TGC, the pros fared much better here on Sunday and especially on Friday at this back right pin.
Hole 16
Sunday – 15th
TGC – 7th
This pin: Back – Sunday – 15th
One of the greatest disparities on the course here. While a difficult pin position for all on the narrow back section of the green, the pros scored well on this driveable par 4. It played much longer in TGC, and landing near the pin was next to impossible.
Hole 17
Sunday – 8th
TGC – 5th
This pin: Right center – Thursday – 7th
Any pins on the right plateau of this green were touted as impossible to get near, and the predictions were just about right. We saw a pin here on Thursday and on Sunday, with the Sunday tee being much closer, and only a handful of pros were able to get close. In TGC, this pin was completely off limits on Sunday.
Hole 18
Sunday – Par 5 – 16th
TGC – Par 5 – 15th
This pin: Front right – Par 5 – Sat – 16th
The 18th played consistently across 3 days as the 16th ranked hole when playing as a par 5. The one day as a par 4 saw it playing as the 5th toughest hole. Hardly worthy of the fuss that was made over the hole, and may have ultimately led it to playing as a par 5 on Sunday. It proved for an exciting finish, however, and played roughly the same in TGC.