HACK-IT-OLOGY TURNS INTO A BATTLE OF SEMANTICS FOR ONE PACIFIC NORTHWEST PURIST

by Tony Dear

Just to reassure you, I am of sound mind andbody, not under duress or the inluence of any substances, illegal or otherwise, that I am not being coerced, threatened or blackmailed in any way, and that I retain possession of all my mental faculties. And I want you to know that I think Chambers Bay is a superb golf course and definitely worthy of stagging the U.S. Open.

Did you hear me? Shall I say that again?

Chambers Bay is a genuinely great golf course!

So there you have it. Now there can be no doubt about how highly I regard the epic Trent Jones/Charlton/ Blasi masterpiece overlooking Puget Sound. I’ve played it a couple of times — in sunshine and howling winds — and am planning on getting back there in April by which time the temperature in western Washington will hopefully allow for seaside golf. Really, there are very few places, in the Pacific Northwest at least, where I’d rather tee it up.

The thing is, though — and please give me a chance to explain myself — in FG’s second-round Hack-it-ology matchup between Chambers Bay and Tobiano, another Pacific Northwest (well, Canadian Southwest) titan, my vote went to … wait for it … a bit more … Tobiano!

I’m aware that Chambers Bay has won by a landslide and that the screaming fools who opted for Tobiano (pictured above) will be ridiculed mercilessly andaccused of wasting their vote in making a defiant, but ultimately pathetic, attempt to exert their independence and democratic right to choose whoever or whatever they want, man.

But I had my reasons.

It was really no contest though. Chambers Bay won so many “Best New Course” awards last year, it could have gone up against Pine Valley in 1918, Pebble Beach in 1919, or Augusta National in 1932 and still received a ton of votes. Plus, “Best New Canadian” doesn’t ever evoke too much excitement in the Lower 48. So what business did I have picking Tobiano?

Let me begin by explaining my irrational, trivial, not to say infantile, objection, to Chambers Bay: It bills itself as “Pure Links Golf.” There are diehard Scots, lifetime members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, who would have absolutely no problem whatsoever with that statement; agree with it wholeheartedly, in fact.

But somewhere deep in my soul, a voice is whispering, “No, it’s not.”

If you’ve read any of the half million or so previews and reviews of Chambers Bay that have appeared during the last three years, you’ll be familiar with the history of the 250-acre parcel upon which the course now sits. You’ll know that in 2003, when project manager Tony Tipton began the process of deciding how best to use the space, there was nothing there but a deep, flat pit and a few large piles of sand dotted about the place. The view from Grandview Drive looking west was not of a wild and rugged dunescape or pristine linksland, but rather the remnant of a once heavily industrial site. To build the dunes that now give Chambers Bay its character, more than a million cubic yards of sand and dirt were trucked in and worked into ridges and mounds that do, admittedly, bear more than a passing resemblance to those of Royal Portrush, Turnberry and, yes, Bandon Dunes.

So you see, my quibble isn’t with the course itself which, you’ll remember, I think is brilliant, a magnificent feat of engineering and more than capable of holding its own against the best players in the world during a major championship. It’s the choice of words used to market it. Yes, it looks like links golf; plays like links golf; sounds and smells like links golf; and, for all intents and purposes, is links golf. But for me, creating the dunes from scratch somehow taints the purity.

That doesn’t detract one bit from the quality of the layout, nor does it affect the intense pleasure one gets from playing it. It’s just that every time I see the words “Pure Links Golf,” my built-in marketing-speak sensors, calibrated to detect even minor hyperbole from several miles away, suddenly whir into action.

I told you my protest was asinine. It’s so dumb, in fact, I couldn’t possibly use it, and it alone, to deny Chambers Bay my vote. There had to be another reason.

There was: Tobiano is really, really, really good.

Published in FG Magazine, March 2009

AMERICA'S MOST HONORED MAGAZINE AT ING AWARDS
It’s getting to be a habit, and we can’t seem to help ourselves. For the fourth straight year, FG racked up an impressive load of hardware at the International Network of Golf Media Awards announced at January’s PGA Merchandise Show. We scored six awards in all, besting writers and photographers from such national publications as GolfWeek and Sports Illustrated. First-place honors went to Vic Williams in Competition Writing for his piece on Tiger’s historic U.S. Open victory (July-August 2008), Joann Dost for her epic shot of Tiger’s 72nd hole putt on Open Sunday; and Calder Chism for his “Weekend Wisdom” drawing of Vic in the May-June 2008 issue. Outstanding Achievement awards went to Williams and Darin Bunch for Travel Writing. Other FG contributors who took home awards included Tony Dear and Bob Seligman. Next year, look for the clean sweep.