Normally, controversy about the U.S. Open usually happens during the week of the championship. Traditionally players will complain about the length of the rough, the speed of the greens and maybe the conversion of a par five into a par four.
But this year things are different. With four weeks before play starts the sniping at the USGA has begun. Or should I say the sniping at Executive Director Mike Davis has begun.
Last month Davis stated that Chambers Bay isn’t like any course the PGA touring pros play every week. 
“I would contend that there is no way a player will have success here at Chambers Bay unless he really studies the golf course and learns it,” he said during media day for the U.S. Open. “The idea of coming in and playing two practice rounds and just walking it and using your yardage book, that person is done. Will not win the U.S. Open.”
Many players took that as an insult and leveled some remarks back at Davis.
“We’ll play for second,” said former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson.
“What’s Mike Davis’ handicap?” Rory McIroy asked.
“The reports back are its a complete farce. I guess someone has to win,” Tweeted Ian Poulter.
Now, I believe Davis wasn’t trying to belittle today’s pro. But rather endorse the concept of Chambers Bay being such a different layout from every other U.S. Open course these players have seen.
Davis is a golf geek and in particular a golf course geek. He sees a course differently from a player, pro or amateur. And these pros should be thankful for that. It is under Davis’ watch that the U.S. Open setup has evolved from the most penal in golf history to a setup that fits each course individually.
I think that Davis was saying that a different attack may be needed at Chambers Bay. The bomb and gouge method may not be suited for this links style layout. Much of the game there will be along the ground, and it will play more like an Open Championship than an U.S. Open.
Chambers Bay designer, Robert Trent Jones II calls his creation “a true links course.” And we have all heard enough about playing a links course versus a parkland course to know there is a difference.
None other than Bobby Jones was so frustrated at links golf that he walked off the Old Course at St. Andrews the first time he played it. But after playing and embracing links golf St. Andrews became a second home to him.
The subtleties and intricacies that make up a links layout versus a parkland course are what the U.S. Open players will need to learn. The bumps and mounds and hillocks that direct balls towards trouble is just one of the facets that Davis thinks will require more than a casual practice round or two.
Just about every golf course designer calls St. Andrews the best design ever. But no one would ever build another Old Course today because it’s too quirky, too short and just too odd.
But that doesn’t stop architects and designers from using many of its attributes in their new builds. That can be seen at Chambers Bay.
With one comment about what will be required for a golf course hardly anyone knows, Davis added a layer of mystique to Chambers Bay. And perhaps he introduced the one element of a U.S. Open that often gets overlooked.
It’s all about attitude.
Jack Nicklaus is famous for saying how he would listen to players complain about the U.S. Open and figure that was one less guy to beat that week.
And that’s the truth. I listened to Bubba Watson complain about Pinehurst No.2 and how it didn’t fit him. He missed the cut.
So while attitude will certainly play a huge role in any player’s success at Chambers Bay what Davis is saying is that this isn’t your daddy’s U.S. Open.
It’s more like your great-great-grand dad’s Open. If he was born in Scotland.
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