U.S. Open (Golf) Fan Guide 2015

1 1 5 T H U . S . O P E N C H A M B E R S B A Y
11
WALK
From 10
“It’s more of a hike than a walk,”
Chambers Bay general manager Matt Allen
said.
How hard could it really be, I thought. If
you can hit the ball straight, a round-trip at
Chambers Bay is 6 1 ⁄2 miles with 1,000
vertical feet of climbing.
On the 1-to-5 scale The Mountaineers
outdoor education organization uses to rate
hike difficulties, it would most likely score a
3. “Moderate: A good workout, but no real
problems.”
So, I decided to run a little experiment. I
rounded up playing partners with various
fitness levels and headed to Chambers Bay to
see what kind of toll the course would take.
My foursome: Stacia Glenn, 33, the
undisputed fittest reporter at The News
Tribune and an avid outdoor athlete who’s
climbed multiple 20,000-foot peaks. Scott
Oberstaller, 61, a News Tribune copy editor
who describes himself as being “in golf
shape.” And Trevor Pettingill, 38, owner of
Elite Physical Therapy and participant in the
2004 Olympic Trials for the marathon.
I’d serve as the guy in the middle. The one
in decent shape, but with a sketchy back and
knees.
Oberstaller and Pettingill golf regularly.
Oberstaller usually expects to break 90.
Pettingill is happy to break 100. Glenn and I
don’t play. I hadn’t played in at least two
years. This was Glenn’s first round.
But golf prowess was beside the point. I
wanted to know how they’d feel after the
round. Three of us carried our bags.
Oberstaller used a push cart.
We weren’t particularly fast, but we
weren’t slow, either. We finished our round
in 4 hours, 40 minutes, right at the pace
Allen likes to see golfers play the course.
Not bad, I thought, considering some of us
weren’t exactly hitting the ball straight. I ran
a GPS-tracking app during my round and
found I chased my ball 8 miles around the
6 1 ⁄2-mile course.
The course undulates with plenty of uphill
to test your fitness and downhill to test your
knees. The walk from the third green to the
fourth tee is enough of a climb that course
marshals offered to shuttle us in a golf cart.
We declined.
“If you’re not in good shape, that’s going to
exhaust you. That’s a pretty good climb,”
Pettingill said.
He and Glenn weren’t even breathing
heavy on the hill. Oberstaller was, but it
didn’t affect his game.
In fact, moments later Oberstaller
scrambled up a dune and was breathing
heavily as he examined a terrible lie. He
CRAIG HILL Staff writer
Stacia Glenn, an avid mountaineer and outdoor athlete, had no problem walking the Chambers
Bay Course as a first-time golfer. She went rock climbing and trail running after her round.
calmed his breathing
then lofted the ball
onto the green to set
up a par putt. He’d
do this on several
occasions.
Oberstaller wasn’t
particularly happy
with the 94 he shot,
but it was the best Scott Oberstaller
score in our group, 11
strokes ahead of
Pettingill. I shot 120.
Glenn didn’t keep
score.
The course
affected us each
differently.
For Glenn, it was
little more than a
warmup. That
evening she went Trevor Pettingill
rock climbing near
North Bend, followed
by a trail run up
Rattlesnake Ridge.
Pettingill, who
usually limits his
rounds to nine holes
in the interest of
time, worked a full
shift that afternoon.
He was surprised the Stacia Glenn
next morning to find
he had a sore hip
flexor.
Oberstaller said he was tired that evening
but otherwise felt fine.
I, on the other hand, was face down on the
fairway by the final hole. The combination of
the uneven weight of my golf bag draped
over my right shoulder and swinging clubs
for the first time in two years had aggravated
my surgically repaired back.
I dropped to the fairway to do a press up
(think cobra pose in yoga), an exercise
Pettingill recommended for relieving the
pain. I was so stiff, Pettingill placed his foot
on my lower back so my form would be
correct. (It was about this time PGA pro Brad
Faxon started making his way up the fairway.
As he passed, he gave me an inquisitive look.)
The pain relented enough for me to go on
a short bike ride that evening, but it wasn’t
completely gone for a few days.
I was surprised to be taken down by the
pretty course and gentle game. Suddenly, the
idea of doing this every day for a week —
even just walking the course as a spectator —
seemed a little harder than I expected.
Pettingill wasn’t surprised, however. When
it comes to handling the course, what our
bodies are used to doing is as much a factor
as our fitness levels, he said.
So it make sense that Glenn wouldn’t have
problems. She spends much of her spare
time hiking with a heavy pack for long
distances and over hilly terrain. And it makes
sense that Pettingill, playing twice as many
holes as he’s accustomed to, had a sore hip
flexor.
And while Oberstaller may have been
tired because he’s only in golf shape, it turns
out that when you’re playing golf, that’s good
enough.
Pettingill said he expects the course to
affect people in a variety of ways during the
U.S. Open, too.
“I don’t think it will be a problem for the
pro golfers because this is what they do,”
Pettingill said. “Fans not used to walking
might feel a little challenged.”
Craig Hill: 253-597-8497
A GOOD WALK
UNSPOILED
Golf asks more of its fans than most
sports. Football or basketball fans aren’t
typically required to do anything more
physically demanding than find their
seats. Golf fans, however, might walk as
far (or farther) than the players, depending
on how they choose to watch the
tournament.
Chambers Bay is especially demanding.
Following your favorite player around the
entire course would be a 6 1 ⁄2-mile walk
with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain,
course general manager Matt Allen said.
The U.S. Open’s official spectator guide
states: “Be conscious of your physical
limitations.”
“If you don’t do a lot of walking, you
probably want to take a few walks over
rolling hills to get ready,” Trevor Pettingill,
owner of Elite Physical Therapy,
said last month.
With practice rounds set to start Monday,
there’s not really enough time left to
get in shape for a week of walking the
undulating course, but here are some
other tips for making the U.S. Open more
enjoyable:
PICK A HOLE: Nobody said you have to
walk the entire course or follow your
favorite golfer. “I would suggest picking
a few spots you can walk back and forth
between,” Pettingill said, “especially if
you are going to be out there four day in
a row.”
There are 18,000 grandstand seats, Allen
said, “so you only have to walk as far as
you want to.”
FIND SHADE: “You might make one of
those (viewing) spots near a tent where
you can get out of the sun for a little bit,”
Pettingill said. And don’t forget the
sunscreen, Allen said.
HYDRATE: “You need to have plenty of
fluid on a hot day,” Pettingill said. “Exerting
yourself on those hills, you’re going
to run out of energy a little faster and get
dehydrated a little faster.”
GOOD FOOTWEAR: The uneven ground of
Chambers Bay is a bad place for heels,
flip flops and unsupportive footwear. The
first safety recommendation in the
spectator guide states: “Be sure to wear
appropriate footwear.”
craig.hill@thenewstribune.com
Friday, June 12, 2015 • Thenewstribune.com/Entertainment