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Here are the white dots that separate greens and fairways at Chambers Bay this week
Countless times this week, you'll hear how Chambers Bay doesn't have a typical U.S. Open look or feel. And it's true. The lack of rough. The wide, rolling fairways. The extra-firm and sloping greens.
One of the most unique characteristics of Chambers Bay is the fact that many of the fairways roll right into the greens, so it makes it hard to distinguish between the two -- which is an essential aspect for rules and ball-marking purposes.
So to make it easier for players and rules officials, the USGA has marked where the greens start with white dots around the perimeters.
With the severe mounding and bowl-shape of many of Chambers Bay's greens, it's actually pretty tough to distinguish between the two.
Does this have the potential for some questionable situations? Only time will tell. But Jason Day summed up nicely yesterday why he thinks it won't be an issue:
"I think they've done a good job with it really because they've put most of them on slopes to where the ball probably won't stop or won't roll down or won't roll away. Sorry, it will roll away, sorry. So with that said -- because if you look, you can't really see where the green is."
Thinking about it another way, it will make approach shots a lot more difficult, as Day talked about:
"If you're hitting into a flag, it looks like the green is all the way down the fairway. I don't think there will be any issue with people knowing if it's on the green or not because they are -- where the dots are, they're on the hills."
It also will give people options around the greens, sort of like Pinehurst No. 2 last year. Which puts an emphasis on creativity and imagination -- two more words you'll hear a LOT of this week.