Back in 2012, I played Chambers Bay for the first time. Even though a lot of memorable shots were struck over the course of the day, my favorite belongs to the man who would eventually become the best man at my wedding.
There is an exceptionally deep bunker about 100 yards out on the 18th hole, that no one would ever want to visit. You will undoubtedly see pros at the US Open doing everything possible to avoid it. My man John had other ideas, he went right into the middle of that boss providing me this excellent photo opportunity. You can sense his excitement in the photo. He escaped and made bogie.
This past weekend, John was again in town and we decided to have another go at Chambers Bay. On the front nine, the birdies flew and both of us came to the 18th safely into the low 70's. John was now acutely aware of the bunker from his last visit, but John is not the sort of man that will back down! He went right after it sending his layup directly at the massive sand pit. While it is poor form to wish another golfer such a miserable fate, I was obviously cheering that ball on.. "Oh, oh, get in there!!" His ball rolled right into the heart of the beast again.
John is now 2 for 2 on trips to chambers bay and trips to that bus sized bunker. To his credit, he made a great run at saving par, but carded another bogie. As you can see in the photo, his excitement for this beach has only increased over time. What a legend.
Same pants, same bunker, different hand gesture.