With just seven weeks until the 2015 Open is held at the unique public facility outside of Tacoma, Wash., pros are making public statements suggesting its setup may be a “farce” and its greens may not be championship-caliber.

While the 2015 U.S. Open is still seven weeks away (June 18-21), the start of the annual grumbling among players about the championship has already started, USA Today reported. And the unusual features of this year’s setting, Chambers Bay, outside of Tacoma, Wash., may make it “a ticking bomb that could detonate an onslaught of criticism from the players,” USA Today said.

As detailed in a C&RB cover story in 2008, http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2008/11/01/sudden-impact/, Chambers Bay is a public facility, managed by KemperSports, built on a 950-acre plot with two miles of Puget Sound beachfront that had been abandoned for many years after being used for a variety of industrial purposes, including paper and lumber mills and an open-pit sand and gravel mine. The golf course portion of the property has only one tree (left purposely during construction as a signature “Lone Pine”) and is a 100% fescue links layout. The United States Golf Association (USGA) named Chambers Bay as the site of the 2015 U.S. Open less than a year after it opened for play in September 2007 (it also hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur).

And as touring pros have begun to venture out to Tacoma to get in rounds in preparation for the 2015 Open, USA Today reported, not all of their reviews have been favorable.

“As far as the greens are concerned, it’s not a championship golf course; not with the way some of the greens are and the pin placements they can put out there,” said Ryan Palmer, a touring pro who played Chambers Bay on April 27 before heading to participate in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Another touring pro known for his outspokenness, Ian Poulter, tweeted on April 28 that he had talked to some players who had been to the course and they told him it was a “farce,” USA Today reported. Poulter’s comments came after USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said in a news conference on April 27 that some of Chambers Bay’s tee boxes could be set up on uphill, downhill or side hill slopes, which would be a first in any professional tournament, let alone a major championship, USA Today reported.

Davis also said during that news conference that two holes at Chambers Bay– the first and the 18^th—could switch pars during the tournament, with each playing as a par-4 one day and as a par-5 the next.

“[Davis’] idea of tee boxes on down hills, up hills and side hills is ridiculous. That’s not golf. I don’t care what anybody says,” Palmer said. “It will get a lot of bad press from the players. It is a joke. I don’t understand it. I just don’t know why they would do it.

“Tee to green, the course is OK. It’s not bad,” Palmer added. “It’s a great piece of land, great scenery. Very fair off the tee.

“We played it soft. The greens were rolling 9s (on the Stimpmeter). If they get it rolling 10 and 12, it will be interesting,” Palmer said of the massive green complexes on the course, which feature large mounds, plenty of bumps and are largely unpredictable and will bring into play.

“The green complexes are something else,” Palmer continued. “With some of the pin placements, you will see some guys play it 30 yards left, 30 yards right or 30 yards long, and next thing you know you’ll have a 2-footer. Or you’ll be 75 feet from the pin.

“You have to spend so much time on the greens, practice rounds are going to take eight hours,” Palmer said. “Every green has like five or six greens on it.”