USGA officials acknowledge they ve been fielding complaints about unusually restrictive fan access to parts of the Chambers Bay golf course Jack Broom of the Seattle Times wrote noting that the USGA was recommending fans find seats in the grandstands rather than roaming a course with steep slopes.
Fans watch first fairway play from a distance (Getty Images)
I ve been to 10 majors including four U.S. Opens and this was the worst fan experience John Woodin 63 of Bellevue told Broom. This was an embarrassment.
That s why Fox analyst Greg Norman s response in a conversation with USGA President Tom O Toole early in the telecast on Sunday seemed odd. First the setup question asked by Tom Weiskopf.
Maybe the consideration in the future if you come back to do something more for the spectator getting them more involved closer to the game he said. Has that been talked about
Absolutely O Toole replied. We said all along we d do a post championship assessment. We said all along we knew this property has been difficult to traverse. We made a lot of adjustments after the Amateur here in 2010. Good point well taken. We have to be flexible looking at these sites post championship. We have to be critical of ourselves if we need to be. The spectator experience is very important here and we want it to be the best. And if we come back here there certainly will be adjustments.
This is when Norman countered with his experience mixing with the crowd on Saturday.
I actually walked with the spectators a little bit yesterday just to get their feedback he said. I specifically asked what do you guys think what do you think of the golf course how do you like it how s the presentation. One hundred percent of everyone was so enthusiastic and over the moon about the U.S. Open Championship being here.
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