Cole Hammer will be 15 years, 9 months and 21 days old when he tees off Thursday morning. The youngest-ever qualifier was Andy Zhang of China in 2012 at 14 years, 8 months.
UNIVERSITY PLACE — The third-youngest player in U.S. Open history says the older competitors in the field have been “really nice to me.”
Cole Hammer will be 15 years, 9 months and 21 days old when he tees off Thursday morning. The youngest-ever qualifier was Andy Zhang of China in 2012 at 14 years, 8 months.
Asked Tuesday about “the coolest thing so far,” Hammer said, “Being able to play with some of the guys you look up to, like Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Jordan Spieth. They’ve been really, really awesome.”
Hammer, who lives in Houston, shot 64-68, including birdies on four of his last five holes, to qualify at his sectional qualifier last week in Dallas.
One reason Hammer might be good at golf?
Tour Chambers Bay
Take a tour of the links-style course using our 3-D flyover, including videos featuring U.S. Open Championship Director Danny Sink.“I don’t like video games,” he said.
Barbara Nicklaus honored
For two weeks, Jack Nicklaus kept a secret from his family, a rarity. Nicklaus knew his wife, Barbara, had been named the recipient of the 2015 Bob Jones Award, the USGA’s highest honor given in recognition of a distinguished sportsman in golf.
It was an award her husband had won in 1975, but this time Jack kept it a secret until the couple’s grandkids and USGA president Tom O’Toole could inform Barbara in person.
“And you have to know that in our family we have a motto that we don’t tell Jack anything that we don’t want the world to know,” Barbara said at Chambers Bay on Tuesday.
She has been heavily involved in charitable work for children.
Jack Nicklaus on Chambers Bay
Jack Nicklaus walked Chambers Bay on Tuesday and thought it was “really interesting.”
Nicklaus also addressed the issue of playing the U.S. Open at a new, unknown course.
“That’s a two-edged sword in many ways,” Nicklaus said. “You’ve got to try a new venue. And if that doesn’t work out the way you want it because you don’t really know about it, you get egg on your face. Then again you come to the Pacific Northwest, which has never had the U.S. Open. The excitement that is created here.
“I have no idea how it will play or what it will do. But frankly I really like the looks of it. I thought it was a very, very appealing golf course from the eye. As I say, I haven’t played it, so I don’t know how it plays. But I think that that will — we’ll see that as it happens during the week. I think the USGA will make good, common sense in making sure that the golf course is playable.”
Trains ‘kind of cool’
Dozens of trains pass by the course daily, and players will have to deal with them. Ryan Moore said he was putting on the second green during a practice round “it was actually really weird seeing something moving in your peripheral vision.”
Other holes where trains will be a factor are No. 16 and 17 that run adjacent to the tracks and the No. 18 tee.
Moore said the pros sometimes have to deal with distractions and noted that players this year had to deal with cars honking horns on a busy street that passed near holes at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco during the WGC-Match Play Championship.
Regarding possible distractions from trains, Moore said, “I don’t think it should be too bad.” He said the proximity of the trains is “actually kind of cool.”
Asked about the trains, Rickie Fowler drew laughter when he said, “I don’t really think they’re a distraction. I’m going to try not to hit them.”
Notes
• During a practice round Tuesday, Cameron Tringale made a hole-in-one with a 3-iron on the 226-yard par-3 ninth hole from the tee that makes it a slightly uphill hole. He joked that it was actually a “hole in two” because his first tee shot went into a bunker. Golfers routinely hit extra shots during practice rounds.
• Graeme McDowell, 2010 U.S. Open winner, on the course: “”It’s got a few holes which have me scratching my head, but mostly I think it’s a fantastic test.”
Asked about the putting surfaces, McDowell said, “They’re varied. Some of the surfaces are very good, and some of them are pretty average.”
McDowell said the greens “don’t perhaps look that good to the naked eye, but they actually putt a lot better than they look.”
• Henrik Stenson was recovering from an illness in April when he made a scouting trip to Chambers Bay, and he said he chose to just walk the course rather than play it.
“If you hit one to the left and one to the the right, you’ve got to start worrying about your swing instead of seeing the golf course,” he said. So I think a lot of times as a first look it’s probably the best just to walk around it and take everything in and do a better job of seeing the course.”
• The University of Georgia leads college representation with eight past or present players in the field. Oklahoma State has five. Florida and Texas have four. Washington is one of seven schools with three former players — the recently graduated Cheng-Tsung Pan, Richard Lee and Troy Kelly.
• Paul Casey is one golfer in the field with an eye-popping victory in the Northwest. In 1999 he won the Pac-10 championship at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle with a record round of 60 while playing for Arizona State.