The Mad Scramble at Chambers Bay

8/15/26

A few months ago, I watched a video from Random Golf Club, where they challenged a non-golfer to break 200. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. At some point in the video, RGC does a self-promotion for their Mad Scramble Tour, where they travel across the country and host 99-person scrambles. It sounded ridculous, and fun, and I instantly checked for availability. Luckily for me, they were coming to Chambers Bay, and they still had tickets available.

For those who don't know, most scrambles consist of four players. Play works as follows: each person hits their first shot. The group picks the best result, and everyone hits their second shot from that spot. The group continues this pattern until they hole out. Due to the nature of the format, teams usually score very low. They're always getting four chances from the best spot. A 99-person scramble takes this to the extreme, and is completely ridiculous.

Prior to the golfing day, I speculated with my golfing and non-golfing friends about how low our group would go for 9 holes. Shooting -11 felt almost innevitable. Surely the group would birdie every par 3 and par 4, and eagle every par 5. Was the group more likely to make an extra eagle somewhere (for -12), or make a birdie on one of the par 5s (for -10)? Most people, myself included, thought that -12 was the better bet. It didn't feel too crazy to imagine a short, or even drivable, par 4, and watch someone hole out from within 50 yards or less.

The first thing I did at Chambers was take an obligatory look across the course. The parking lot has one of the best views of the place, and you can see the whole course laid out below you.

At the driving range, some folks were mingling, some were hitting balls, some were putting, and some were drinking. The crowd came in all shapes and sizes, though it was mostly guys between 25 and 40. There were a couple of ladies, and one golfer who I'm guessing was only 8. I checked in and grabbed some swag. There were a number of sponsors, which I found somewhat surprising, but it helped make the event feel more real and official. When I checked in they told me there were 75 people in the group.

At 5:00, we were off. 75 of us gathered around the first teebox while Charl, our host, made some introductions. He explained how the scramble would work logistically, and highlighted how we were there to make golfing buddies and engage with each other. Jimmy from RGC took the first shot. Jimmy was the main caddy in the break-200 video, so I thought it was cool to see him in person. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been there. I was most excited to see Erik Anders Lang, since he's the main personality on the YouTube channel, and I had seen him in other videos. Unfortunately, Erik wasn't there, though I never heard why. Hopefully next time!

After Jimmy hit his shot, people spread out across the tee box. At any time there were 4-5 people swinging. Jimmy accidentally sent his tee ball down #10 instead of #1, so there was some confusion about where to aim. Folks would generally hang out behind the people swinging and hop in whenever they could. My own first shot was well-struck, but blocked right, and got caught up in the hill. Sadly I never found that one. I didn't feel too nervous, partically because so many other people were swinging, that it wasn't really an "all eyes on me" situation.

Once everyone had hit their tee shot, we played like normal! 75 people walked to get their ball, and met up at the best one. It was funny seeing so many people walk down the fairway. I particularly loved how we went in all directions, each person hunting for their own ball.

The first approach shot worked similarly to the tee ball. People spread out, stepped in to take their shot, stepped back when they were done, and we all watched the chaos unfold. The approach shot was even more humorous than the tee shot because we took up the entire fairway. We must've had 10 people swinging at once. We had about 185 to the pin. I hit a pretty good one - I'm almost positive I hit the green - but when I got up there I couldn't find it. I think someone must've picked up my ball (even though it had my name on it), so I quickly learned to keep a closer eye on it.

Someone had stuck it to about 8 feet. When it was time to putt, the group always gave the person who hit the closest shot an opportunity to sink their own putt. I really liked that. The iron hitter on this hole missed, and the rest of the group descended around their ball, wanting to make it for themselves. Normally in a scramble, the group puts a tee where the first ball is so that everyone knows where to putt from. You try to putt from pretty close to the tee, not only because you're not supposed to deviate from the ball, but also because you want to give everyone on the team a good read at the putt. In this scramble, the group spread out in a 150 degree arc around the hole, having 6-8 people putt at a time until someone made it. Naturally, it didn't take long for someone to sink the putt.

The rest of the round proceeded much like the first hole did. We picked the widest part of the teebox, hit our tee shots 4 at a time, dispersed to collect our balls, met up at the furthest ball, spread across the fairway, and hit our approach shots 8 at a time. Golfing abilities ran the gamut. Some people were clearly low, single-digit handicaps, and would consistently hit good shots, while others were golfers who had only been playing for a few months. Balls would fly off on in all directions: near, far, left, and right. Still, on all shots, we were virtually guaranteed to have a good one. At least one tee ball would be straight and far, and at least one approach shot would be within 10 feet. Many people wouldn't even grab their putters because they knew someone would make it pretty quickly. Between shots, folks would chit chat, asking "Where you from," "Played Chambers before," and "First time with Random Golf Club?"

On the 5th hole, we didn't hit to the 5th green. Instead, we combined holes 5 and 6 and hit to the 6th green. This made for a roughly 550 yard par 5. I hit a great drive on this one, and I knew there was a chance we'd use it. One thing about the drives is there wasn't much pomp and circumstance about them. On the teebox, so many people are hitting and chatting, that only a few people actually watch your shot. Good shots definitely get some cheers, but not many. Then, when you get to the ball in the fairway, people start hitting almost right away. Since the group takes up almost the entire fairway, you basically just pick the furthest. Anyway, on this adventure hole, I was more or less tied with another ball in distance. Theirs was more left, though still in the fairway. I'm curious which one we would've taken if it had been a 4-person scramble. I'm counting this as taking 0.5 of my shots.

Our approach shot on the same hole was a blind, 250 yard shot over a huge mound. I went with my 3 wood. I struck it well, though it was aimed right, tracking towards a bunker, and...it just cleared it and took a hard bounce left, rolling out of view behind the mound. It kicked so hard that I wondered if it rolled off the left side of the green. I got some compliments on the strike, but I don't think anyone else saw the ball bounce the way I did.

As we walked up, there was only one ball on the green, about 40 or 50 feet from the pin. I was 50/50 on it being mine, because there was a small collection area on the left side of the green. Luck was on my side though, and it turned out to be yours truly! They gave me an opportunity to make the eagle putt, and it was fun to have everyone watching, though I misjudged the uphill and left it a little short. Everyone else gave the putt a try, and while one or two lipped out, nothing dropped. It was the only putt we didn't make that day. We collectively deemed we got a birdie on a hard par 5.

Hole #7, a straightaway true par 5, was the other highlight for me. I hit my drive pretty well, but it fell left and hit the side of a hill with some thick grass and loose dirt. I couldn't tell if it came down, and I knew there was a good chance that it got stuck up there. As we walked down the fairway, the group picked out a ball that was clearly the furthest, and I went looking for mine in the grass. After 1-2 minutes, I couldn't find it and gave up. I joined the group and noticed that there was a ball sitting out there that no one was hitting. Turns out it was mine! It didn't feel like I hit it that far, but it must've bounced forward off the hill. The only other explanation is that someone grabbed it in the rough and put it out there for me. I didn't see that happen though, and it seems like a faux pas anyway. I'm counting it as mine.

The drive left us about 240 out, and I grabbed my 3 wood again. By the time it was my turn, most people had already hit. The rate at which golfers were stepping out was decreasing, which meant I had more eyes on me than usual. I took a deep breath and went for it. I pured it. It was one of the best shots of my life. As soon as it left the face I knew it was a great shot, and the people behind me did too. I got a lot of cheers and "nice shot!" - more than usual. I watched it leak a hair left, but knew it was going to land on the green. I turned around to give someone else a chance to shoot, and to collect my fist bumps and high fives. While doing so there was another round of "oohs!" The ball rolled right by the hole, almost going in.

When we got up there, there were only 2 balls on the green, and one of them was much closer than the other. It was only about 12 feet from the hole. The people who had watched me hit it already knew whose was closest.

As per usual, I got a chance to make the putt myself. Charl gave me a fist bump for the approach, and I told him we used my drive too, so this was for a solo eagle. He announced it to the group, which added another layer of tension. I took my time, but unfortunately it didn't drop. On the bright side, I didn't leave it short, and it took only a handful of putts for us to secure the eagle.

Overall, I had an incredible time at the event. It felt like we were playing out a "what if" scenario in real life. I knew it was going to be silly, but I really had more fun that I was expecting. Vibes were high the entire time, and the course was more beautiful that I remembered. I wanted to take a picture at every teebox and lookout. We carded a 23 (-10) for 8 holes, though of course there's some funkiness with that adventurous par 5 in the middle. Notably, we played much faster than anticipated. It only took us about 2.5 hours. I had gone into the event hoping to just use one of my shots, so using 3.5 really exceeded my expectations. I will no doubt be on the look out for more events from Random Golf Club, and hopefully next time I can make secure the solo eagle.