The mini-crisis, if you want to call it that, has taken a much-bigger-than-it-should life of its own in the past week.

Like with any slight tremor felt, everyone expects an earthquake to follow – all leading to the supposed uncertainty of the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place.

Ever since it was announced in the winter of 2007 that Chambers Bay had been awarded the 2015 U.S. Open by the United States Golf Association, unfounded rumors have cropped up, all stating that, “if this doesn’t happen, or that doesn’t happen” – golf’s top governing body will renege on its agreement.

A clubhouse? Yeah, it would be nice one is built by the next century. But it hasn’t been, or never will be a deal-killer.

Not enough hotels for 70,000 patrons? Golf fans would stay in Aberdeen if it meant not missing one moment of the most stringent test in the sport.

And now, the greens. The putting surface (“What putting surface?” is the common gripe). It’s been as popular a topic as any in the past three years. Without question, the fescue grass on the greens has been slow to develop. That was forewarned from the time the course opened.

Has the “agro” side of the venue always been properly handled? No. Pierce County tried its hand at it much of the first 18 months, with mixed results. Now, Kemper Sports, which manages the course, along with the USGA have worked together to get the greens in substantially better shape.

So, along came Puyallup’s Ryan Moore last week as the co-host for the 2010 U.S. Amateur, scheduled for late August, to play a round with a couple of VIP groups, along with doing a day’s work of promotion.

He happened to tee it up on a day when the entire course, especially the greens, was being top-dressed with sand. Nobody happened to mention that to Moore; he discovered it very early on his own. They were slow. They were bumpy. Putts stopped on a dime.

Needless to say, the PGA Tour standout was less than impressed.

So much, he phoned Mike Davis, the senior director of USGA championships who is the top dog when it comes to not only deciding what venues get major tournaments, but how those championships are set up.

As soon as word got around the golf-community circles that Moore – a huge champion of the tournament and Chambers Bay from the outset – wasn’t thrilled, the anti-Chambers sentiment started up again. So much, some in University Place again wondered if the USGA would step in and take away the U.S. Open, or at least did the association have an alternate site ready just in case?

“Zero chance,” Davis said during an exclusive interview with The News Tribune from the 110th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Wednesday.

Which means ‘zero” truth fueling what has been a week’s worth of worry.

Here are some of the aspects folks should be paying attention to:

• Fine fescue is a sensitive grass. Its only real testing ground in the United States in golf is Bandon Dunes, the coastal course in Southern Oregon. It only succeeds in certain regions with specific climates.

Cared for correctly, the grass can be more than adequate for a big tournament.

“I told Ryan, if you’ve ever been to Bandon Dunes when we’ve had one of our championships there, those are some of the greatest putting surfaces I’ve ever seen – firm like you wouldn’t believe, and fast enough,” Davis said.

Davis noted the idea of replacing the fescue with bent grass on the greens is not in play, reasoning it would change a huge characteristic of the existing course.

• Chambers Bay is under the care of one of the best agronomists in the country in Larry Gilhuly, who has served as the USGA’s Northwest Greens Director for almost three decades.

By Davis’ estimation from his last site visit in May, Chambers Bay’s greens are right on schedule.

• The one oddity of this whole thing has been the reaction to Moore’s very small rebuke of the greens. Pierce County folks saw it as an unnecessary slight. The USGA made sure no calls from Moore went unanswered – and in this case, Davis and the golfer had a worthwhile conversation after the fact.

“He genuinely cares about the event. He’s a past national amateur champion. He’s been on our Walker Cup. We feel very close to Ryan. He’s a friend,” Davis said. “When he did that, he did it in the kindest way to say, ‘Guys, I want to let you know I’m concerned.’”

In very few instances have I met somebody in town, or associated with golf who does not want to see Chambers Bay Golf Course succeed in not only bringing the highest-profile sporting event ever to Pierce County, but making it one heckuva a show.

This week around the Monterey Peninsula in California, I’ve gotten many questions about Chambers Bay.

Is it that spectacular?

Is it the best course in the Northwest?

Is it U.S. Open-worthy?

On paper, it’s a big “yes” to all three questions. Is it there yet? As mentioned in my previous post, it’s not. But the signs are promising. Progress is being made.

“I’m expecting to learn a lot this coming August,” Davis said, “about June of 2015 on how the course is going to play.”