Chambers Bay Lands the US Open!

Last fall, I wrote in Golf Today Magazine about my visit to Chambers Bay just outside of Tacoma, Washington. Not only did I praise the layout, but I related how the employees were almost “giddy” with excitement about someday hosting a US Open Championship. Well, they had some good “inside information” because the United States Golf Association just awarded this terrific facility that championship! In doing so, Chambers Bay achieved several “firsts”.

The USGA has been tied to a rotation of private clubs that has changed only slightly recently.  That change occurred with Pebble Beach holding its first Open in 1972 followed by Pinehurst in 1999, Bethpage, 2002, and now Torrey Pines later this year.  Chambers Bay is not only open to the public, but it will be the first course in the Pacific Northwest to host the Open.

Not even yet a year old, Chambers Bay is also the youngest course to be awarded an Open though Hazeltine (1970), Bellerive, (1965) and Champions- Cypress Creek (1969) were all relatively new when they hosted the event.  What may be most impressive is that this municipally owned Pierce County, Washington course is the first US Open course opened since 1967.

Chambers Bay was built with spectator and championships in mind.  When you add that an existing railroad line will be able to drop off spectators directly at the course, that should be yet another first.  With 930 acres in total, there will be plenty of room for all the attendant hospitality tents, television equipment, and all.  It is a stunning site with lakeside vistas and distant mountain backdrops abounding.

Just as the recent Whistling Straits course, which has hosted a PGA Championship and a Senior US Open, Chambers Bay looks and plays much more like a British Isles links that an American parkland course in the style of Winged Foot, Medinah, Southern Hills, Congressional, or Merion.  Course architects Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Bruce Charlton, and Jay Blasi converted an abandoned sand quarry into a wide-open treeless venue with faux dunes, fescue grasses, and some interesting elevation changes. 

When you add that this is a walking-only public layout with few chemicals added to maintain it, you can appreciate why Chambers Bay may be a model to be copied.It will be interesting to see what the USGA will do to convert the layout from everyday play to championship caliber.  The course will host the 2010 US Amateur as a preparatory run for the Open.  When I played there, the employees speculated that the immensely wide fairways would be narrowed and rough grown in for the Open.  The greens have plenty of undulation and though mowed at a relatively slow pace, there are putts that can really cause havoc.  

For the average round right now, Chambers Bay plays considerably easier than Whistling Straits, especially tee-to-green.As far as potential scoring goes, the USGA likes to keep par as a good score. Count on them to add that rough and firm up the greens.  If the wind is blowing, and it often does there, Chambers Bay will be a mighty interesting test.  Should, however, calm conditions prevail, my prediction is that scores could go very low.

While the United States Golf Association has no current plans to visit the West Coast anytime soon with the Women’s or Senior Opens, we are blessed with an active Men’s Open rotation with Torrey Pines later this year, Pebble Beach in 2010, the Olympic Club in 2012, and then Chambers Bay just three years later.  It should be exciting!  In the mean time, go play Chambers Bay yourself.