US Open preview: Chambers Bay golf course review - Detroit Free Press
Often times, players in the U.S. Open talk of nervousness and the inability to sleep at night, as thoughts of the next day's round dance in their heads.
For the upcoming U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, none of them should be sleepless in Seattle because it should be easy to get a good night's rest after walking 18 holes of the severely up and down terrain at Chambers Bay.
About 30 miles from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Chambers Bay sits on ground of a former gravel mining operation that was beautifully resurrected by designer Robert Trent Jones II into a much more proper use of precious land butted against the crisp blue waters of Puget Sound.
The property has more than a 200-foot drop from the public entry of the property down to the lowest point. The 18-hole walk traverses up and down, back and forth measuring at more than seven miles. Bring your most comfortable shoes as there are no power carts â€" you can carry, use a rented push cart (Rickshaw) or hire a caddie.
Similar to the home of golf, St. Andrews, the property belongs to the people of Pierce County, Washington, several hundred daily that can be found walking the public trail that circles the 250-acre golf course layout. Anyone would be hard pressed to find a more unique municipal course anywhere in the country, especially one that on first sight takes one's breathe away from the extremely high elevation point of its modern restaurant and pro shop overlooking every inch of the golf course from above.
Pure links golf â€" nothing else could better describe this incredible track that is breeze-swept off the bay and has only one tree. Sand is a common denominator and jagged-cut-edged bunkers are everywhere, helping provided a centuries-old look to a golf course less than 10 years old.
It's not surprising that the USGA would enthusiastically embrace land planted with fescue grass in the rough. But that's not where it ends. Every blade of grass on the course is fescue: tee box, fairway, rough and greens â€" well, that is if you can find the "greens."
What stands out at Chambers Bay is that not a single putting green has a collar. While the USGA might do something funky with the rough, during normal public play conditions the grass is mown â€" more like shaved â€" at the same height in the fairway as on the green complexes. What is even more peculiar is the latter are pretty much only identifiable by a flag stick and the sprinkler heads that encircle the intended putting zones.
Most U.S. Open's are contested at private clubs, which makes the 2015 version even more exciting as the public can play it, and there is no pretentiousness to Chambers Bay. No fancy clubhouse, no locker rooms â€" a real municipal course featuring a small starter building with some refreshments, grilled food and single-stall bathrooms downhill near the first and tenth tees.
My favorite stretch is the 9th and 10th holes, for their dramatic features. The 9th is a par 3 with a drop from tee to green more than 100 feet, so wind direction will change club selection significantly. The putting area is heavily guarded by rough cut bunkers to the right of the green. What's worse is the flow of the green all goes hard left to right. What is relatively new for the U.S. Open is an additional tee box option that is cut a couple hundred yards and downhill to the right of the normal 9th tee that makes for an uphill (about 40-50 feet) approach to the same green, over those menacing bunkers.
Hole 10 is a fine example of course construction dirt moving that created an uphill, through-the-valley feel for the par 4. The tee shot is fairly open, but the approach is to a green surrounded by high-banked mounding that feels like hitting through a tunnel.
Chambers Bay golf course (Photo: Dave Finn)
Stay and Play Nearby
Due to its location and city centers of Seattle and Tacoma, most U.S. Open fan lodging will be to the north of Chambers Bay and much has been sold out for a while. If golf fans want a more-secluded location and nature-filled drive to Chambers Bay, check out Little Creek Casino Resort and its Salish Cliffs Golf Club, south of Chambers Bay.
Salish Cliffs is a course with just as much elevation variety as Chambers Bay but could not look more different. The tree-lined course in the foothills of the Olympic Range made GolfWeek's list at No. 11 best casino course nationally in its opening season of 2011.
Playing from the 7,269 yard tips, it opens with three fun holes â€" a par 5 downhill, a short par four uphill, then a sharp-dropping, long downhill par 3 which can get golfers off to a good scoring start. Perhaps the most telling stretch is holes 14-16, three very different par 4s based on length, shape and elevation changes â€" with 14 making a local list for one of the toughest holes in the state.
Salish Cliffs at Chambers Bay (Photo: courtesy of Little Creek Casino Resort)
Like Michigan, the greens are bent grass, but surrounded by uniquely cut bunkers that seem more like they were formed by natural erosion than by design. When added up across 18 holes, the elevation drops and rises from each tee to each green totals 600 feet.
Indoors at the Little Creek Casino Resort, recent capital improvements include the Seven Inlets Spa and Skookum Spirit Cigar and Wine Lounge. One of seven restaurants includes the seafood bar where guests sit on tall bar stools and feast on a wide variety of seafood treats in a sports bar atmosphere. The resort exterior added an RV Park to its property in Shelton, Washington â€" an area known as the gateway to the Olympic Peninsula.
As of this week, rooms are still available at Little Creek, in case fans have a hard time finding lodging elsewhere. According to a supplied release â€" while rooms last â€" the lodging package begins at $399 (double occupancy) and is good during June 15-21, 2015. It includes: one-night deluxe accommodations at Little Creek Casino Resort, one 18-hole round per person at Salish Cliffs, including cart and range balls, $10 off any breakfast or lunch item at Salish Cliffs Grille and 25 percent off any regularly priced item in the Salish Cliffs Golf Shop, among other savings.
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