I played Chambers yesterday for 49+ on the twilight rate. Course conditions were so so. The greens were absolutely hideous! The shuttle drivers both before and after said the greens rolled an 8 on "their" device. We as a group figured they were 4 to 5 at best.

At $54 after taxes it seems like a deal. It is considering the full price during peak season. Great layout, great views etc...

Why do they insist on blowing smoke up our skirts with there claims that the greens were rolling 8??? Just be up front with us and tell us they're trying to let them grow for whatever the reason. I'm telling you guys my 1974 shag carpet rolls faster than the greens out there yesterday.

This was my 4th time playing the course over a year and a half. I actually love the course. The greens were the slowest by far this time. Some of our putts were barely making it halfway. Very hard to make that much adjustment.

Do you guys think overall Chambers is worth the price??? A GREAT layout, great views, but worth a full price green fee???

Yeah its worth the price. The greens are still really young and it takes time for them to grow in properly...Hopefully soon they will have the greens issue figured out soon

1. Their is a reason why that guy is driving the shuttle and not working as a caddie, grounds crew or proshop assistant.

2. The greens are very young with lots of pressure.

3. Yes it is worth the price and like that they have the special county rate. Just think if the price was half of what it is, it would look like Meadow Park or Spanaway Lake (populated local muni's) on a nice day everyday at Chambers.

4. I hope they do get the course figured out before the Amature next year, even if they have to close it for a while. The last thing the county and locals want is the USGA taking away the U.S. Open in 2015.

I played it in September 2008 with my wife (who got the caddie). We both loved the course and for young greens they were (at that time) rolling fine, but, not holding approach shots well. It was the most difficult course my wife had ever played and yet she still loved the whole experience (she is about a 21 index, I am currently an 8.5). I never played a RTJ Jr. (II????) course that looked anything like Chamber and I have played a lot of his courses over the years. The setting and layout were something that I think will be very dramatic on TV in 2010 and 2015.

I have never played Bandon, but, I walked Kidd's TPC SF Bay for the recent Nationwide Tour event. I plan to play the TPC SF Bay on July 5th with friends and my wife. By all appearances, there are some challenging similarities between Chambers and TPC SF Bay. It will be an interesting comparison especially having played the relatively flat target golf Sevillano Links (a Daly design in Corning, CA) earlier this month. Most of the courses I play are either SF Bay Area Parkland style or SW USA Desert courses. So these links layouts are always a visual contrast from my day-to-day. Rustic Canyon (LA Area) and Poppy Ridge (Livermore, CA) are claimed links layouts in my regular rotation and my frame of reference for these comments.

Sorry the greens are over 2 years old now and they aren't that young. Fescue wont grow in the conditions and they have to give up on them. There is a reason no other courses in the area have the same grass. you have two options there poa or bent grass. While bent would be the optons that I would prefer they would be constantly fighting the battle with invasive grasses.

I had a friend who helped build the course and worked on the crew after. he will tell you the same thing. All the other high end public courses are buying poa turf out of canada lately because it is made from seasoned grasses and isn't supposed to sprout seed heads in the afternoon.

The Reserve here in the Portland suburbs finally gave up on bent and went to Poa. Many of the greens on older courses around here have turned into Poa and they roll just fine (at least after being cut). Would Chambers Bay going to Poa effect them holding the US Open there? I was under the impression that pros don't care for it.

well poa takes 15 or more years before it is dormant and doesn't sprout in the afternoons. so it takes years to grow it this way. what courses like newcastle Golf club are doing is buying turf. the turf is grown from punching on old seasoned courses. Now the reason the courses turn into poa is because they have it brought in from golfers on there spikes. hence the first green and practice green will always be the worst. Eventually most courses just let it happen. The course I play occasionally which has great bent is relatively new, but they also will go through by hand and revome and poa that is starting to grow.


POA- grows upwards in tight bunches

Bent grass- grown flat with the ground.

Some of the best greens on the planet are poa.....Oakmont comes to mind.

basically all us open courses have poa greens, so the usga certainly is 'against' poa.

I played at Chambers for the third time at the beginning of April and I was very disappointed by the greens. When I played last October they were as breathtaking as the rest of the course. The green on hole 4 was actually so bad this last time that they had it closed and you just putted your ball to a cup they stuck in the middle of the fairway.

It is the company line at Cambers that "It's not us, it's you." They will always say the greens are faster than they are AND that they roll perfectly true so all you have to figure out is the pace. We talked to a guy in the pro shop (who assured us that the Chambers greens are far superior to Bandon for "great" putters like himself) and he said the unusually harsh winter really hurt the greens. I think there's some truth to this. I've noticed that some of the greens/fairways at the munis around Southwest Washington seem to have a few dead spots.

Bottom line: I would gladly pay the early/late season prices just to play tee to green at Chambers. Hell, I'd be tempted to shell out 40-50 bucks just to walk the course for 4 hours.

Great course, not perfect but worth it to me. I plan to drive down and play there at least 6 times this year. Lately I have been going further south to the Home Course, imo there putting greens are fantastic and the course seems to drain really well when it is raining.

I haven't played it personally.....I would play it on a twilight rate, but some of my buddies who have played it said there is no way its worth the full price rate.

For those who do not know, the USGA Amature is being hosted at Chambers and The Home Course next year. The Home Course will only be used for the first two of stroke play. The Home Course is also currently doing some course renovations, #11 turning into a par 4 from a par 3 and #12 from a par 4 to a par 3.

Walking this course is a 5 hour round minimum becuase of the walking distance between green to tee.

The Home Course is easly the best course in the south sound area and just behind Gold Mountain (2006 U.S. Public Links/2011 U.S. Junior Amatuer) on the western side of the state.

The home course is definately top 5 in the state. I do like some of the tight tree lined courses also but it is a well maintained track and very good greens. at 1/3 the price of chambers it is a better value

I have played Chambers, and Bandon. There is no comparison between either seaside at BD and Chambers.
The greens are indeed horrid, and I have heard from a few sources that the issue is the grass strain. Fescue just won't work in our PNW climate. A switch to poa is the cure, but the mgmt there seems stubborn to change and will spout the company line that the contours of the greens demand a slower surface....Uh huh. Tell that to the boys at Augusta. Or Oakmont.

Anyways, to answer the question: For me, a resounding no.
At 1/2 the price of summer rates, I would venture back.

After stumbling across this thread I have to ask this question to any of the native Washingtonian WRXers.

I am English and am going to be in and around the Seattle/Auburn area from June 10 to July 8. I am 21 and have never played golf Stateside. I would really like to play, especially considering I will be there for a month. Would anyone be interested in giving me a game (or a few!)?

Love the sound of Chambers Bay, and considering I am sat right now wedged 10 minutes between Carnoustie and St Andrews, I would like the chance to sample some American style links golf.

PM me if anyone would be interested in having some good old fashioned English banter and a game of golf. Cheers.

update, played the homecourse today and the course was playing good except the greens were not that great. They were really hard, slower, and had a few bad spots. The switch of the 11th and 12th is really cool. The 11th is now a drivable par 4 with a really tough bunker short of it. Also the green has runnoffs on all sides.

They are done with the 11th and 12th? I have played there twice in the last two weeks and they had a temporary t in place and a lot of construction going on. Teeing off tomorrow am and would be nice to play the new lay out.

the 12th is for sure not done but they are still using the old green which is fine. the 11th it looked like they had just finished the grass on the tee box and in the fairway.

Course was very cool, greens were absolute junk. The drive up from Portland was pretty much ruined by the greens. The should be giving discounts right now and doing whatever they can to fix the greens. They like to pretend they have it under control, but get ready for the US Open to move somewhere else unless they fix it.

One word - yes. Chambers Bay is a must play.

Have played there 6 times now since last June.

The greens have been worse each time.

In my observation, perhaps the biggest issue Chambers Bay is having in regards to the greens condition is that it is owned by Pierce County, who has a difficult balancing act trying to show a revenue stream to convince Joe Q. Public that the course was a worthwhile investment, while at the same time trying to get VERY difficult grass to settle in and start growing in time to not be an embarrassment to the two major tournaments scheduled in the next 6 years...

Best thing they can do right now is close every single green and run on temps until the U.S. Amateur is over.

There is a major reconstruction scheduled for the 2015 Open so what we're playing now will change remarkably.....

It's a gorgeous layout....growing up here and knowing what that land used to be, well, the course is amazing...

I played it over the weekend ( april 26,2009).

I was impressed with the course. Wind was calm or non-existent, so not an issue. The views were really nice. All the par 3 were very challenging, mostly due to drops and bunkers. One hole has a temporary green -- the 4th. Evidently the designed green was extremely hard to hold given the long uphill approach. So 400+ is now 230 from the whites. The course has lots of character -- and lots of trouble -- read sand off the tee. Lots of ridges and elevation changes on the course, especially the front 9.

I must admit I am not very knowledgible on greens or their quality. From playing mostly munis, the greens are very complex often with numerous ridges, levels, bowls, hills and size. Two greens require 1/4 wedge shots or more to just get from the front to the back. Uphill putts were very difficult. Even the slight inclines required a lot of power. Conversely I had one putt over a 3 foot ridge -- all that was needed was to have the ball clear the top by a foot and it rolled the 15+ feet toward the hole.

The greens are hard, but accepted balls well. If your approach was too low, the green offered little stopping power. This is one of the few courses where they are actually measuring the green speed every day. And the number is most likely very accurate. One or two were a bit fuzzy, one had a large repair area.


I played at the twilight rate, about $90. The normal season weekend rate is $170. I would not play Chambers often due to price and distance. But would I come back? Sure. It was an enjoyable experience. If you are offering a free round, just tell me when and I will be there.

Mike K

I have been down that way many times in 2009, and a few times in 2008. To answer your question about the price and conditions I would say, Yes for the $50 that you paid I feel you got a pretty good deal. I sorta got a chuckle out of your unhappiness that you paid $50 to play there. I would be there all the time if I lived in the county or just paid the county rate. Remember that you got free unlimited range balls also in that price.


I live outside the county and we get screwed on the rates when compared to those who live inside the county. We pay over 40% more just because we don't live in the county. I can understand maybe 20% max, but just take a look at this thread and you will see that most of us live outside the county. Yet, what is word of mouth? It's called FREE advertising is it not?

As for the course I have seen some very fast greens at times down there. In January this year they were very quick and quite fun to play and some what unfair at times. Right now they are very slow because this is what the want for now. Remember that this grass is not the norm and a learning curve is in effect, plus add a harsh winter and a cool spring into the mix. This past few weeks everything has turned very green with some warmer temps and they need those greens to grow grass as much as possible right now under some really good growing conditions. Like most, I would rather see them replace the greens with Poa and be done with it, which still could happen.

Back to pricing, those who play the course saw some crazy management decisions this year on the cost to play the course.
Jan 2009 cost for non county was $65 anytime
Feb 2009 cost for non county was $85 anytime
March 2009 cost went to $145 for non county with no twilight..........WTF??? $145 for golf in Seattle in March? Course was empty!
Then they installed a twilight after 2 pm for $65 after day light savings time in March 2009 and now the course had players from 2 pm till about 3 pm and that was it.
Then in April 2009 they moved Twilight to 12 pm from 2 pm for still $65 till the end of April.

As you can see they are all over the map with no real structure in place. Seat of the pants it seems right now and I think we will see some more of this in May if play is down at those higher rates.

This course is fun to play when at a fair price because of the layout, the summer like conditions (other then greens) that we never see till summer, and never any MUD on our jeans, oh I mean pants, shoes, balls and clubs!

I posted pics from the course taken in Jan 2009 in the Northwest Course section.....please have a look if you get a chance.
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=222481

BTW-played yesterday (27 Apr)-greens are furry and quite slow-ran into the super at the turn and asked about the greens-he said that they were letting them grow a bit since the weather is not really favorable right now for fescue-part of the prep for the upcoming US Amateur. He also noted they are growing a second cut (a first) of 4"-all of the red flagged areas for those of you who've played there in the last couple of weeks-imagine what 4" second cut fescue is going to be like!!

I was going to play there on Friday... might hold off now until something like August when I can catch prime golf weather in Seattle. Especially since the rates will be the same anyway.

Might be a good plan-I forgot to ask when the regular green on four was going to re-open. Might be by August-playing as a short par 4 changes an otherwise challenging hole into the mundane. One other downer, 18 fairway had just been plugged-hadn't had a chance to vacuum up the plugs so it played a bit funny-that'll be gone, probably by today.

Answer to the 4th Green

Just got an email about new May rates....Might be cheaper in May then August now.

Also, if you noticed my post above about my thoughts on the much higher rates for living outside the county and that May rates that were posted might be changed, Well they did.
Washington golfers outside the county will now be paying about 20% more then the county golfers, which is about 20% less then what was posted for May. Also, twilight has been changed for May also. Twilight was slated to start at 3 pm, but now has been moved to 1 pm M-Thurs and 2 pm Fri-Sun.

They must lurk on this site.

TMBob

Big ups for pointing out the rate change. I might play on Saturday after 2:00PM -- are my chances pretty good for getting on as a single?

Just read that e-mail myself-I suspect they're trying to keep up the rounds of play-if you saw todays TImes-there's a pretty good article in the sports section about Chambers-points out they had 38k rounds played last year and managed (with the help of the money they got to do the US Amateur and Open upgrades) to cover the bonds and show a profit. Continuing to break even is probably at the root of the rate adjustment-I spoke with the pro a bit about level of play on Tuesday-he was saying that the rounds were down a bit so far-between the crappy weather in Feb/Mar and the economy.

I did not see any opening past noon.....you will need to call them.

Seattle Times Article on Chambers Bay

The article change my perception of the course and now beleive they do know what they are doing to get it ready for championship golf.

course isnt worth a dime.
Built in a rock query nothing natural about the place.
Chambers note Pure Links Golf on the website, thats a laugher

even bandon puts "in the spirit of Scotland ancient links"

Probably one of the stupidest things I've seen put in print.

Nice.

^^+1

On the drive home from playing Chambers my brother and I were discussing if the $75 we dropped to play was worth it. We names 10 other courses in the area that we could get on for $75 and decided that we will wait till Chambers fixes their greens before going back.

I live in the south sound and wondering what were the 10 other courses?

This is the exact conversation my 4-some had on the long drive back down to Portland. Really cool tee to green, but the greens were horrid. They can make whatever excuses they want to, but I have played plenty new courses in the NW and none of them had greens problems like that.

This is because none of those courses had fescue as the main grass used on those greens........The question is, Does Chambers Bay's greens really have problems or not?
I cannot answer this question, but I can tell you that I have been there done that with "these greens suck" I have also been there and seen the greens very quick, but yet so different then any other course in the area even that were also quick. It's simple, this grass is something we are not use to one bit. I have seen a huge improvement to these greens over the spring growing season. They have really started to fill in, but then again it is the peak growing season. In January, I said no way that these greens will be ready for next year US Am, but as of April I am starting to see hope in them.

After reading the Seattle Times article, it seems they do not want to many rounds in the peak season due to the grass not liking to be walked on.....I have to say, WHAT?
But this shows I know nothing about Fescue as do most of us who have played on i, but we are learning. It really does explain to me why the pricing is so high. They don't want a ton of rounds it seems because of the grass and the up coming events. Hmmmm? Seems a bit off doesn't it?

TMBob

I'm genuinely curious too. I would've liked to play those.

The greens weren't overwhelmingly bad a few weeks ago... just different. I've played munis that have been worse.

I think the previous poster hit the nail pretty squarely on the head regarding Fescue greens-we in the NW just aren't used to them and they most certainly are different than the types we are more used to. That being said, as I noted in an earlier post-the super did say that the greens were furrier than they would normally be.

I'd be curious as to the 10 South Enders as well-I've played every public course in the south end (I'm pretty sure) and most of them wouldn't be that much better than Chambers @$75-there are a number that would be at full peak season price, though.

anyone play here lately? Going up for a round in mid-June, and at full price of $169, just wondering if the greens are in great shape. I would hope so for that price.

I just played Chambers Bay last weekend. My cousin and I teed off at 7:30. There was no one in front or in back of us. We each took our own caddies. Both of them were great. My caddie took me over to the practice green and showed me how slow these greens are. My guess is, they run about a 5 on the stimp meter. It is very hard for your mind to hit a putt hard enough at Chambers. Once you get the hang of it, the greens do run very true. They are not bumpy.

The course was in green shape, and the views are spectacular.