The USGA's selection of Chambers Bay Golf Course near Tacoma, Wash., is a startling deviation from a "normal" Open host. But Chambers Bay's appeal is clear, Brandon Tucker writes. It will be HDTV eye candy at every turn, wide open with abundant spectator viewing spots. They may even be able to get a record crowd through the turnstiles.
Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s right-hand man at Chambers Bay discusses the controversial U.S. Open host as well as which players may fare well. "This golf course is different, and it was different from day 1," Jay Blasi says.
As U.S. Open week at Chambers Bay got underway, the USGA held an Architect's Forum with Executive Director Mike Davis and course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. Here are some highlights from the discussion.
Chambers Bay is being lauded as having more in common with a British Open course than a typical U.S. Open track. But is it really a "links golf course?" Brandon Tucker takes a look at both sides of the argument.
Two Seattle-area golf courses, two excellent choices, and they couldn't be more different. But Chambers Bay and Salish Cliffs should be the first two on your list.
If you're looking for links golf -- where the sea meets the land -- Chambers Bay is your destination. This Robert Trent Jones II-designed muni, built on the one of the largest sand deposits in the world -- will host the 2015 U.S. Open.
Chambers Bay golf course in Tacoma represents one of the most ambitious golf projects in years. Opened in 2007, it has also become one of the most hyped, thanks to the nearly immediate announcement that it would host the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship and 2015 U.S. Open.
On clear days you can see the snow-capped peak of Mount Rainier from many of the holes at Druids Glen Golf Club, which has the reputation for being of the toughest golf courses in the entire state of Washington. The 230 acres is littered with trouble -- thousands of evergreen trees, 60 bunkers, nine lakes and poa annua greens faster than most public clubs in the Pacific Northwest.