Chambers Bay gets 2015 U.S. Open
Golfweek exclusive from the June 17, 2007 issue:
• Chambers Bay: Redefining the muni
• Rater's notebook: Chambers Bay
By BRADLEY S. KLEIN
Senior WriterChambers Bay, a municipal golf course outside Tacoma, Wash., that only opened last year, has landed the 2015 U.S. Open. The announcement, to be made today by the U.S. Golf Association at its annual meeting in Houston, will include plans for Chambers Bay to hold the 2010 U.S. Amateur.
Chambers Bay, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Bruce Charlton, is owned by Pierce County and operated by KemperSports. The course is part of a 1,000-acre park that occupies an abandoned, reclaimed gravel quarry on the shore of Puget Sound. The golf course is unusual in that its fairways and greens are low-maintenance, links-like fescue turf that is very environmentally friendly. The course encourages walking and has an extensive caddie program. Green fees range from $65 to $150.
The naming of Chambers Bay means that three municipal golf courses are currently on the U.S. Open rota – including Torrey Pines-South Course in San Diego (2008), and Bethpage State Park-Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. (2009). Chambers Bay is the first course opened since 1962 that will hold a U.S. Open. It’s also the first time the USGA is bringing the championship to the Pacific Northwest.
As part of its commitment to finding public golf venues for its championships, the USGA is also going to take the 2011 U.S. Amateur to Erin Hills Golf Course in Hartford, Wisc. The daily-fee layout, designed by Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten and opened in 2006, is already slated for the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.
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Bradley S. Klein is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail bklein@golfweek.com.
Posted: 2/8/2008
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