Golfing at Chamber’s Bay with Dad

January 16, 2015/Jonathan Rundle/1 Comment

My dad is in town visiting – or, I should say, using his expertise and patience to fix my leaking hot water tank. To show my gratitude (and celebrate his birthday which was a few days earlier) I’m taking him golfing at Chamber’s Bay, the location of the 2015 US Open.

The first hole has a little practice green and this nifty Rolex clock, so it seemed like a great place to take a photo. If your tee time is a little later on, you can get down here early and catch a shuttle to the driving range.

Dad and I at Chamber's Bay Clock

The Chamber’s Bay site used to be a gravel quarry. Pierce County bought the land and hired famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones II to transform the site. Pierce County administrators wanted the site to be the “Bethpage Black of the west” – the only other municipal course to host a US Open. Pierce County wanted 27 holes on the site, but Jones had other ideas. “Why not have 18 great holes instead of 27 good ones?”

It’s a British-style links course, which means there’s no fringe on the green and the holes are wide open for the most part. To get an idea of the scale of Chamber’s Bay, St. Andrews Golf Club – the most famous links course in the world – is set on 87 acres. Chamber’s Bay is a massive 230 acres.

Chambers BayGolfing at Chamber's BayGolfing at Chamber's Bay

Anyway, Dad’s a pretty darn good golfer. I’ve never beaten him and even when I kill my drives he’s right there with me. He’s landed shots on the famous island green at TPC Sawgrass so it’s not like the wide open spaces here at Chamber’s Bay would give me any kind of edge.

Golfing at Chamber's Bay

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“It’s in the hole!”

After losing the round, we went up to hole 19 to down beer and talk about the round. The view from the restaurant (just above the walking trail) is a stunning one at this time of day (or any time, really).

It’s called Chamber’s Bay Grill, but I wouldn’t really recommend making a trip to it just to eat. It’s not an impressive place. But, like I said, the view is great and the beer was cold (even if service was slow) and it was all we needed.

Chamber's Bay Sunset Panorama

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Book a tee time at Chamber’s Bay here.

Comments (1)

  • Daniel Rundle . February 22, 2020 . Reply

    One of my most memorable rounds of golf! Enjoyed being there with you and how you surprised me with the opportunity to play there! It was a memorable and special day for both of us. Thank you.

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