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Every year I venture out into the elements to get have a winter golf outing with 3 of my good friends. This year we decided it’s worth the time to take a road trip from Portland, OR to University Place, WA in order to visit Chambers Bay Golf Course. If you haven’t seen an article or pictures of Chambers Bay, it’s beautiful! Chambers Bay sits right on the Puget Sound and looks like something you’d find in Scotland.
Now for anyone that doesn’t live in Oregon or Washington, it should be noted that here in the great Northwest, the weather varies greatly. It could be 10 degrees with a foot of snow, or 60 degrees and partially sunny. This year we set our date, and on the wheel of weather fortune, we landed on 38 degrees and monsoon rains. Lucky us!
Weather aside, the view from the parking lot is fairly spectacular. The parking lot is perched at the top of a cliff looking down over the entire golf course with the Puget Sound as a backdrop. I really did feel as though I was on the Scottish Coast.
As we stepped up to the first tee, the wind had picked up and the rain was coming down as hard as ever. I pulled out my double bad weather gloves and was ready to go. After we all managed to put it in the fairway by some minor miracle, I couldn’t help but notice how well the course had drained. It had been a rough weather week, and was continuing to come down, but the course was surprisingly firm. My kudos to the groundskeepers for the condition of the course. I will say there were some bunkers that were still under construction, but I would assume that will be fixed shortly. The greens were firm, but not as fast as I expected. Beware though, the greens did have huge undulations. I would recommend having a caddy your first time through, just so you know where to miss. Something about turning a 3 foot put into a 12 foot putt coming back just irks me!
As you walk around the course, make sure you take your time to ‘smell the roses’. The views are breathtaking and the course is truly unique. There are elevation changes on almost every hole, and the contrast between the brown slopes and green fairways makes it visually appealing. I have no idea where all of the fans are going to stand, but the players are going to love this course when it hosts the US Open in 2015. If you happen to be traveling to Seattle, WA or Portland, OR I would take the time to drive to Chambers Bay. You won’t be disappointed! 
