Well, on our recent trip to finally see the Pacific Northwest, I was lucky enough to be offered a walking tour of Chamber Bay, through arrangement by RTJjr assoicate architect Jay Blasi, guided by Golf Professional with Kemper Sports, Nyk Pike. Their website is up and running, with interesting commentary by the Superintendent on the turf grow-in, and comments by the design team.
www.chambersbaygolf.comUnfortunatly, I missed Tommy Naccarato by about 36 hours, because we had to be on our return flight home the next day. Also, I regret I didn't get to play a few holes of preview(as Tommy did
) , but I did get some interesting pics and comments from Nyk Pike which were very helpful to understand the scope of what all the design features entail. This is a seriously robust golf design, with so many interesting features, that I am certain one could play it 100 times and find new and exciting design/play variations every new time around. I am also certain that this new public course (owned by the municipality and managed by Kemper Sports) will get as much discussion on GCA.com as any new premier course of the last several years.
A couple of features that blew me down were:
While this is not a minimalist and lightly laid upon the land links/dunes course like BallyNeal, Bandon courses, Sand Hills, etc., the excavation, shaping/contouring and finish work is brilliant. Unlike what is seen at for example Whistling Straits, the work feels much more emmulating of natural coastal dunes. Yes, there is significant 'containment' between some hole corridors, and shaping generally funnels errant shots back towards FWs, but not everywhere. It is a great blend of corridor containment and wide enough fairways to fairly deal with the wind and keep play moving, yet plenty of waste areas and shaped dunes, soon to be more fully grown fescue native areas, where errant and poor ball striking will be appropriately and proportionately penalized. I hope that the rough native grass management is able to maintain that ideal balance to find balls, advance/play them to the proportionate level of penalty, and keep the game moving. I think they will.
The shaping is in fairways is excellent and so varied as to offer multitudes of desired lines of charm, turbo boast LZ goals to attempt to negotiate, garden spots for considered pin placements, and a ground game that will always be an option, due to the mowing concept of one cut from teeing ground through enourmously wide green surrounds.
I can't say enough about the brilliance of the free form tees that are mowed straight though to fairways, with one cut, and providing the ultimate in varied course set-up and distance options. While Tom Doak's BallyNeal design has this same similar concept, Chambers Bay is actually beyond to another level in this feature. Don't be mislead by the pictogram graphics of the teeing grounds on the Chambers Bay layout on their website where it appears there are specific teeing pads. The entire area is variably teeable leading to mindboggling set-up and adjustment options to deal with wind and conditions and skill levels.
The greens, approaches and surrounds are mowed to the same height as FWs, and must be the most creatively contoured, exciting greens work RTJjr has ever presented (saying that without actually only personally having experienced more than 3 RTJjr courses). The surrounds will lead to all manner of hummocks and hollows as Ross and MacKenzie often spoke of in their primer books on GCA. With seriously and cleverly contoured greens, full of soap dishes, segmented terraces, boomers, kick pad approaches, deflector noses, varied front to back and and back to front and side sloping; the serious and frequent golfer of Chambers Bay will never be bored, overconfident, or underchallenged to keep his brain in gear and his heart rate under control.
The property is significantly below a public drive and park-rec walkway overlook, with the 8th hole corridor running 700+ yards below. Along with other areas within the course where the FWs are below significant high grounds with slopes leading down to FWs, bunkering etc., I trust that sufficient drainage and interceptors were installed to deal with run-down of water. Remarkably, I did not see ubiquitous drains within FWs and surrounds as is found at many such severly sloped courses. The obvious gravel-sand mine underlayers of the golf course canvass appears to be handling the significant recent rain that was in the area the weeks I was out there. I found the course remarkably firm considering the grow-in phase of timing and recent rains.
With other public walkway easements within the course, this is a true community gem of which the area citizens can be proud. And, with plenty of room within for viewing stands, can you say, US OPen?
Which leads me to make a closing first post comment... PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP! I had the opportunity to speak to a few of the grounds crew and staff in my short tour. The level of PRIDE by the crew to be part of something so excellent in their home community was palpable in every excited utterance they offered to me about their job or role on the staff. They 'know' they are sitting on something very special.
They have plans to make this course affordable for the community residents, yet also within range of the travelling golfer who seeks to get an affordable, perhaps once in a lifetime chance to play a course of this magnitude. I hope they keep that philosophy of offering this course to golfers within a means that is not outrageously expensive such as other public resorts like American Club courses, Bandon Resorts, and Pebble Beaches of the golf world. Perhaps the community/municipal nature of the ownership will be the guiding restraint to keep this one within the reach of the golf public at large...
I'll try to get photos up later, but the website and I'm sure other good photographers will constantly be posting better than I have, since Chambers Bay will also be one that serious golf photographers will seek to capture.