Chambers Bay – Played Summer 2025
- Rankings: Golf Digest Public #25, Golf Magazine #64, Golf Magazine Public #14
- Location: 6320 Grandview Drive West, University Place, Washington
- Year: 2007
- Original Architect: Robert Trent Jones, Jr
- Additional Work By: Jay Blasi & Bruce Charlton
- Course Access: Municipal
- Walking Rules: Caddies Available
Score Card Information:
- Navy: 7,124 yards, Par 72, 74.3 Rating/139 Slope
- Navy/Sand: 6,867 yards, Par 72, 73.3 Rating/134 Slope
- Sand: 6,586 yards, Par 72, 71.9 Rating/130 Slope
- Sand/Grey: 6,302 yards, Par 72, 70.4 Rating/127 Slope
- Grey: 6,020 yards, Par 72, 69.5 Rating/120 Slope (Men’s), 75.0 Rating/131 Slope (Women’s)
- 5555: 5,555 yards, Par 72, 67.1 Rating/120 Slope (Men’s), 72.2 Rating/127 Slope (Women’s
- Grey/Teal: 5,142 yards, Par 72, 65.0 Rating/118 Slope (Men’s), 70.2 Rating/121 Slope (Women’s)
- Teal: 4,730 yards, Par 72, 63.2 Rating/114 Slope (Men’s), 68.0 Rating/115 Slope (Women’s)
The main event for my Pacific Northwest trip was Chambers Bay. We had a big group of people from many states coming together for some lighthearted competition. What better place for that than the host of the 2015 US Open? Now, in my last post, I mentioned feeling serenity amongst the trees at some PNW courses. Chambers Bay is not that type of place. The “communing with nature” here is more in your face with wide vistas and dramatic elevation change.
Chambers Bay was developed in an abandoned gravel mine by Pierce County and is operated today as a municipal course. It’s always refreshing to see some of the best courses in the country open to the general public. The course’s championship pedigree led to hosting the 2010 US Amateur (Peter Uihlein), the 2015 US Open (Jordan Spieth), the 2021 US Amateur Four-Ball (Kiko Coelho & Leopolda Herrera III), and the 2022 US Women’s Amateur (Saki Baba). While the US Open was marred by pros complaining about the greens, things have improved dramatically since then.
Without further ado, let’s get into the tour!
Hole 1 – 436 yards – Par 4 – Puget Sound
Keep your drive up the center or right side of this hole. The slope goes hard to the left once you get to a certain point.
You can utilize the slope on the right to run your ball onto the green. If you miss left, pars will be hard to come by.
Hole 2 – 365 yards – Par 4 – Foxy
You must avoid the fairway bunkers here, so it’s best to consult your yardage book if you were alert enough to get one (not me). On your approach shot, especially with a left pin, it’s best to favor the right side where you are given an ample target.
Hole 3 – 145 yards – Par 3 – Blown Out
Don’t let this shorter hole lull you to sleep. There is a lot of slope in front of and in the front section of the green. Playing into the large slope on the right should kick your ball down towards the green. If you don’t go that route, make sure you have enough distance to carry the front section.
Hole 4 – 480 yards – Par 5 – Hazard’s Ascent
The slope of this hole will make it play longer than the listed yardage. A good drive can still put you in position to get home in two, though. You have to be cognizant of the slope that cants heavily from left to right towards the massive waste area.
Hole 5 – 441 yards – Par 4 – Free Fall
This elevated tee shot will have you wanting to smash the driver. I’m not going to stop you, but the bunkers are definitely in play, so a straight drive is needed. Depending on your tee shot, the approach can be partially blind.
The green is shaped like a kidney and wraps around a fronting bunker that can test your recovery abilities.
Hole 6 – 418 yards – Par 4 – Deception Point
You want to stay on the left side of this fairway for the best view of the green. Be wary of the greenside bunkers unless you’re a master of the sand.
Hole 7 – 449 yards – Par 4 – Humpback
This hole is plain brawny. It plays severely uphill, so you are enticed to cut some distance off by going up the right side. However, if you end up in the bunker, this hole becomes even harder.
These rough-covered mounds are an added challenge on the approach shot. The green is a big target, but it has plenty of slope as well.
Hole 8 – 523 yards – Par 5 – High Road/Low Road
This fairway feels narrow when you are standing on the tee. It is actually quite wide, but if you miss, either side is fraught with danger. The left features sandy fescue, as does the right, while also adding a big drop-off. This hole ate my lunch both days. It requires two or three really accurate shots.
There is a lot of slope around this green so you need to be able to control your spin.
Hole 9 – 168 yards – Par 3 – Olympus
This hole can play dramatically different depending on the tee box. There is a very elevated box that plays about 90 degrees to the left of the picture below. On this day, we were on the lower box that brings the bunkers more into play.
In this photo, you can look up the hill to get an idea of where the other tee box is. It’s towards the building you can see.
Hole 10 – 381 yards – Par 4 – High Dunes
This hole plays through two huge dunes and gets progressively tighter as you get to the green. Your tee ball needs to be accurate here.
The approach can be a bit claustrophobic with the two greenside bunkers and the dune looming.
Hole 11 – 425 yards – Par 4 – Shadows
We have a straightaway hole here with the central fairway dune serving as an aiming point. There are large bunker complexes immediately on the left and on the right towards the green.
I missed the approach shot, but the green is seen below from behind. There is a big ridge that bisects the green.
Hole 12 – 262 yards – Par 4 – The Narrows
This is the very drivable hole at Chambers Bay. It’s not an easy hole though, as we saw many people blow it right and have very difficult recovery shots (count yours truly in that group). If you’re quite accurate, I think going for it is the right play.
On my second day, I played an iron off the tee to a comfortable distance. With a funnel pin on the left side, a stock wedge was good enough to play the slopes and find its way to the bottom of the cup for a two! It was one of my golf highlights of the year.
Hole 13 – 486 yards – Par 5 – Eagle Eye
This dogleg right par five concludes the hardest part of the walk at Chambers Bay. Tee shots up the right side will cut off significant distance.
The small bunker seen in the distance must be accounted for on the approach shot.
Indifferent shots will be rejected by the mounding around this green.
Hole 14 – 423 yards – Par 4 – Cape Fear
This is a generous fairway, but your line is important. You have to decide how much of the bunker you want to carry while also navigating the right-to-left sloping fairway.
The fairway shaping will funnel balls onto the green that are coming in from short and right.
Hole 15 – 139 yards – Par 3 – Lone Fir
This is one of the more recognizable shots at Chambers Bay. The lone tree makes for a great visual. With the exposed green, wind will almost always be a factor for your shot to the green that slopes left to right.
Hole 16 – 359 yards – Par 4 – Beached
The question here is how daring you want to be on the tee. Hitting driver can get into the rough up the left or leave you with awkward angles if it runs through. As you can see, up the right side is no good.
This is the smallest green on the course and features a lot of slope. The approach can be daunting if you are not firing on all cylinders.
Hole 17 – 172 yards – Par 3 – Derailed
The train’s proximity makes the hole name easy to understand. There is a longer tee that plays directly along the railroad and this one that is more elevated and left. From this tee, the carry over the waste bunker is shorter.
This is obviously a large green, but don’t be tricked into back right pin positions. Long is absolutely dead.
Hole 18 – 514 yards – Par 5 – Tahoma
This is a wide fairway, but the bunkers are in the perfect spots to grab a wayward ball. The bunker on the right is massive and extends past the first half of the hole. If you shy away from it, the bunkers on the left are waiting for you.
Do not, under any circumstances, go into the pot bunker in the middle of the fairway. Be intentional with your lay-up.
The green is massive with lots of sloped, short-grass area in front. You can get creative here.
Chambers Bay is a big, expansive property. You can see the whole site from the clubhouse, and it is awe-inspiring. When it plays firm, you get the entire experience with balls bounding around on the ground. That forces you to account for the slopes and get creative. With the greens fixed from the 2015 US Open, this is a phenomenal course. I’d love to see the pros come back and play it.