Chambers Bay
A genuine fescue links carved from an old gravel quarry above Puget Sound, and the youngest course ever to host the U.S. Open. Robert Trent Jones Jr opened Chambers Bay in 2007, the championship came in 2015, and it remains a publicly owned, walking only links with sweeping water views and greens the size of football fields.
Photo: Chambers Bay Golf Course via Google.
The verdict
Chambers Bay is one of the boldest experiments in modern American golf. Pierce County took a worked out sand and gravel quarry on the shore of Puget Sound, handed it to Robert Trent Jones Jr, and asked for a course capable of hosting a major. He delivered a true fescue links, opened in 2007, grassed corner to corner in the fine bouncing turf of the British and Irish coast, with massive dunes of spoil, a single lone fir tree and the water shimmering below. Golf Digest named it the best new public course in the country, and the U.S. Open arrived in 2015, the first ever held in the Pacific Northwest.
The 2015 championship was divisive, the greens criticized by some of the world's best, but the course itself is a thrilling, strategic links that plays differently every day with the wind and the firm ground. It is a par 72 of around 7,585 yards, walking only by design, and it remains a publicly owned course that anyone can book. For a links experience without crossing the Atlantic, with the drama of a recent major thrown in, Chambers Bay is unlike anywhere else in the United States.
Chambers Bay at a glance
- Opened
- 2007
- Designer
- Robert Trent Jones Jr
- Type
- Fescue links
- Par
- 72
- Yardage
- About 7,585 yds
- Green fee
- From around $100
Designer, opening year, par and length verified June 2026 from the course and leading databases. Chambers Bay is a Robert Trent Jones Jr fescue links of around 7,585 yards, walking only, and host of the 2015 U.S. Open. Green fees are indicative, from around 100 to 350 dollars by season and residency, peak summer near 205 dollars with Washington and Pierce County resident discounts. Fees change by season and year, so always confirm directly before booking.
The holes worth the trip
Chambers Bay asks you to play the ground game from the first swing. The fescue fairways run fast and firm, the contours feed and repel the ball, and the right miss matters far more than the heroic carry. Jones routed the course to use the huge elevation change of the old quarry, so you are constantly playing up to blind crests or down toward the Sound, reading the bounce as much as the yardage.
The closing stretch along the water is the headline, a run of holes where the par 4 sixteenth and the reachable, drivable seventeenth and eighteenth can be set up by the staff as par 4s or par 5s, the flexibility that let the course play to par 70 or 72 for the U.S. Open. The lone fir tree behind the fifteenth green is the course's signature image, framed against the Sound. The greens are enormous and full of movement, so position and a deft touch from forty feet decide far more than driving distance.
It is a hike, with real climbs between some greens and tees, so take a caddie or a push cart and pace yourself. Played in the right spirit, with the wind up and the turf running, it is as close to a true links as American golf gets, a proper test that rewards imagination over power.
How to get on
| What to know | Detail |
|---|---|
| Access | A publicly owned, daily fee course open to all; book tee times online or by phone |
| Green fee | Around 100 to 350 dollars by season and residency, peak summer near 205 dollars, resident discounts (indicative, 2026) |
| Booking | Reserve ahead for summer; quieter and cheaper in the cooler, wetter shoulder months |
| On the day | Walking only, by design; complimentary push carts and caddies available. Smart golf dress |
| Getting there | At University Place near Tacoma, about 45 minutes south of Seattle Tacoma airport |
| Best months | June to September for the driest, firmest links conditions |
Access and indicative green fees verified June 2026; they change without notice, so always confirm directly before booking with the course or your trip planner. Check tee time availability.
Where to stay nearby
Chambers Bay has no hotel on site, so the usual bases are Tacoma a few minutes away or Seattle to the north, both with a full range of hotels. The course sits within the nearly 1,000 acre Chambers Creek Regional Park, with its waterfront trails, so a stay nearby gives you more than just the golf.
For a Pacific Northwest golf trip, Seattle works as a hub, with Chambers Bay to the south and the city's restaurants, coffee and waterfront on your doorstep. Seattle Tacoma airport, around forty five minutes away, connects the region to the rest of the country and beyond.
Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Tacoma and Seattle.
Build a Pacific Northwest golf trip
We build a links trip around a round at Chambers Bay, add the best of the Pacific Northwest and the Bandon resort down the coast, and sort caddies, lodging and transfers. Tell us roughly when and who is travelling and one concierge costs it to the head, with no obligation.
Chambers Bay questions
Who designed Chambers Bay and when did it open?
Chambers Bay was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr on a former sand and gravel quarry above Puget Sound and opened in 2007. Golf Digest named it America's Best New Public Course of 2008, and it hosted the U.S. Open just eight years after opening.
What is the par and length of Chambers Bay?
Chambers Bay is a par 72 stretching to around 7,585 yards from the championship tees, a fescue links with fast running fairways, huge contoured greens and dramatic elevation change down to the water.
How much does it cost to play Chambers Bay, and can you take a cart?
Chambers Bay is walking only, with complimentary push carts and caddies available; carts are not part of the experience. Indicative 2026 green fees run from around 100 to 350 dollars by season and residency, with the peak summer rate near 205 dollars and discounts for Washington and Pierce County residents. Fees change by season and year, so always confirm directly before booking.
Has Chambers Bay hosted the U.S. Open?
Yes. Chambers Bay hosted the U.S. Open in 2015, the first time the championship had been played in the Pacific Northwest, won by Jordan Spieth. It also staged the U.S. Amateur in 2010.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designer, opening year, par and yardage verified June 2026; indicative green fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.