In 2015, thousands of golf-lovers traveled to University Place to watch the first-ever US Open tournament in the Pacific Northwest, held at Chambers Bay Golf Course.
If you’re looking to test your mettle at this world-famous public course, book your tee time well in advance, especially for weekends. Hire one of Chambers Bay’s caddies to help you learn the ins and outs of this hilly, cart-free course with slick greens, native fescue grasses, and amply bunkered fairways. The views of Puget Sound are pretty fantastic, too.
Beyond Chambers Bay, golfers have dozens of superb venues in the area from which to choose. The home course of the University of Washington’s men’s and women’s teams, Washington National in Auburn, is designed by renowned architect John Fought. Visit it for rugged transitions and wide fairways. Meanwhile, waterfront favorites in the region include Mukilteo’s Harbour PointeGolf Club and The Home Course in DuPont, which hosted the US Women’s Amateur tournament in 2014.
In Seattle, find a few terrific—and affordable—municipal facilities, the most celebrated being the historic West Seattle Golf Course, designed in the mid-1930s by Pebble Beach architect H. Chandler Egan. And to the east, in the Cascade foothills, Newcastle’s The Golf Club at Newcastle, has two exceptional layouts and an impressive hilltop setting with views of Mount Rainier.
--Andrew Collins
