Bachelor Golf Trip - Chambers and ...???

milmatic · January 15, 2020

Hey Everyone,

Looking for a bit of insight as I am planning a bachelor golf trip in June. SeaTac is one of the possible destinations and I'd like to come to a decision based on course density in as small of a given area as possible, accessibility, and nightlife. The other destinations are Lake Tahoe area and San Diego. The group will be sized btwn 8 - 12 people and the trip will be centered around Chambers Bay, which I think will be a must. Doing a quick Google maps search of what other courses are in the vicinity(~5 mi radius) it looks like there are a few options. So I wanted to get people's take on the following below. Please keep in mind most of us are higher handicaps and usually play public tracks back home(SF Bay Area).

1) Chambers - Given June will be high demand season, what's the best time to get in for twilight and what can I expect to pay? What's the latest tee time I could book with expectation of finishing in the month of June?

2) Nearby Courses - Oakbrook and Meadow Park seem to be closest. Are they worth playing? Wanted to check out The Home Course as I've heard good things but it seems a bit further South. Is it worth the extra mileage? Any other recommendations? Don't want to travel too far as there will be alcohol involved and don't think people will want to drive. Alternatively Ubering everywhere with golf clubs could be cumbersome.

3) Accommodations - There don't seem to be a lot of Air bnb/VRBO options in Tacoma, for 12 dudes anyway. Also wondering how downtown Tacoma is in terms of nightlife/bars to check out. Any other suggestions for a good central place to stay with maximum proximity to a number of courses? Would consider this and then just making an excursion to Chambers.

4) Travel - flying into SeaTac, what are the best options for getting to University Place area as well as getting to and from courses? Calling an Uber for 8 - 12 guys, all with golf clubs, could be tough and pricey. Van? train?

5) Itinerary - With a Friday afternoon arrival and Monday afternoon departure in mind, I'm thinking 9 - 36 - 18(Chambers) - 18 trip. If it were you, where would you play to fill those days?

Thanks for reading and thanks for any and all inputs. Any little bits of advice I can get would be appreciated!

jrg75 · January 16, 2020

Former PNW resident and have played alot of golf in Seattle area including Chambers multiple times. Chambers is amazing, especially since they redid the greens and is a must play IMO. It's surprisingly far and a pain to get to from downtown Seattle, Tacoma traffic is a nightmare. It's probably 90 minutes even though it's only 45 miles. I'm guessing in June you could tee off at 4 and easily finish. Other golf options are ok but nothing that I lie awake at night dreaming about. Seattle is a great city though.

Honestly, I would also consider San Diego, also lived there and there are great options for golf even if you don't get on at Torrey, vibrant nightlife and better weather in June.

jrg75 · January 16, 2020

Side note, and I'm biased, but if you are looking for course density with must plays, little to no driving, and plenty of alcohol, etc, you described Bandon Dunes for me.

milmatic · January 16, 2020

Thanks JRG. Bandon was absolutely the first choice til I called and realized they don't have any lodging availability between April and August. I thought about staying off property and chancing tee time bookings for non guest(21 days out?). Do you know what the success rate would be with this approach? We'll have anywhere btwn 8 - 12 people.

jrg75 · January 16, 2020

Bummer, lodging seems to be the limiting factor at Bandon, especially for large groups. I've definitely played with a lot of guys that were staying in Coos Bay or Bandon and said they had no problems. However, most of those seemed like groups of 2 or 3, maybe 4, getting assurance for 8-12 might be tricky, especially if your looking for consecutive tee times. Plus with the Sheep Ranch opening in June, I know things are crazy there.

Chanceman · January 16, 2020

Back to the OP question, I have looked at those courses around Chambers Bay and the best quality choices seem to be:

Gold Mountain,

Salish Cliffs,

Washington National,

The Home Course.

Always open to local knowledge though but a lot depends on budget considerations and I guess there are plenty of good local courses . Also I am not sure about the travel involved from where you are staying. We will be en route to Bandon so for us its not either/or, so I expect we will play Chambers Bay on the way down and Salish on the way back.

jrg75 · January 16, 2020

Both courses at Gold Mountain are great, Olympic Course by far the better of the two. Salish Cliffs also great. Never played Home Course or Washington National. That set of courses includes a good bit a driving. I would also throw White Horse on the list if you're heading to the other side of the sound. West Seattle is surprisingly good for a muni, I've had some really fun rounds there just don't expect to be blown away.

puttnforthe8 · January 16, 2020

Personally, If you are set on going to do Chambers...Stay nearby and just drive and play at the Gold Mtn courses and Salish. Tacoma is not the greatest, but at that time of the year it will be decent. And if you want, you can go into Seattle one night (Lyft).

Never played, but my I heard Aldarra is a decent course.

milmatic · January 16, 2020

Thanks for all the inputs so far. Really appreciate it!

bellken · January 16, 2020

Check out - https://www.chambersbaygolf.com/packages/

In June, the weather could still be an issue, but, daylight should not be.

Mustu · January 17, 2020

Chambers is going to be pretty expensive for non-WA residents. If you're Costco members you can buy gift cards in the stores locally to get you 20% off. I think the Home Course is great (and reasonably priced). The 2 courses at Gold Mountain are also solid especially Olympic; great prices there too. Salish Cliffs is also very nice (but further away).

There's something called championship experience (it's on Chambers website) which gets you 2 nights at a hotel in Tacoma, rounds at Chambers, Home Course and Gold Mountain Olympic with free replays at each course for I think $500 in June. I don't know how much Chambers is for non-resident in June, but I bet that would be work out to be a pretty good deal. I've been tempted to do it even though I live in the Seattle area.

Mustu · January 17, 2020

I just realized that bellken linked to the championship experience on his post. I've played Meadow Park once. I wouldn't play there if I were you. Home Course is so much better. Oh, and it stays light pretty late in June especially at a wide open place like Chambers. I've played golf past 9:30 in June before.

kaschreiber · January 17, 2020

Championship experience is the way to do it as linked above. You're going to have a tough time finding good golf in close proximity, AND solid lodging, AND a solid night life in the Seattle area unfortunately. The courses listed above are the ones worth considering as well- Gold Mtn, Home Course, Salish. Washington National can be skipped, McCormick Woods is close to Salish. Salish also has a casino where you can stay, if you don't mind moving around a bit. We've tried booking airbnbs/vrbos in that area as well and have never had a lot of luck.

Not to go completely off track, but Portland would be worth considering. Nothing in the same world as Chambers Bay, but the airbnb and night life options are much better than Seattle's for a bachelor party and Pumpkin Ridge is a good course to play for your one big course. Public golf in the area is much better than Seattle's as well- Seattle you need to get at least 45 minutes outside of the city for solid golf, Portland has Heron Lakes, Red Tail, Quail Valley, Camas Meadows (WA) in the surrounding areas.

A big consideration will be the night life you're looking for too- do good places to eat good food, kick back beers, and shoot pool suffice or are you looking for something with clubs and girls to chase?

Kjboisen · January 17, 2020

Gold Mountain is a fantastic course I believe it hosted the US Junior Amateur or the US AM I dont know which one but its a fantastic track. If you already have Chambers booked then I wouldnt play The Home Course as it will give similiar-ish vibes. Gold Mountain has a variety of holes and is overall a fun place to play.

milmatic · January 17, 2020

WRT your last question Kash, we're past the clubbing phase and are moreso into breweries and sports bars. We're all wifed up with kids haha. Thanks for your recs. Portland is intriguing but looks like the distances of the courses you mentioned are still a trek(albeit shorter than Seattle area). But the beer definitely gets Portland more points!

kaschreiber · January 20, 2020

You guys should do well out in the peninsula then. Gold Mountain is a really good follow up to Chambers as others have mentioned, has 36 holes (play the Olympic if you only get one) and 15 minutes to Silver City Brewery- one of the more popular in WA state. GM did host the US Junior Am- it's where Spieth and Greller got linked up, there's a some Spieth memorabilia on site if that interests you at all. If you make your home base Little Creek Casino, you're <5 minutes to Salish Cliffs Golf, 30 mins to Home Course, ~45 to both Gold Mountain, McCormick Woods, Chambers Bay. If you find a good airbnb in Tacoma you'll be even closer to GM, McCormick, and Chambers and Tacoma is up and coming as a nice city with good bar/restaurant choices.

tl;dr- I'd suggest getting out of Seattle proper, making your home base Tacoma or somewhere else on the peninsula and you'll be set. Feel free to dm me if there's anything else you're trying to figure out.