Chambers bay trip help

[tips09]

Little back story to this. I lost a super bowl bet and owe a good buddy of mine a round and he chose chambers bay. We are going to be coming down from Canada for a weekend and plan on playing two rounds at chambers bay. Problem is my buddy has a kid on the way and anything after the middle of may is a no go. The question I have is what are the conditions like in April and if anyone has an idea of when they are punching greens? Would you recommend taking caddies even for one round or is there not really a need for a caddie? Any hotels close by that you guys would suggest would be helpful as well. Thanks

[PNW]

Give the clubhouse a call about green punching, but this course is the best one in Washington state conditions-wise to play through the winter. Holds rain very well (one of the advantages of building over an old rock quarry). I play here all year (played November, December, January, and will play again mid April) and the only difference you'll often see is the tee box location for hole 9, but you will likely get the up high summer tee box used in May. I've never used a caddie but they're supposed to be great at Chambers. 

 

If you can swing it, the Home Course and Gold Mountain Olympic course are both great and nearby. 

[tips09]

Thanks for the info. I’ve had both the home course and gold mountain on my radar. Any thoughts on conditions at either of those mid to end of April? I don’t mean to harp on conditions but being a PNWer(Vancouver Island BC) Atleast in my area some of the best courses are basically unplayable due to mud until the start of April. Thanks for the info for caddies we more than likely won’t do that just know that some courses it’s a massive help. 

[Seattlegolfnut]

9 hours ago, PNW said:

Give the clubhouse a call about green punching, but this course is the best one in Washington state conditions-wise to play through the winter. Holds rain very well (one of the advantages of building over an old rock quarry). I play here all year (played November, December, January, and will play again mid April) and the only difference you'll often see is the tee box location for hole 9, but you will likely get the up high summer tee box used in May. I've never used a caddie but they're supposed to be great at Chambers. 

 

If you can swing it, the Home Course and Gold Mountain Olympic course are both great and nearby. 

Second all that.

 

Just played the Home Course last week and it’s great.  Sure Chambers is too.

 

 

 

 

[doc52]

Played Chambers on Tuesday, conditions were great. 
 

Chambers can be a a tough walk for some, a caddie definitely earns their money here. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by doc52

[PNW]

@tips09

Home Course will probably be better conditions this time of year than Gold Mountain, but I would guess that Gold Mountain is not bad. Home Course might be second best in the area for winter conditions.

 

Both are great, but if you have to choose between one or the other to piggyback on Chambers, I would say Gold Mountain since it gives you more variety. Its more of a mountain, tree lined course, whereas Home Course has few trees and wide open fairways (more similar to Chambers in this regard). Both are great and a good challenge. 

 

I'm looking forward to getting up to Tofino this summer and hoping to make a stop or two to play along the way! Vancouver Island is a beautiful place

[bellken]

From the Chambers Bay web site: https://www.chambersbaygolf.com/championship-experience/

or https://www.chambersbaygolf.com/buddies-trip/

 

A caddie can help, but, I don't think you need one.

[tips09]

Thank you for all the information. It’s much appreciated. @PNW Tofino is amazing I usually get out there a couple times a year. If you need any good recommendations for courses on the island message me and I will give you all the local knowledge I’ve got. If any locals have some course knowledge to share for chambers I’m all ears. Every round is match play for us so any tip helps. 

[R4haehl]

As @bellken mentioned, I would do the Championship Experience. Play Chambers, Gold Mtn and Home Course + lodging at hotel in Tacoma. When we did it a few years ago, it also included complimentary replays. I live in Seattle and had a number of buddies from out of town. a few of us played 36 at Chambers. Went out for an emergency 9+ at Gold Mountain after playing 18 there, we played about 32 holes and ran out of day light. Then 18 at Home Course on final day. Very affordable package.

 

For Chambers, you will want to book the replay in advance and let them know you are doing the Championship experience so that you don't have to pay for the replay. However, I am not sure if they are still doing the complimentary replays. 

[doc52]

Stay left on 7.

[fairways4life]

I was in town last week and played chambers bay. It definitely exceeded my expectations.

 

As far as lodging, we stayed at a place called the inn at gig harbor. Nice affordable place about 20 minutes from the course. And right across the street from the hotel is an irish pub and a brewery.

 

We took a caddie named Charles Wagner. He's been there since the year the course opened. He was a great caddie and really added to the experience. I would recommend him if you take a caddie.

 

 

[Captain Hook11]

I just got offered the chance to play Chambers in two weeks, cannot wait. Just hoping the weather holds. To all who have played it, how early do you recommend getting to the course? Looks like there's a shuttle down to the range? I want to get the full experience that's for sure.

[doc52]

25 minutes ago, Captain Hook11 said:

I just got offered the chance to play Chambers in two weeks, cannot wait. Just hoping the weather holds. To all who have played it, how early do you recommend getting to the course? Looks like there's a shuttle down to the range? I want to get the full experience that's for sure.

 

I would recommend checking into the Pro Shop at the top of the hill and then driving down to the large driving range and park next to the range for the round. Also the restaurant adjacent to the pro shop has decent food and a great view of the course. There is a shuttle that runs from the driving range to the drop off area for the course. This shuttle also runs from the pro shop to the driving range/starter.

 

I like getting to Chambers with enough time to hit the range and practice greens.  The range is decent and they have a putting green and chipping green near the first tee box.

[fairways4life]

4 hours ago, Captain Hook11 said:

I just got offered the chance to play Chambers in two weeks, cannot wait. Just hoping the weather holds. To all who have played it, how early do you recommend getting to the course? Looks like there's a shuttle down to the range? I want to get the full experience that's for sure.

 

Yeah when I was there we parked in the "top" parking lot by the pro shop. Checked in, then drove down the hill to the "bottom" parking lot where the practice area is. Hit balls and chipped for a bit and then took a shuttle back up the hill to the first tee. It's definitely the oddest pre-round experience I've had lol. There wasn't a long wait for the shuttle to the first tee. They seemed to be pretty on top of it all. 

[kaschreiber]

There are two ranges - the lower one which is a lot larger and described a couple times above and the upper one closer to one tee / right of 8 fw. When you check in they'll tell you whether to drive down below or stay parked up top. If they are using the upper range I don't think there's a shuttle running to the lower lot, but could be wrong. If you park below and walk up, it's a hell of a walk so want to avoid that out of the gates. If you're looking for the full full experience, I'd consider taking a caddie as well but not mandatory to have a great time (and believe me, there's no such thing as "I'm not good enough for a caddie" as long as you have a good attitude and play fast. They've seen it all). They have a really good group and will probably have a handful of US Open stories, put you in the right place - they're just good hangs. Wags is a good caddie rec.

 

Check in an hour or a little over an hour and you'll have plenty of time to grab some swag, get to where you need to go, hit some balls / putts, grab a beer / cocktail and be on your way.  

[snakano]

Played for the first time on Friday and the course was in good shape! As others have said, try to get there about and hour+ early to clock the shuttle timings, take advantage of the facilities and practice green area (I should have spent more time there).

 

As far as caddies go, I couldn't recommend hiring one enough. On one hand, there's plenty of deception in that land and I aimed at a lot of windows I normally wouldn't have considered. Secondly, it's a bit of a slog to walk but so worth it. Ask for Carl if you do hire a looper, he's been there for over a decade now and was a pleasure to walk the grounds with.

Enjoy the ride!

Edited April 19, 2022 by snakano

[PNW]

I played there on Saturday and it reminded me of one more little tip.

 

Approach shots on 7 are uphill blind, but there is a tree on the upslope behind the green that is good for a middle-green target line.

[tips09]

Thanks for all the help and local knowledge. Looking more likely this will end up being a spur of the moment trip sometime this summer now due to some minor scheduling conflicts. More than likely pushed into July or August which will be great for course conditions I would assume. Thanks again for all of the help. 

[Chanceman]

On 4/20/2022 at 10:57 AM, PNW said:

I played there on Saturday and it reminded me of one more little tip.

 

Approach shots on 7 are uphill blind, but there is a tree on the upslope behind the green that is good for a middle-green target line.

I hope you got one of these??

[PNW]

11 hours ago, Chanceman said:

I hope you got one of these??

 my man!