Chambers Bay Golf Course

Almost all new golf courses arrive with a splash, but few can claim the worldwide imprint of the newly formed Chambers Bay at University Place, Washington. 

Built in 2007, the Scottish Links-style public golf course was designed by noted course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. His objective was to create a unique golf experience, to put as many holes as possible alongside the sound, to build a course enjoyable for all skill levels but demanding enough for the world’s best players under major championship conditions. His creation immediately was hailed a success. By locating the clubhouse on the far side of the course, away from the water, he has maximized use of the shoreline for the course itself while offering stunning views of the sound for golfers and those in the clubhouse as well. By making it a walking-only course, it gives the feel of the classics of golf, though less than five years old. There are no distractions, not too many add-ons, just a great course ready to be enjoyed.

Right off the bat at the 1st hole, the player gets a clear understanding of the visual treat they are in for. As they tee off, a 50 foot-high-dune lay to the right with the backdrop of the dark blue Puget Sound for added effect. The par-4 5th hole, nicknamed “Free Fall,” is perhaps the most memorable as it plummets 80 feet from the tee to the two separate greens 150 yards apart. To reach the furthest green, a player can use a low-running approach to find the putting surface. While on the closer green, the player needs a more cautious approach due to its ominous sand dunes. 

One notable golf publication voted it as the ‘best new course of 2007’ and when looking around at the scenery, a golfing enthusiast can’t help but feel that they are playing in Ireland. The giant sand dunes, rumpled fairways, breathtaking sea views and unpredictable weather give a Celtic-like atmosphere more than 5,000 miles away from the homeland of four-leaf clovers. 

You may know it more as a course that hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur and it is scheduled to host the 2015 U.S. Open, which will be the first-time the event will be held in the Pacific Northwest. But you should also know it as one of the must-play venues in the entire country, a must play for every golfer’s bucket list. So check out one of the nation’s true golfing gems, no golfer will walk away disappointed. 

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Whistling Straits, Straits Course

Designed by Pete Dye, Whistling Straits emulates the great old seaside links courses of the British Isles, invoking an image of the game founded more than 400 years ago. The Straits Course is open with rugged and windswept terrain. A more mature course than one would expect, golfers encounter huge sandy areas, deep pot bunkers,grass-topped dunes, big and undulating greens and majestic views of Lake Michigan from each of its 18 holes. The dramatic par-3 17th, the course's unofficial signature hole, features a green precariously perched over water and sand. Whistling Straits also features: 

Two miles of uninterrupted shoreline on Lake Michigan 

- Eight holes hugging the Lake Michigan shoreline 

- Bluffs and massive sand dune areas 

- Natural fescue fairways 

- A flock of Scottish Blackface sheep call the course home 

- Elevation change on the course (hole 15) is approximately 80 feet 

- The Straits Course is a walking course; walking distance for 18 holes is approximately five miles 

- Three stone bridges at holes 9, 10 and 18

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TPC Sawgrass, The Players Stadium

Early in 2006, after the final putt fell at the Players Championship, work crews fanned out across the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, giving Pete Dye's renowned layout its first major renovation since it opened in 1981. Greens were revamped, bunkers were deepened, dead trees were replaced, and a drainage system that had long been a weak spot in the course's defenses was overhauled. The result is a course that plays firm, fast and fair -- exactly what Dye always intended.

Dye's design, never meant to overwhelm with length, has been left largely intact and still requires subtlety and precision. Some holes (like Nos. 1 and 8) have been lengthened modestly, and pot bunkers were added along the seventh fairway (at 270 to 310 yards from the tee, they aren't an issue for most of us). Even the most iconic hole at Sawgrass -- the island-green 17th -- was tweaked: the front slope was flattened a little and the left side widened to accommodate a perilous new pin position. But one thing hasn't changed, and it never will: there's still a lot of water around the green.

There is water on every hole of Pete Dye's Valley Course. The layout received a major renovation in 2006 and is now playing tougher than ever. Over 300 trees were added to the course and several bunkers were reconstructed to both improve drainage and offer more challenge.

The long par-3 second hole has water running down the entire right side. The green is also guarded by grass mounds in front and deep bunkers short and left.

The 350-yard, par-4 3rd hole may lake length, but it has plenty of complexity. The fairway slopes hard to the left, so most players will hit their second shot with the ball above their feet. From that hook lie, missing the green left will deposit your ball in a collection area that is 12 feet below the level of the green and tightly mowed. From their you may need to chip, pitch or putt depending on the pin placement.

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Bandon Dunes Golf Resort

Bandon Dunes has been ranked as one of the top courses in the U.S. and the World by Golf Magazine's panel of experts.

Bandon Dunes was this first course at the resort. It opened to raves in 1999. And rightly so: David McLay Kidd's design may labor under the ever lengthening shadow cast by Pacific Dunes, but it's still one of the best tracks you'll ever play. The course picks up steam at the 428-yard 5th hole, where your drive and approach shots must thread rough-strewn mounds. The bunkering is masterful, deep sodwalled affairs that goad aggressive players into foolhardy plays while steering higher handicaps to safer terrain. No. 13 -- a 553-yard par 5 -- has no bunkers at all, but the rolling ground presents no shortage of quandaries.

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Sand Hills Golf Club

Sand Hills is consistently ranked as one of the top courses in the U.S. and the World

This links-style course is hilly, yet not too difficult to walk. There are plenty of natural and man-made bunkers, but no water hazards, trees or out-of-bounds stakes in play. The greens are undulating and fast, and vary from small to large in size. The signature hole is the 18th, a 467-yard par 4 that requires a tee shot up a slight dogleg left. A bunker extends all the way up the left side to the elevated green.

Golf Magazine also rated Sand Hills the greatest golf course of the last 50 years.

From Sports Illustrated Writer-Reporter Rick Lipsey: The mecca of American golf isn't Augusta or Pebble Beach, at least not in the eyes of aficionados like Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus. Ask them where the country's greatest golfing terrain sits, and they'll likely mention a sprawling, scrubby and desolate 19,600 square-mile tract in north central Nebraska called the Sand Hills, the biggest expanse of sand dunes in America. The terrain is perfect for golf because of the undulating topography and the beautiful flora and fauna (over 700 species of plants and 300 animal species). Opened in 1995, Sand Hills brought global acclaim for golf to the region. The private club was designed by the golf architect team of Crenshaw and Bill Corre, who turned an 8,000-acre ranch in tiny Mullen (pop. 491) into a golfing Eden. Corre and Crenshaw studied the land for two years and sketched 136 different holes before choosing the final 18, for which they moved only 3,000 cubic yards of earth during construction. Sand Hills was such a hit that star architects, including Nicklaus, are now building their own layouts in the region.

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