Three Sparkling New Courses

Heralding the arrival of the summer solstice, three public golf courses opened in Washington State. Perfect timing, indeed. White Horse Golf Club opened in Kingston in mid-June. Chambers Bay opened just south of Tacoma on June 23 in what was the most anticipated golf course debut in recent years. The Home Course opened in nearby DuPont a week later. Here is a summary of the three courses.

White Horse Golf Club, Kingston
Designed by Cynthia Dye McGarey, niece of design legend Pete Dye, White Horse Golf Club offers terrific views of both the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. Located in Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula, the course is part of the White Horse Golf Community featuring 224 home sites on 456 acres. Five sets of tee boxes range from 5,022 to 7,093 yards. The 18-hole course also features an 11-acre driving range and practice facility. Since the fairways average just 50 yards in width, accuracy is the name of the game, especially when teeing off from the tips.

White Horse will also feature a state-of-the-art clubhouse boasting a pavilion, pro shop, and destination restaurant. The White Horse Inn will feature a swimming pool, tennis courts and more. There are miles of trails to enjoy that weave gracefully through the property. In addition, more than 700 acres of county park land are adjacent to White Horse.

Green fees are a modest $45 for 18 holes Monday through Thursday; weekend rates jump to $60. Twilight fees are $25, and cart rental is $13. Getting to White Horse Golf Club is easy. Take either the Edmonds-Kingston ferry or Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry, or drive from the Kitsap Peninsula side. It’s a 50-minute drive from Tacoma or half an hour from Bremerton. For more information, call (360) 297-4468 or visit the Web site at www.whitehorsegolf.com.

Chambers Bay Golf Course, University Place
“Chambers Bay is not a normal municipal golf course,” Robert Trent Jones II said a few days before the opening of the Pacific Northwest’s rarest of tracks. It’s a Scottish links-style course located in University Place—15 minutes from Tacoma and 40 minutes from Seattle.

After a two-and-a-half-year, $21 million transformation, this abandoned sand and gravel pit has been majestically chiseled into a Scottish links-style dunes course. Built on 250 acres adjacent to Puget Sound, the course offers panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains and neighboring Anderson, McNeil and Fox islands.

According to Jones, Chambers Bay, by definition, is a true links-style course. “It has all the attributes of a links course, like being built near an estuary, its topography contains pure sand, and wind and weather play significant factors. Though this is in the tradition of Scotland, it is not a copy of anything,” he says.

Historically, links golf has been attributed to Scottish courses dating to 1728. At that time, land that couldn’t be used for farming because of its salty content was instead used for golf courses.

Designed by Jones and his team from Palo Alto, California, Chambers Bay is an 18-hole course measuring 7,585 yards from the tips. If you’re looking for exercise, this par 72 is a course you’ll want to try. There are no cart rentals or cart paths at Chambers Bay. This walking-only course beckons golfers to experience true links-style golf.

“It’s a very playable course,” says Jones. “There are no trees or water hazards to contend with.” However, it’s that invisible hazard of the wind that Jones alluded to that will surely test each golfer’s skill.

According to Jay Blasi, Jones’ lead architect for Chambers Bay, a great deal of infrastructure was built into the course with the intent of someday hosting a major PGA Tour event. Subtleties not readily discernable while walking the course include expansive areas around select greens, especially the 18th. “Adjacent to the final green, we have 350 yards that can serve as a staging area for corporate, food-and beverage and media tents, along with enough room for grandstands and television towers,” Blasi explains. And if that’s not enough, the three-mile Grandview Trail encircling the course could serve as a gallery area for fans.

If attracting the attention of the PGA was on the minds of Jones and company, it serves as a good sign that it didn’t take long for golf professionals to incorporate Chambers Bay in their repertoire. On Oct. 9, Chambers Bay Golf Course will be the site of an 18-hole skins game featuring PGA pros Ryan Moore, Michael Putnam, Aaron Baddeley and Bubba Watson. In addition to whatever each player wins from the $50,000 purse, all four will play for a local charity, which is guaranteed $25,000 beforehand.

For more information on this Scottish links-style course, visit Chambers Bay Golf Course online at www.chambersbaygolf.com.

The Home Course, DuPont
The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) and Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) have been working cooperatively for the last two decades to acquire a permanent home. That all came to fruition on June 29 when The Home Course opened in DuPont. “We shall be forever grateful to the Weyerhaeuser Company for providing us with the opportunity to develop our vision at this historic and remarkable property,” said John Bodenhamer, WSGA and PNGA executive director.

Fort Nisqually, a main trading and supply center for early U.S. settlers and local Native Americans, was built by the Hudson Bay Company here in 1833. That original 1833 site of the old fort has been preserved next to the first green of The Home Course.

The course itself measures an impressive 7,437 yards, and offers panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains, Mt. Rainier, and the waters of Puget Sound. Green fees range from $35 to $45. For more information on The Home Course, call toll free at (866) 964-0520, or visit the Web site at www.thehomecourse.com. Look for an expanded review on The Home Course in a future issue of the RV Golfer.

Rick Stedman is an avid RVer, golfer and writer who lives in Yakima, Washington. He can be reached at rstedman@gmail.com