Laudable Audible

The 227-yard, par-3 ninth tumbles from a Jones-made hilltop. Photo: Stephen Szurlej

The 304-yard 12th is a genuine reachable par 4, uphill with a rollicking green in a punchbowl setting. The 425-yard 16th is merely a drive and a pitch for top players these days, but the green has a unique back-right pin position, a mere thumb of putting surface between flanking bunkers.

Except for the long, straight par-5 eighth, holes constantly change direction, often with every shot. The wind off the sound is omnipresent and can be strong. (Once, in 1940, wind twisted and buckled the old Tacoma Narrows bridge into a pretzel.) It is what Bobby Jones calls his "invisible hazard," and it is part of what USGA finds appealing about this championship course.

There is hardly a flat spot on the premises, and that includes the tee boxes. In what may be the first truly original design idea of the 21st century, Charlton convinced his colleagues to abandon traditional tee pads in favor of long, skinny, free-flowing ribbons of teeing space. Many are not much wider than walking paths; many are recessed rather than elevated; most are gently contoured with a variety of flats spots just the size of throw rugs. The idea is to pick the lie that might best help shape a shot off the tee: sidehill lies if you wish to fade or draw the ball, a slightly uphill lie if you need help getting airborne, a downhill lie if you want to keep it under the wind, or a flat lie. It's too early to know whether USGA officials will accept those unorthodox teeing areas for the U.S. Open. Jones hopes they will.

"We'll probably address that after the [2010] U.S. Amateur," he says. "But it's not like there are no flat spots out there. We have dozens of 'batter's boxes' within the undulations. I would hope they'd position the markers far apart and let golfers chose their particular lies. Our goal was to get into the players' minds, even on the tee, and to put some integrity back into tee shots. Don't let them just stick a peg in the ground and bomb it."

The tees are the same fescue turf as the fairways and primary rough, which heightens the illusion that the course was simply mowed out of an existing landscape. It's dry, firm turf everywhere, a mix of fescues with a hint of Colonial bent (about 5 percent), conducive to the sort of bounce-and-roll game required on a links. With just one type of turfgrass, fairways can be easily narrowed, or widened, in preparation for the Open.

Chambers Bay's boldly contoured greens also are fescue, a genuine departure for any USGA event. In recent years, Open greens have been Poa annua, which can be cut incredibly short for ultra-fast speeds -- 13 on a Stimpmeter -- but must be kept moist in hot weather to stay alive, making them softer and more receptive than the USGA would like. The fescue greens at Chambers can't be cut quite as short -- maybe 11 on the Stimpmeter -- but they can be maintained very firm in June.

"We designed the contours for speeds of 10 or 11," says Jones. "Downslope, they'll still putt like they're 13. I think players who have seen fescue greens at British Open courses will like them. But they won't be firing at the flags. They'll have to work the ball to some pin positions."

It cost an estimated $20 million to build Chambers Bay, so even before the Open announcement, it sported a rather pricey green fee for its locale. County residents pay between $55 and $114, depending on the season. Tourists pay $75 through the end of this month, $142 for weekend play in March and April, and $171 on weekends from May to September. But there is no need to rush to Tacoma to avoid price-gouging. The USGA contract prohibits the county from raising greens fees in excess of a cost-of-living adjustment until three years after the Open.

But when you do make the trip to Chambers Bay -- and what golf fan doesn't want to tread upon a brand new U.S. Open venue that even Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have yet to see? -- be aware the course is a walking-only facility. You can carry your bag, rent a pull cart, rent a motorized pull cart or hire a caddie. But there are no golf cars, no cushions for your tush, no fenders for club washers and ice chests, no cart paths to scuff your ball and spoil the scenery.

Chambers Bay is links golf. And the U.S. Open will be links golf, too -- in seven years.