Chambers Bay’s putting greens go more natural for 2021
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CHAMBERS Bay will be closed for five months while it focuses on improving the grass on the golf course.
After complaints about dirtandsandpaper greens during the 2015 US Open, the University Place course is switching from fine fescue to poa annua, the predominant golf grass in the Northwest.
Work will start Monday (Oct. 1), and the golf course will be closed until March.
Chambers Creek Regional Park will not be affected.
Changing the greens “will immediately improve daily playing conditions and ensure the ability to conduct an exemplary USGA Championship in 2021,” officials said in a news release.
When Chambers Bay opened in 2007, it was known for being one of the only all-fescue courses in the country. But the fescue greens were heavily criticized as bumpy by golfers who played in the Open.
For months leading up to the tournament, officials at the course tried to keep poa annua grass from overtaking the greens, but the invasive grass thrived as grounds crews were forced to Greater Greensboro Open for the - -
GGO “the best-run golf tourna
course, entering into land deals for a
water more frequently thanks to above-average temperatures.
Instead of a smooth putting surface, the poa, also known as bluegrass, was bumpy and much of the grass appeared to be dead.
Officials at Chambers Bay said they first detected signs of unhealthy turf on three putting greens early last year.
Poa grass was shipped from British Columbia and used to re-sod the Nos. 7, 10 and 13 greens, as well as the practice green. The results were so favorable that officials decided to redo the remaining 15 greens.
The budget for the final phase
(15 holes) is $238,000. The county received a $150,000 to help pay for the project, said Libby Catalinich, Pierce County spokeswoman
Feedback so far has apparently been good.
“The people I have talked to have been nothing but positive about the new greens they have played,” said Larry Gilhuly, a USGA agronomist with the U.S. Golf Association. “Players think the greens are spectacular. They’re - firm. They have good pace.”
The course is owned by Pierce County and Kemper Sports.
Part of the reason new greens are going in is to improve the odds of Chambers Bay hosting another U.S. Open and possibly a sides of a partnership can adapt and
“Our experience suggests that the sports property co-create rights -
- - a n d U.S. Women’s Open.
Sites for the U. S. Open have been picked through 2027, and sites for the U. S. Women’s Open have been announced through 2023.
Chambers Bay was supposed to host the U.S. Amateur FourBall Championship next year, - - nations, as Bobby and th e - r iad - tion for their support of this
Tbut it was moved to Bandon Dunes in Oregon at the request of Chambers Bay. The Pierce County course will be the site for the four-ball championship in 2021.
Although Chambers Bay will be closed for five months, the clubhouse, restaurant and golf shop will remain open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. - Treating people properly and trusting those around you is a and in business. And at the end of o f