Chambers Bay Golf Course has finally changed its greens, five years after PGA players complained bitterly at the U.S. Open. The fescue greens had also resulted in negative feedback fromregular customers who complained about uneven surfaces.
The $230,000 project to add pao annua grass required closure of the publicly owned course for seven months.
Course operator KemperSports and owner Pierce County coordinated with the United States Golf Association on the improvement to the greens after three greens developed turf health issues leading up to the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship (which ended up being moved from 2019 to 2021). KGMI Radio reported that the course hopes to be awarded another U.S. Open in the future, and felt upgrading the greens was necessary to be considered.
When the Robert Trent Jones Jr. course first opened in 2007, it was one of the few courses featuring fescue greens. Poa annua is more suited to the climate at Chambers Bay, south of Tacoma, Wash.
KemperSports is the fifth-largest golf management firm in the world, with 135 courses. It was founded in 1978, and its headquarters is in Northbook, Ill., outside of Chicago.