UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- Imagine this, golf fans from around the world captivated by a sporting event taking place on what was once a gray and lifeless pit. That's the story behind Chambers Bay.
"It's got a wonderful history of sand and gravel mining," said Matt Allen, General Manager of Chambers Bay. "More than 100 years and millions and millions of cubic yards of materials came off this sight."
"It looked pretty sad almost like a moonscape," said Pierce County Executive, Pat McCarthy. "And once the decision was made to build a golf course here and then a higher level golf course, Scottish link golf course, people started to see it."
That gamble Pierce County officials took on Chambers Bay has led to the ultimate reward, hosting the 2015 U.S. Open.
"I think the uniqueness of the golf course is that it can test the best players in the world as it will in June, but it's also really fair and playable on an everyday bases," said Allen.
"It's fiscue grass, teed fairways and greens. The greens are larger and more contoured than most," Allen explained. "And then sand, sand abounds out there. I think we've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 miles of bunker edging."
One of the signature features of the course was almost lost when it was attacked by a vandal in 2008.
"The lone fur sits on the 16th tee and just behind the 15th green," explained Allen. "It's become an icon of the golf course and I couldn't believe the number of phone calls a I got from arborists willing to come take a look at it."
But Chambers Bay is more than just a golf course. It's also an expansive park.
"You know we've got about 960 acres at Chamber Creek properties of which the golf course comprises about 230 acres, 6 and a half miles of trails, I mean it's a fabulous, fabulous place," gushed McCarthy.
From a gravel pit, to the center of the golfing world, Chambers Bay may be the ultimate recycling story.
