Review Date
November 6, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: slyboots2937, Shoots in the 80s

Summary:
Played this course in early October after hearing so many positive things about it. Was not disappointed and came away totally impressed. From the moment my group arrived till the time we left, We were treated very well without it feeling like every employee had his /her hand out for a tip(it is a public course after all) and you are already paying a premium, premium price. Played from the white tees and it gave us all the golf we could handle. Our groups handicap ranged from a low of 8, 12,14, and 24 and none of us broke 90. I kept my ball on the fairway on the front nine and shot 42. The back side was another story. Once you found the huge waste areas it could be lights out for your overall score. Even if you tried to take your medicine and go out to the nearest part of the fairway, it might be easier planned than done, and the next thing you know you are walking off the green with an 8 or nine on your scorecard. Ouch. The greens were not super fast, but the undulations and pin placements led to many 3 putts and a couple of "others" in our group. There are many memorable holes and the views are beautiful. I am a lifetime resident of Puget Sound but never take the beauty of our area for granted. The par 3 ninth does stand out as my favorite hole with the massive elevation drop down to the green. The only negative to the place, is the price for non- residents of Pierce county, but you don't get many chances to play a course destined to host the U.S. open either.in th conclusion, it is well worth a trip to the area to play.

Customer Service:
Very good with no complaints from our group.

Similar Courses Played:
Crosswater in Bend Oregon as far as difficulty, none as far as layout.

Review Date
August 25, 2008

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Reviewed by: Druss, Shoots in the 90s

Summary:
Great, challenging course that is not very forgiving with mistakes. No *real* unfair holes. You must think out your risk/rewards. Greens are very undulating and have some tricky pin placements.

Customer Service:
Horrible! This is hte single reason I will not play this course EVER again, even if I won a free round. Most of the staff (there were a few exceptions) treated it as if they were doing me a favor by letting me pay to play on their course. Terrible. Awful.

Similar Courses Played:
Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach

Review Date
August 11, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Hoggy, Shoots in the 80s

Summary:
I've been watching this course for a while(I'm a local).
My wife bought me a round for my birthday last winter and I've been sitting on the gift card for the right time. August up here is perfect weather, and I played today. Get a caddie. It made the round much more enjoyable.
Everything it seems heads to the waste areas. They are massive in places. There are not many flat spots. You have to chose every shot and then totally commit to it. You do not want to leave the fairways. Its can be a lot of work just to get back.
The greens were surprisingly slow. I guess they are just young. The contours were wild. I can't wait to see the pro's play this place.
This place was awesome. I can only afford to play this about once or twice a year, so for me it will remain a special treat. I've only been playing seriously for about a year and I average in the mid to high 80's now but I did break 100 today so the average golfer can play here and enjoy it.

Customer Service:
Top notch. GET A CADDIE !

Similar Courses Played:
None that I've played yet

Review Date
June 11, 2008

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Reviewed by: jims, Shoots in the 70s

Summary:
This course will be great, but you simply can not charge $171 for a course where the greens are in this poor of condition. Yes it's new, but putting is the name of the game in golf, and you can't get the ball rolling on these greens. in fact two of them are nearly lost!! Give it time, but $171 is a joke.

Customer Service:
Excellent. The food is very good, and so was our forecaddie!!

Similar Courses Played:
All Bandon courses.

Review Date
April 4, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Reviewed by: vmitch2, Shoots in the 70s

Summary:
This is beyond a doubt the coolest golf course I have ever played. Given, the course is still young and the greens are not yet fully grown and therefore are slow and bumpy. But that is to be expected at this point in time. Also, it is expensive the play here, but worth it. The layout is superb and makes excellent use of the natural terrain that existed here prior to the course being built (an old quarry.) The views of lower Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains are incredible. This is a shot-makers course, plain and simple, because it forces you to think about every shot, especially around the greens. You need to use the slopes of the fairways and greens to get the ball close to the pin, and rarely do you actually aim at a pin. The waste areas are very punishing, as the sand is coarse, and full of pebbles and fescue grasses, which isn't fully grown in either. There are 5 sets of tees, of which I play the 3rd set back and still cannot reach the par 4 first hole in two. (464 yards into the prevailing wind). I can't imagine playing this course from the back tees! There are also a lot of tee shots that must be played over waste areas to find the fairway, and it's up to you to decide how much to bite off the dogleg. Some of these drives require a long carry to find the short grass. Except for hole 8, the par 5's are not overly long, but the appoaches better be accurate if going for the green in two, otherwise you could be looking at an impossible lie in a waste area. (speaking from experience!) Because of the wind, and the fact that there is nothing but sand dunes to block it, and all the elevation changes, club selection can be daunting to say the least. Signature hole, you ask? Probably most people would say hole 15, a short, downhill par 3 that has the course's lone evergreen tree behind the green. I say, however, there really isn't a signature hole because every hole is special. I can't wait to see how the USGA sets this course up for the 2010 and 2015 championships. By then the fescue will be tall, and the greens will be fast. If the wind blows off Puget Sound like it normally does, par will be a great score.

Customer Service:
The best around, period. The food and beer in the temporary club house are a perfect way to end the perfect round of golf this course offers.

Similar Courses Played:
Nothing around here like it. There are so-called "links" course, such as The Home Course and Vickwood, both of which are nice. However, Chambers Bay is the real deal.