• Menu
  • Menu

Jay’s Mailbag – The Best Public Courses on the West Coast (Part 1)

CHAMBERS BAY - GOLF KING OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
CHAMBERS BAY – GOLF KING OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Got this from the mailbag the other day from Helen in Schenectady:

“Dear Jay:

My girlfriend and I are taking a driving tour of the west coast this summer. If we brought our golf clubs, what public courses should we play on our way down the coastline? Or are there any good courses near wineries we should visit? – Helen in Schenectady

Well Helen, you’ve come to the right shop. Here’s what you do: Chambers Bay, Pumpkin Ridge, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Pebble Beach Golf Resort, Pasatiempo, Rustic Canyon, Torrey Pines. This itinerary has a solid mix of great architecture, beautiful natural settings, and golf history. And you’ll have hot all the big names – a trip of a lifetime.

1. Chambers Bay – You’ll start the trip in Seattle, see the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project, drink the country’s most highly touted coffee, and play the gorgeous seaside links that will host next year’s U.S. Open. It’s as authentic a links as any course you could play in Ireland or Scotland – the ground game in vogue, wall to wall fescue for firm, fast conditions, and an ocean view at every turn, it’s truly breathtaking. You could go home right there and be the envy of all your friends, but that’s only the beginning. Whatever you do, remember to drop a ball in “Chambers Basement” the enormous pot bunkers in the midle of the 18th fairway and see if you can get down in three from there. I did it…in front of Mike Davis, the Executive Director of the USGA, and architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr.!

CHAMBERS BASEMENT
CHAMBERS BASEMENT

2. Pumpkin Ridge – Okay, so the golf course is a little crowded with all those trees, but the club did host a Women’s U.S. Open, the price is reasonable, and Portland is a great weight station for a night on the way to Bandon Dunes. If the Trailblazers are in town, catch a game at the famous Rose Garden or go see a rock band at the Mt. Tabor Theatre. Just save up your energy for…

THE PRIMAL BEAUTY AND OLD WORLD FEEL OF PACIFIC DUNES
THE PRIMAL BEAUTY AND OLD WORLD FEEL OF PACIFIC DUNES

3. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort – Boy, talk about giving a starving man a menu, you’d want a whole week here alone if you could do it. Everything you have heard about the resort is true – it is the greatest public golf facility in America, hands down. You must play at least thirty-six holes a day and stay overnight. I recommend you play the Pacific Dunes Course and Old Macdonald, (replaying whichever you like more), and then adding a round at the Bandon Dunes course. Sadly, most people find the Bandon Trails course a 1/2 step down, and women tend to find it a 1/2 step harder as well.

Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the trip!