Best New Course of the Year

Chambers Bay Golf Course
University Place, Wash.
7,585 yards, par 72
Green fee: $65-$150 877-29-LINKS, chambersbaygolf.com
At Chambers Bay the visuals scream Ireland: giant sand dunes, rumpled fairways, stunning sea views, and unpredictable weather. But this superb new course is almost 5,000 miles west of Ballybunion, atop an old gravel mine about an hour south of Seattle, Wash. This Robert Trent Jones II-designed municipal track is a walkers' only feast for the eyes, and a relentless test of both swing and stamina. Call it Bethpage Black-by-the-Sea.

The eye candy commences right at the 1st hole, with a 50-foot-high dune to the right and the backdrop of Puget Sound. It only gets better from there. Highlights include the par-4 5th, called "Free Fall," which plummets 80 feet from tee to landing area and culminates in two separate greens—150 yards apart. The farther green is receptive to a lowrunning approach, while the closer one is fiercely guarded by sand. The dearth of forced carries means Chambers Bay is playable for all, although a memorable exception to that is the jaw-dropping par-3 9th, its wavy potato chip-contoured green perched on the far side of a ravine.

Chambers Bay earns the greatest compliment it's possible to bestow on a new course: By the time your caddie replaces the flag at 18, all you can think about is repeating the journey.

Credit: Dick Durrance II