I’d never played a course like Chamber’s Bay before.

It’s carved into the side of a hill, extending down towards the water. There are bunkers and native grasses everywhere. The greens are indistinguishable from the fairways in traditional links style, and were somewhat slow and with a good bit of undulation. Some holes have a good bit of altitude change, while others are more straightforward.

Driving it straight here is a necessity.

There are no golf carts. You can carry or pull/pull, or take a caddy. We opted for the latter, and it was a good experience. Even walking without a bag I was exhausted by the end of the round. This is a tough walk.

I struggled out of the gate with a quad bogey and a double bogey before settling down to card an 86 (I 3-putted the last 2 holes too 🙁 ). I never did get the speed of the greens even remotely right, but I hit it pretty straight off the tee.

(We teed off on the 10th hole)