If you want to know what it's like to play golf in Scotland without ever leaving the country, go play at Chambers Bay. I honestly had to keep reminding myself I was still in the United States. This course is for the purest of purists who want to play the game the way it was intended to be played.
From the minute I got out of my car in the parking lot, my jaw dropped. The entire golf course is visible, laid out in the valley below, and snuggled by the Puget Sound. It's a links style golf course with no trees in sight -- just huge undulating greens, lots of bunkers, and dramatic elevation changes.
Make sure you are in good shape, too, because there are no carts allowed on the golf course -- but you can get a caddy (for a nominal fee).
This course will host the 2010 Amateur and the 2015 U.S. Open, so you are going to pay a pretty penny if you play it in the peak season. I recommend you play it in the off season to save a few bucks. Just make sure you come prepared for the elements. Of course, if you are a purist, then you will be in seventh heaven when being battered by the icy winds and rains blowing off the Puget Sound in January.
