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Developing character
Designer Jones using tradition to bring Chambers Bay to life
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E.J. Clair
Junior editor |
He stands on the mountain, a king surveying his land.
His eyes wander from the sky to the ground, tracing a path of invisible lines and edges, unseen by those behind him. One hand shields his eyes from the bright sunlight, while the other fingers a wisp of whin, a variation of Scotch broom plucked from the dusty hillside. Looking at the vista again, he sees not the reality of a gray, spent gravel pit, but the dream of a championship golf course -- green, fresh and alive.
Robert Trent Jones, Jr., is a king in the golf world. Having designed more than 200 golf courses in 40 countries, his next masterpiece will be in Pierce County, Washington, where he will build a true links golf course in the style of our game's Scottish heritage.
Chambers Bay will be a golfing experience, fit for a king, but available for all. The championship public course has been a dream of Jones, his eponymous design firm, Robert Trent Jones II LLC, Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, the Executive Council and citizens of Pierce County. This magnet for thousands of golfers worldwide is expected to open in the spring of 2007.
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Walking the site of Chambers Bay are, left to right, Pierce County's Tony Tipton, designer Jason Blasi, designer Robert Trent Jones, Jr., and Pierce County's Joseph Scorcio
Photo credit: E.J. Clair |
"I look at the character of the land," says Jones, "and I ask a lot of questions to master the essence, the ethos."
When Robert Trent Jones Jr. visits the gravel pit in Pierce County, he walks with Pierce County Assistant Director Joseph Scorcio, Chambers Bay Project Manager Tony Tipton and Design Associate Jason Blasi. Colored felt pens mark changes to the plans.
"Work your way up to the drama. Play your way down," says Jones, while noting altitude, the glistening Puget Sound, fescue grasses, a chugging train, wind patterns, maritime climate similar to Scotland, exceptional views of the Olympics from the future tee boxes, natural drainage contours, flora and fauna.
According to Jones, animals are the first members of the course. And, in the trees? "The eagles are members, too."
"Most people look at a golf course and imagine golf shots. I ask technical questions about seepage and drainage. They don't call me Dr. Drainage for nothing," he laughs. "I can't do pot bunkers in clay. It wouldn't drain. They'd have to be built above ground."
The Chambers Bay Golf Course site is sandy and perfect for a golf links in the tradition of Scotland.
From a young age, Jones has lived and breathed golf. He competed against Jack Nicklaus in the 1955 U.S. Juniors. After earning a degree from Yale University, he worked for his father, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., designer of such remarkable courses as Mauna Kea Beach Club in Hawaii and Spyglass Hill in Monterey, Calif., and the architect who renovated Augusta National.
Jones Jr., later built his own firm and carried the legacy forward with Monterey's Spanish Bay and Poppy Hills; Chateau Whistler Golf Club in British Columbia; the Prince Course and Wailea Golf Club in Hawaii, Eagle Point Golf Club and Sunriver's Woodlands, both in Oregon.
However, as Jones Jr., explains, "one cannot rest on their laurels."
He and his team of top-notch designers continue to create dreams and turn the visions into reality.
An icon listening to the land, creating challenges, and realizing the unseen, Jones has become legendary, wearing his crown of extraordinary golf courses with pride.
When asked, his favorite course is "the next one," permitting reveries to be turned to drawings, allowing for drawings to evolve into reality.
Reality for Jones is an oxygen-giving, green, championship golf course, created out of a gray, dusty gravel pit. A king like Jones has the ability to see and capture this dream.
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