Chambers Bay Golf Course broke records in several financial categories in 2013 as excitement increased in advance of next year’s U.S. Open.
The 4th quarter financial report, released this week by County Executive Pat McCarthy, showed operating revenues increased more than $1 million over the prior year, a gain of 23 percent.
“Golfers are coming from other states and other countries to play one of the few municipal courses in the nation that was selected to challenge the best players in the world,” Executive McCarthy said. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for our region, and the best is yet to come. We have heard from other U.S. Open sites that we can expect incredible amounts of attention in the coming years. We’ll be ready.”
Here are other highlights from the 2013 report as compared to the previous year:
• Golfers played 38,980 rounds, a 12 percent increase over 2012 and the highest recorded since the course opened in 2007.
• Rounds by out-of-state residents increased 10 percent.
• Rounds by residents from other Washington counties increased 14 percent.
• Average green fees per round – a key performance measure – increased 11 percent.
• Merchandise sales jumped a whopping 40 percent as customers snapped up gear featuring the 2015 U.S. Open logo.
• Food and beverage revenues were up 11 percent.
The golf course recorded all of those increases despite being closed for more than a week in December due to freezing weather.
Chambers Bay, designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones II, offers Scottish links-style golf amid windswept dunes on the shores of Puget Sound. The United States Golf Association will conduct its national championship, the U.S. Open, at Chambers Bay in June 2015.
“Thanks to the golf course, thousands of people enjoy the trail, meadows, beach, playground and dog park,” McCarthy said. “Chambers Bay truly is a community gem, and we’re taking good care of it.”
More information about the golf course is available atwww.chambersbaygolf.com.
