Chambers Bay Up $15K On U.S. Amateur! Down $700k For First Nine Months Of '10

Kris Sherman of Tacoma's News Tribune, the same paper that did a bang-up job covering last summer's U.S. Amateur, weighs in with an exclusive on the bleak financial state of Chambers Bay. The story would seem to indicate that any hopes of the hotel, beach house, water park and ampitheater will not be happening anytime soon and almost assuredly, not in time for the 2015 U.S. Open.

At the end of September, revenues for the year were $400,000 below budget and expenses were $300,000 over. That left the course $700,000 below budget in the first nine months of 2010.

But the Amateur, a United States Golf Association event that drew world-class players and around 33,000 spectators to Chambers Bay, finished in the black. The event cost $1.5 million, and the golf course made $15,615 after all expenses were paid, according to the county’s final financial report on the event.

I'm not sure what this means since the course is already managed by Kemper Sports.

Though the economy remains soft, other developers have expressed interest in a public-private partnership at Chambers Bay, Phelps said. And if the Ventur agreement expires without action, the county will pursue them.

“We think it’s likely that we will find somebody to step in and take over,” Phelps said.

Now here's the "say what?" moment when you know the county folks are really reaching for anything they can point to, no matter how silly.

“What really lit up eyes in China was when I was talking about Chambers Bay,” Blount said of a trade mission she recently took with Gov. Chris Gregoire.

There’s a big market in China for affluent golfers who want to travel to the U.S. and see Chambers Bay as both prestigious and beautiful, Blount added.

There is?

For some reason I waded through the 125 reader comments, including a nice surge from the ATV crowd (who knew they could read!?). Many suggest the course's price, lack of walkability and walking-only policy are the biggest deterrent to future revenues.